What’s Your Question?

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Do you have a question about your baby’s sleep that we can answer here on this website?

Enter it below in the comments box (make sure you also mention how old your baby is) and we’ll see what we can do!

Categories: Common Sleep ProblemsUncategorized

79 Comments

Annie · July 14, 2014 at 9:11 am

My daughter is 4 months old. I know routines can vary at this age, but how do I know what routine is right for my baby? I don’t know how to figure out what routine to use let alone how to get her on it!

    Admin · July 18, 2014 at 2:32 am

    Thanks for your question Annie. I’m working on an article at the moment about figuring out the right routine for your baby and will post a link when it’s finished. In the meantime I’d suggest structuring your day around your daughter’s awake time rather than trying to follow the clock. When she’s tired, put her down, when she wakes up, get her up. And feeds should be about every 3 and a half to 4 hours at this age. At this age it’s still very normal for your days to looks slightly different, one day to the next.

    You can find out more about ‘awake times’ here: http://babysleepschedule.net/awake-times-for-babies/

    And have a look at some different days for 4 month olds here: http://babysleepschedule.net/example-routine-for-a-4-month-old/

Siobhan · July 18, 2014 at 2:25 am

I have a 20 week old who doesn’t go to bed at night until about 10pm. At first I didn’t mind but now I’m really starting to miss having some time to myself and think the solution would be to put him to bed earlier. The other babies in my mothers group go to bed between 6-8pm. Is it ok to put him to bed this early? Will he wake up even earlier in the morning? (He’s waking up at about 6:30 atm and having one feed at 2pm). I don’t think I could bare going back to the 4am feed. How do I work towards an earlier bed time?

    Admin · July 30, 2014 at 4:36 am

    Hi Siobhan and thanks for your question. You will probably find that putting your baby to bed earlier has no effect on the morning wake time at all. Infact, you might find that he sleeps better during the day as he is having a longer and more restful sleep at night. I would recommend a dreamfeed at about 10pm (or just before Give it a go and see what happens! Good luck!

      Ariana · August 19, 2014 at 3:55 pm

      Hi, im in a very similar situation as Siobhan where my 7 week old twins have their bath at 7, feed right after and wake up at 2am. I cant get them to wake up at 11! Can you please give a few more details of what a dreamfeed is? Maybe this will help them sleep through the night until 6:30am which is the time they usually wake up. Many thanks

        Admin · August 21, 2014 at 2:46 am

        Hi Ariana, I think a dream feed would be perfect for you (it’s tricky at this young age when they can be hard to wake or even get a sucking reflex happening in their sleep). I’ll write a post specifically on the dream feed and let you know when it’s up. (But for 7 weeks, it sounds like you’re doing really well, well done!)

Kate · July 25, 2014 at 1:37 am

Hi there,
I would be really interested in some sample schedules for 6 months old if you could put some up please! Thanks, Kate.

    Admin · July 30, 2014 at 4:37 am

    They’re coming soon Kate (I’m working on them at the moment!) I’ll post a link when they’re up 🙂

Kasia · July 27, 2014 at 8:06 pm

Hi, I have 6months old baby and I try to introduce methods of Tracy Hogg regarding falling asleep, calming and The Easy Plan. My son usually falls asleep during breastfeeding but in one month I am going back to work do it will not be possible and that’s why I’m trying to do something with that. Today we took a bath, ate and after that I spent 5 minutes with my son in order to keep him calm. Then I left him in his bed. At the beginning he was hery calm but after 20 minutes he started to cry. I tried to keep him calm but it last him more than one hour to fall asleep. I also did not want to give him a dumny but it was not possible. He fall asleep only with a dumny. What can I do to help my son falling asleep without my help and without dumny? Isn’t it too early to bin a dumny? THANK YOU fot your help. Kasia

    Admin · July 30, 2014 at 4:42 am

    Hi Kasia,

    6 months is the perfect time to bin the dummy (my opinion only), but taking away you AND the dummy at the same time is going to be really hard on your son.

    He doesn’t know that there is anything wrong with sucking to sleep, infact it is his preferred method, so taking away everything at once is going to be a hard road for both of you (it is possible, just tricky).

    I would recommend stopping the breastfeeding to sleep first, and leaving the dummy for a little bit longer. If you’re going back to work soon there are going to be some big changes in life for everyone and the dummy could be an appropriate comfort for a little while longer.

    Tracy Hogg’s shh/pat sleep training method is excellent, even at this age for transitioning from feeding to sleep to falling asleep in a cot (the pick up put down method might be a little overwhelming and over stimulating if he has been used to being cuddled to sleep).

    Let us know how you go!

Stacey · July 28, 2014 at 9:07 pm

My 4 month old has been a 30-45 minute napper since 2.5 months old. He eats every three hours and sometimes every 2 to 2.5 in the evening. What schedule do you recommend as he transitions through his 4th month. I can’t imagine stretching him to eating every 4 hours at this point since I’ve been trying to following an Eat/Awake/Sleep routine — and he doesn’t sleep for long. Any help or tips for the catnapper is appreciated.

    Admin · July 30, 2014 at 4:50 am

    Hi Stacey, excellent question. I’m going to post a more detailed answer as a whole article on its own because I’m sure there are a lot of other moms wondering exactly the same thing. I’ll post a link when it’s up, but just quickly….

    The 4 month mark is a really tricky one because a lot is going on with your baby. It is also a really common age for set backs if things are changed around too much. So, I would recommend sticking to a flexible routine based on your son’s time awake. This is going to be the best way to avoid over tiredness and increased night wakings that can pop up at this age.

    I know it can be really tricky when feed and sleep times clash, but it’s just an unfortunate side effect of having a cat-napper. If in doubt, feed more often to preserve the sleep.

    At around the 6 month mark when you have established solids, I promise his routine will start to be more predictable and planning will be a lot easier!

      Jess · November 20, 2014 at 10:02 pm

      Hi- my twins are like this as well. Any updates to your blog regarding this? and when do you recommend CIO for naps and night wakings cold turkey?

      thanks

Carrie · July 29, 2014 at 9:54 pm

Hi
aim; have my son on a dream feed (10pm) then wake at 2am, then 6am for a feed.
I have a 4 month old who wakes up roughly every two hours in the night. I don’t feed him in these times and Im trying to stretch him out to every four hours day and night for his feeds. The problem is I am trying to put him on a 4 hour cycle (feed/sleep), to try and get him into this nighttime routine so he doesn’t keep waking every two hours. BUT he only lasts for 1 1/4-1 1/5 between sleeps and I don’t know how to make it work with his 4 hour feeds then a sleep straight after…ARRGGHHH!
any help would be appreciated.
Thank you

Misha · August 3, 2014 at 6:25 pm

Hi –
My 4 month old has been napping only for about 30 minute stretches and at night, going down around 8pm and waking up every 2/3 hours.
1) how do I get her to sleep through the night
2) how do I get her to go down for a nap successfully with out fighting, kicking and screaming?
3) how do I get her to go to sleep for the night earlier and STAY asleep?
She used to sleep 5-7 hours straight prior to this phase. She had a 2 day stint where this was true this week and then it all went down the toilet. We have tried to increase day feedings and always ensure that we have her in a quiet dark room a minimum of 1 hour prior to bedtime, but nothing seems to work. She is VERY fussy at the moment.

Please help!

    Admin · August 7, 2014 at 11:24 pm

    Hi Misha, I’m sorry that you’re having problems at the moment. I know how frustrating it can be. Given that you have said she used to sleep 5-7 hours a night, this sounds very much like a wonder week to me. If this has been going on for a week or so, it very well could be. And some babies struggle to get back into a good sleeping pattern after a wonder week.

    Make sure you’re keeping an eye on her awake times and finding that opportune time to go down for a nap. An hour in a quiet dark room prior to bed time seems a bit long to me, 15 minutes is usually enough. Let her spend some time kicking around and playing to burn off some energy and ensure she is good and tired before you head to her room for winding down and quiet time – this might help. Good luck!

Emily · August 7, 2014 at 4:05 am

Hi! I have 16 week old twin boys. They are on a 3 hr eat/play/sleep cycle and have been since 1.5 months. They are getting better at napping and sleep for 1-2 hrs each nap (more often 1-1.5 hrs) and have 3 naps during the day. I can’t seem to get around putting them down for a nap in the early evening, after the 4:30/5 ish feeding. They get really fussy in the 6 o’clock hour and don’t like to play anymore or sit in their bouncy chairs… the only solution has been to put them down for another nap in their cribs, but I usually have to wake them up so they’re not sleeping thru their last bedtime feeding. They hate to be woken up and usually cry cry cry for half an hour while I’m trying to get them ready. Do they need an earlier bedtime? One of the boys will sleep from 8pm (the last feeding is usually around 7:30) until about 5/6 am, but my other one sometimes wakes at 2/3am crying (doesn’t get fed) and then again around 4:30 for a bottle. We obviously are working towards sleeping completely through the night with a morning wake time of 7:30/8am.

Sorry, lots of info. I hope you can offer some suggestions!
Thanks 🙂 Emily

    Admin · August 7, 2014 at 11:34 pm

    Emily, all I can say is that you’re doing an amazing job! I know most moms would struggle to get one baby on the routine that you have, and you’re doing it with two! You really should be proud at what you’ve achieved and where you are at the 16 week mark.

    That early evening time is a tricky one, and will be for quite a while, and is just a consequence of the amount of time they can stay awake before getting tired and the amount of naps you can fit into a day. It’s like a tricky puzzle that sometimes doesn’t go together.

    Without seeing the timing of your whole day (particularly that last sleep for the day) it’s hard to make any suggestions, but I usually would recommend babies of this age going to bed no later than 7:30. Infact, closer to 7:00 is ideal – but you won’t get them sleeping through to 7:30-8:00am with this early bed time. You could try sneaking it earlier in 15 minute increments (every 3 days) and see what happens.

    For your son that wakes at night, because his day looks really good based on what you’ve said, it probably comes down to the late bed time or hunger (perhaps he’s too tired to feed properly at the end of the day too). I’d recommend a dream feed for him.

Sarah · August 7, 2014 at 2:25 pm

My 4month old is exclusively breast fed and feeds every 4 hours. She’s never slept well during the day but until 12 weeks we had a good night time routine. She’s have a bath, massage and then sleep at about 9pm(ish). She’d then wake up 5 to 6 hours later. After her 12 week growth spurt it all went wrong. We’ve brought her bed time forward so her last feed is at 7. By the time he goes to sleep it’s about 8pm, but usually she falls asleep while feeding. Now she gets up every 2 to 3 hours at night. She doesn’t always seen hungry so I usually put her back to sleep without feeding, but she’ll have at least 1 and sometimes 2 feeds during the night.
During the day I’ve tried to do a 4 hour routine. Wake at 7, play until she looks tired, then sleep, then feed at 11. Usually in the morning I try to get her asleep by 9.30 and in the afternoon by 1.30
My problems are:
1. About 30 mins after waking in the morning, she already looks tired
2. It takes her ages to get to sleep (about an hour on average) and then she’ll only stay asleep for an hour, 1.5 hours on a good (very rare) day. I’m trying the pick up put down method. It’s sort of working in that she does fall asleep on the bed without any rocking, etc. Just white noise and sometimes shhh and patting.
3. I have no idea what to do with her in the evenings. She has a feed at 3. Usually (if she’s slept) she isn’t tired yet. She gets tired around 5 but then I know it’ll take until about 6 for her to get to sleep, which is only an hour before bed and I don’t think it would be a good idea to have a nap so late so I end up keeping her up.
4. Night time is just a mess. I don’t know how to get her to sleep better. I don’t know why she’s waking up so often.
I can’t let her cry too much when I’m putting her to sleep (especially at night) because I live with my in laws and if she cries for more than 2 mins they come to see what’s wrong and get agitated seeing her cry so it’s difficult for me to do PUPD at night.
Please help!

    Admin · August 8, 2014 at 2:21 am

    Sarah I think your point 1 is a giveaway – she is tired. If she is showing tired signs 30mins after waking in the morning, then put her back down. I know this will ruin your 9:30 and 1:30 nap times, but 2 naps a day and that long stretch of 5 hours awake at the end of the day is way to much awake time and not enough sleep time for a 4 month old.

    I wouldn’t be worried about the length of your daughter’s naps, you should look at the total overall sleep she is getting per day. Some 4 month olds do fine on five 45 minute naps per day (yes – five naps!)

    Most 4 month olds (not all, but the majority) are only awake for 1.5 before going back to sleep, with the first awake time of the day being a lot shorter than the rest. I would recommend starting to make some gentle changes to your day by focussing on that first morning nap. Try to get her down a lot earlier (when you see those first tired signs) and then you’ll have time to add another nap at the end of the day. My hunch is that she’s overtired, winding herself up, and then having trouble relaxing and falling asleep, which is why she is taking an hour to drop off. Pick up / put down probably won’t work in these circumstances because it is not helping her to relax and drift off. And, surprisingly, increased night wakings is often tied to that first morning sleep (weird I know!)

    Start slow and gentle and see how you go. Let me know what happens!

Jenny · August 13, 2014 at 8:27 am

Hi there – My 16 week old never naps for longer than 30-40 minutes at a time (he’s still swaddled for naps and nighttime). I am having difficulties getting him on any set schedule because his nap times vary from day to day. He’s pretty good about going down for the night between 6-7:30 pm and waking up between 6-7:30 am but still also wakes up twice a night for feedings. Is this due to the fact that his daytime schedule is so erratic? Any words of advice are much appreciated!

    Admin · August 15, 2014 at 6:37 am

    Hi Jenny,
    You’re in that period between having a sleepy newborn baby and an infant on a predictable clock based routine. At 16 weeks of age, most babies have fairly irregular days. And the 30-40 minute sleep cycle during the day is more common that you probably think! Take a look at this article about short daytime naps (this refers to 45 minute naps, but I think the same would apply to your little one). While you might feel that there is no routine to your day, your baby is following a rather predictable pattern, which is normal and healthy. Take a closer look: He gets up around the same time each day, feeds are more equally spaced than when he was younger, his sleep lengths are predictable, he gets tired after being up for a certain amount of time, and his bed time is also predictable. You’re doing great!
    As for the night wakings for a feed, I don’t think this is due to the erratic days. Are you doing a dreamfeed? This will probably reduce the night wakings to one, which is normal at this age. Also, make sure he is getting enough food during the day. Sometimes short nappers need to be fed every 3 to 3.5 hours to keep their energy levels up. Even fitting in an extra feed or a top up before bed time might ensure he is getting enough calories during the day and doesn’t need to wake at night for them. (This post explains the calorie thing!
    It sounds like you’re doing a great job. I know it can be frustrating not having a baby on a clock based routine, but everything looks good from what I’m reading!

Michael · August 20, 2014 at 4:12 am

Hi
I read your article on 45 minute naps and found it reassuring. My 9.5 month old will generally only sleep for 45minutes at a time. Every now and then she’ll throw in a 1.5 hour sleep or even 2×1.5 hour sleeps. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the longer sleeps. She always wakes up happy, it just seems all the other bubs have moved onto 2 decent sleeps per day.

My little lady does generally sleep between 11-12 hours a night. Do I have any reason to be concerned?
Thanks

    Admin · August 21, 2014 at 2:56 am

    I’m glad you found it reassuring Michael. If your daughter is sleeping 11-12 hours overnight and waking up happy during the day, it sounds like you’re doing an awesome job! Sometimes longer naps can appear now and then for 45 minute nappers when their body needs the extra rest – it’s amazing that their little bodies know what they need and when. Short nappers can often start to lengthen their naps either between 9-12 months or when they drop to one nap, but not all do.

Karina · August 26, 2014 at 11:35 pm

I have a 18 week old daughter that has been extra fussy lately and also not napping well; day and night time. Her ped said we could start her on cereal at 4 months. In an attempt to introduce it I give it to her once a day to prevent constipation.we started this a week ago. I give it at dinner time. Her day time naps are all over the place and hence affects her night sleep so she is up by 5:30 or 6am. This is too early as my husband is a shift worker and sometimes it’s really difficult for him to get rest. Another thing; she sleeps in a crib at night(for 17 weeks it was jammed to our bed) now its still in the room but about 15″ away. In the day, we have a matress on the living room floor(all naps happen here), our room is dark so i started this day nap outside because i needed her to learn the day/night difference. I am desperate as our culture is very different and I thrive on medical facts and actual approached thank cultural norms. Please help!

    Admin · September 5, 2014 at 10:19 am

    Hi Karina,

    It’s hard to give specific advice without seeing the timings of her naps / feeds for your whole day, but my initial advice would be to have all her sleeps in the same place. She is old enough now to know day from night and I think the day sleeps on a mattress on the living room floor might be distracting for her (she is more aware now and might be finding it difficult to drift into a restful sleep). And as she grows older, starts rolling and eventually crawling, a mattress on the floor in the main living space is not going to be 100% safe.

    Also, a 5:30-6:00am wake time can be normal at this age. You could try giving a milk feed and re-settling, lots of babies will go back to sleep after this.

    Another technique for extending the first wake time is to have an earlier bed time (I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but it works!) It’s hard to make a suggestion though because I don’t know what the rest of your day looks like.

    Good luck Karina!

Roxanne · August 28, 2014 at 9:20 am

HELP! My son is 10 months old and I haven’t had a 1 full night of un-interrupted sleep. Im still breastfeeding, but he does take a bottle during the day with his nanny.
Problem is, he is restless. toss and turns whole night, and wants to drink all night long! If its not the bottle he wants, its the breasts.
And to top it all, he wants his bottle warm!
Please tell me what I can do. Or what im doing wrong!

    Admin · September 5, 2014 at 10:09 am

    Hi Roxanne, does he sleep well during the day? If his naps are ok (I’m assuming they are because you haven’t mentioned a day problem) then it would appear to be a case of bad habits that haven’t been addressed. If he is sleeping in a crib I would suggest sleep training (The Baby Whisperer book’s pick up put down method would be appropriate at this age). This is not appropriate for co-sleeping though, and given that you’ve stated that he tosses and turns through the night it looks like maybe you are co-sleeping? Co-sleeping is fine, but waking through the night and regular feeds go with the territory here (in my experience), and it is very normal for co-sleeping families.

    Also, another question for you to ponder: Does he have regular milk and solid food throughout the day? He should be having three solid meals plus milk drinks at 10 months. If not, he may be hungry (hence the waking).

Jess · August 30, 2014 at 3:13 am

Hi there!
As Michael before has said, THANK YOU for your article on 45 min napper! I have found it so reassuring, infact I LOVE your website! I’m getting so much good information, even a great sample routine!
When my son was 6 weeks, he got into catnapping, 20 – 45 mins for a few weeks. We introduced the dummy to help resettle him to sleep and for about 3 weeks we enjoyed him self settling to sleep – waking at 45 mins, and resettling with a dummy and he would sleep for another sleep cycle +. BUT in this last week nothing we do seems to help resettle him, always waking after 45 mins. We use white noise, pretty dim room, swaddle and try his dummy etc. He’s 14 1/2 weeks old now.
I’m wondering what do I do now? Should I keep persisting with settling after 45 mins? Or just get him up? He always cries on waking so that’s why my first initial reaction is to try to resettle. I always thought it was the startle reflex that was waking him after 45 mins!
His night times are awesome – 8pm bed, 10.30df 7am wake happy!

    Admin · September 5, 2014 at 10:14 am

    Thanks so much for your kind comments Jess – I’m glad you’ve found the website helpful!

    It sounds like you have yourself a 45 minute napper there! If your son cries on waking (some babies just do, even into todder-hood) just comfort him. You could try re-settling for 10-15 minutes, it won’t hurt. It is also possible that he is going through a wonder weekwhich is disrupting his sleep. If you think this could be it, trying to re-settle will help him get back to sleep once the wonder week is over and his sleep is returning to normal.

    If it looks this is his new pattern though, don’t be fussed. 45 minute nappers might be frustrating at first, but they can have their advantages!

    Keep up the good work Jess!

Bec · August 31, 2014 at 2:23 am

Hi there, my daughter is 3 and half weeks old, and she’s a very alert little girl. She’s always had noise during the day (I have her in the pram (the baby carrier mountain buggy one which is flat) in the kitchen during the day and her cradle in the bedroom at night). She doesn’t like sleeping very much though – she can be awake for 4-5 hours at a time! (usually during the day). I can cuddle her, change her, feed her etc but nothing seems to work – she gets easily bored and then she’ll cry – I think she’s massively over tired. She sometimes fall asleep in my arms, but then wake up if I transfer her back into the pram, other times she’ll cry because she wants to look around – her little head will come up like a giraffe and move up and down because she wants to look, even when there’s nothing happening. She fights sleep – her eyes will start closing and she’ll force them open again like a kid waiting for santa. I’ve tried music, white noise, rocking her gently, walking with her (this is about the only thing that works, but isn’t very practical most of the time) and bathing her. No joy. Is it just normal for her to be awake this much at this age? Your article seems to suggest she should be getting at least 16 hours sleep, but she wouldn’t have any more than about 12 probably in a 24 hr period?

    Admin · September 5, 2014 at 10:27 am

    Hi Bec,

    Firstly, congratulations! I know these early weeks can be confusing and sometimes frustrating, especially when sleep deprivation is going on as well. And well done on looking up some information to try and help your daughter.

    At this young age, I don’t think there is any routine at all, and often anything can go. The average sleep is about 16-18 hours at this age, but that’s for the ‘average’ baby. There is a lot of variation within that!

    It sounds like you’ve got your mothering instinct on and are doing all the right things. I agree that she is probably over-tired / over-stimulated, so your methods of soothing are spot on. I think the most important thing for you to remember though, is that you can’t *make* your daughter sleep. All you can do is provide the opportunity. And you are doing a perfect job at that!

    Things will get better, and they definitely get easier. As she gets older she will get better at settling to sleep – she is still learning about this big wide world and what it means to live on the outside.

    In the meantime, keep doing the awesome job that you are doing, and remember to keep her wake times very calm and gentle to avoid over-stimulating her (definitely no baby gyms, mobiles or bright toys at this age). Keep up the good work!

hannah · September 3, 2014 at 2:44 pm

Hello! My baby is 9 weeks old in 2 days, but was born at 37.5 weeks and is bottle fed. I am trying to establish a sleep and feeding pattern. He sleeps for 4+ hours at a time at night (he is swaddled and sleeps in a hugging pillow). In the day he feeds around every 3 hours but not at the same times each day, it depends on what times he was up at night. How do I get him to feed and sleep around the same times each day and how much sleep should he have in the day at this age as he seems to want to constantly fall asleep, so the routine I have tried doesn’t work as he falls asleep in between structured nap times! Thank you!

    Admin · September 5, 2014 at 10:33 am

    Hi Hannah, thanks for dropping by and for your question!

    I’m not a fan of routines by the clock at this young age. Different babies have different sleep needs too, and you need to take guidance from your son on this.

    I would recommend ‘scheduling’ his naps base on his awake time: http://babysleepschedule.net/awake-times-for-babies/

    But, this is just my personal philosophy and doesn’t work for everyone! Every mother has a different way of operating, so you have to find what works for you. If you definitely want to go down the path of having a strict time bound routine, I would recommend reading the books by Gina Ford or Tizzie Hall – a lot of people swear by them and you’d probably find their methods would suit you. You can find their books here:
    http://astore.amazon.com/babslesch-20

    Good luck!

Kathy · September 4, 2014 at 6:49 am

Hello!
Thanks for all the useful information you provide here. I have a problem though to which i can’t find any answers to, no matter where I look. I really haven’t heard of many people having this issue, so I am beginning to wonder if it’s normal. I have a 14 week old daughter who takes about 5 naps a day, totalling about 5 hours. She usually takes two to three 45 min naps in her crib in the morning, then a longer 2-3 hour stretch over the early afternoon (this only happens while she’s being carried in the Baby Björn, no where else), then one or two short naps in the late afternoon evening. My issue is getting her down for the night. We follow a bedtime routine starting at about 7:30-8, depending on when the last nap of the day was (try to have an awake time then of no longer than 2,5 hours) and she won’t fall asleep until 10. The bedrime routine is a feed, a bath, a massage and then a top up, and she stays on the breast for hours after this. If I try to do anything else at the end of this rotuine, she screams. I can’t rock her, shh-pat her or do anything else other than give her the breast. Sometimes she falls asleep for the first timepretty quickly, but wakes up after 10 mi nutes and we have to start the process all over again. By the fourth time, she is usually out for the night, where she can do a stretch from 10-5 most nights, but sometimes wakes up for a feed a 3 am as well. Is there anything i can do to change this pattern without letti g her CIO in the evenings? Thanks so much for your help!

    Admin · September 5, 2014 at 10:39 am

    Hi Kathy,

    It sounds from your description like your daughter is really over-tired and having problems winding down to a peaceful sleep. The waking at 10 minutes is also a big indicator!

    Your awake time of 2.5 hours sounds a bit too long for a 14 week old – most babies this age are only up for 1 to 1.5 hours. Can you try making her bedtime earlier? So she is going down for the night 1.5 hours after waking up from her last nap? An ideal bedtime to aim for is 7-7:30pm and it sounds like shortening her awake time could work with this timing. You could add a dreamfeed in at 10pm to top her up food wise and keep her going until morning. If you have trouble doing the whole bedtime routine in 1.5 hours you could move her bath to the morning or middle of the day. Baths can be soothing, but they can also be really stimulating for the younger ones and it might be revving her up rather than winding her down.

    Let me know if you try the above and how it goes! I’m glad you found the website and I hope my comments have been helpful.

    PS. A 3am waking to feed is totally normal at this age, as is 5 naps a day :).

Admin · September 5, 2014 at 10:54 am

It sounds like you are putting your son down too late – but that is just a guess. When you look at the sample schedule, the ‘sleep’ time starts when they are actually asleep – that isn’t the time that you start winding down to sleep. So you really need to start getting your son ready for sleep 15-20 minutes before his awake time is over.

Based on my guess (which could be wrong, it’s hard to tell without knowing more about his whole day), here is my action plan for you:
1. Become at expert at reading his sleepy signs. Every baby has their ‘magic time’ when they are more easily able to fall asleep. Finding it is the tricky bit! Look for his sleep signs (they are there, even if you don’t know what they look like yet). Eye rubbing, or yawning are late sleepy signs which means you’ve left it too late. Getting him to bed when he is ready is more important than following a written routine.
2. Reduce his awake time. I have a feeling that if you reduce his awake time he will find it easier to fall asleep. Taking an hour to fall asleep at this young age is usually an indicator of being over-tired or over-stimulated.
3. Keep his awake time very calm and low key. Not too much stimulation, not too much time left under a baby gym or mobile. Sitting in a rocker/bouncer watching you, or interacting with you is going to be best. This will rule out the over-stimulation problem.
4. Try a dreamfeed at 10:30. If you can get to him before he wakes naturally at 11pm you might disrupt his not-so-desirable cycle!

kylie · September 17, 2014 at 2:00 am

Hi, I have a 14 week old who has always been a restless sleeper, I have put him in his own room from 10 weeks old due to keeping me awake most of the night. He started off from approx 3 weeks old cat napping 10mins here and there as he was a 24/7 screamer so his naps were mostly on me or my husband. From about 11wks to 13weeks he was sleeping approx 4hrs per day being 45mins morning, 2-2.5hrs lunch and 45mins arvo but within this week hes decided he now wants to only nap 30-45mins he mostly wakes happy but sometimes you can tell he still needs more sleep but I just cant resettle him for another sleep cycle. He usually goes down to bed around 6pm but seems to wake around 5am which is frustrating as I cant get him back to sleep and it throws the day sleeping out:-( Any advice or suggestions on how I can get him sleeping longer in the morning and during the day?

    Admin · September 19, 2014 at 12:38 am

    Hi Kylie,
    Well done on your parenting so far, it sounds like you have had a difficult start with an unsettled baby. There appears to be a theme in the questions and answers here, and that is we’re dealing with overtired babies. I would take a guess at that also being the problem for your son. I would suggest taking a look at the 3 month old routine examples and seeing if a variation of one something like this might work for your son. Most importantly, take note of his awake times. So, if he wakes at 5am, he needs to be asleep for his first ‘nap’ between 6-6:30. I know this sounds ridiculous, having a nap at 6am, but little ones need their sleep. You will notice as he gets older that this first ‘awake time’ will always be shorter than the rest, and if you try to extend it, the rest of your day will suffer for it. You could also try extending his bed time closer to 7pm to see if this helps move his morning waking from 5am to 6am. I hope that helps a little.

Zeynep Ann · September 17, 2014 at 8:31 am

First of all thank you for such a wonderful website. My LO just turned 4 months and I’ve been doing attachment parenting we are tied at the hips she’ll sleep at night with normal wakings for her age. My problem is putting her down at night 6:30 her bath routine starts but she’ll drag out the last feed from 7:15 to 8:00. Same with naps she won’t sleep unless she has the breast in her mouth! And she’ll sleep for 45mins if I pat and shhh her she’ll sometimes nap for an hour more. We were on a schedule with naps till 2 weeks ago 8-11-2-5:00 then everything changed. I’m so tired would really appreciate your advice.

Nicole · September 17, 2014 at 2:43 pm

My son will be four months old next week and for the past three weeks he has stopped sleeping through the night and fights naps. I don’t know what to do to get him back on track. I’ve had to feed him in the middle of the night to get him to calm down and go back to sleep.

Lauren · September 24, 2014 at 7:03 pm

My LO is 6 weeks, and the last couple days he has been getting up around 7-7:30 and not going down for a nap until 9-9:30. He only sleep for about a half hour o so. He then is awake until his next feeding around 11 and then sleep for 2-3 hours. After that long nap he usually doesn’t take another longer. Ap before bed (I have tried) and then as betime approaches he is so overtired its hard to get him to eat without falling asleep. We start bedtime process around 6:45…. Anything I should be doing different?

Rachel · September 25, 2014 at 5:10 am

Hi There,
My daughter is 5 and a half weeks old and has been a very alert and aware little girl from day one. She feeds every 3 hours and will go once in the evening 4hr between a feed however she barely sleeps during the day and will go once during the day where she wont sleep at all from one feed to the next. when we can get her to nap it will be 10 – 20mins. She is more then happy to fall asleep in our arms most times but as soon as we put her down she wakes and cries its like she has very little interest in sleeping during the day but she’s so overtired! and fights it every time. During the day she is lucky to sleep a total of 3 hrs where is at night she sleeps straight after a feed without being rocked, patted or shh’d and will self settle and sleep until the next feed. From what i have read she should be sleeping 15 hours plus in a 24 hr period but she’s not even close to that. Would really appreciate any advice as this is my first child.

    Admin · October 3, 2014 at 8:51 am

    Rachel & Lauren, your little ones are so young, I think it would be hard to institute a routine at this age or do anything specific to manipulate their days.

    Take a look at this article about newborn sleep, make sure you are putting them down fairly quickly after a feed as they will not have much awake time at this age (pretty much just enough time for a feed, nappy change and very quick cuddle), avoid toys / baby gyms etc (they cause over-stimulation and your baby will have trouble winding down and falling asleep).

    You might also find the 6 week routines page helpful, but remember that this can vary WIDELY, so no pressure on yourself or your baby, okay?

    I know it can be stressful at this stage and you want to have a routine or some normalcy to your day, but just go with the flow, I promise you will get there!

Andrea · October 12, 2014 at 9:45 am

Hello! I have just started reading your book ‘Secrets of the Baby Whisperer’ and although I am only up to chapter 2, I am finding it informative & interesting! Thank you!
I have a 5.5 w/o baby boy who is a tad on the “touchy/spirited/grumpy” side (to use your terms).
My concern is that he will not go to sleep during the day in his crib at all. I am starting to become worried/anxious that he has developed a bad habit that I will not be able to crack & it’s making me a nervous wreck. I have read so much info about teaching your baby to send themselves to sleep/self-settle & none of the strategies are working for me & my baby. He will cry/scream for hours if I try & put him in his crib or he wakes after 15 & will scream uncontrollably.
During the day, he will go to sleep if swaddled & rocked in my arms or if I go for a walk in the pram (he likes motion). This is my dilemma as some days I literally have to hold him for 1.5hrs+ so he can have a decent sleep, or I feel as though all I am doing is going for walks all day!!!
At night, my hubby & I tag team to hold him while he sleeps on us until around 11pm where I take over, feed (he remains asleep) & then he is usually asleep in his crib by 12/12:30am. He sleeps for around 2hrs during the night & will wake for a feed at around 2:30am, 4am, 6:30am give or take.
I know we can’t hold him to sleep forever but nothing I try seems to work & I can’t bear the screaming if I try him in his crib.
PS. I know he is going through the 6 week leap atm too so things are sensitive in our household!! I’m thinking only a miracle will work at this stage!

    Admin · October 14, 2014 at 1:06 am

    Hi Andrea, I didn’t write Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, I’m just an advocate 🙂

    Take a look at my advice above to Rachel & Lauren, also with new little ones. I think this would suit your situation as well. I know there’s pressure to get things right in the early weeks, but things will settle down, I promise! In the meantime, lavish your baby boy with love and do what you need to do. You don’t get these days back!

Kirsten · October 12, 2014 at 7:23 pm

Hi there
My little boy is 10 weeks old and has suddenly begun refusing to go to sleep for between 1.5 and 5 hours every evening. Up until a week or so ago we had a great bedtime routine, bath then darkened room, soft talking, white noise and pjs, then a feed and he’d go off to sleep without much trouble. Suddenly he’s aware and awake and it takes hours to get him to get to sleep. I’m trying not to intervene too much, just put him down and shush him gently then sit back out of view and allow him to go to sleep, unless he becomes very distressed. He is using a dummy and as soon as it falls out he wakes himself and cries. He seems to try everything to fight sleep!
He was also sleeping from 7/8pm – 3/4am and he’s started waking for a 10pm feed again. I just feel like things are going backwards! He’s not a great sleeper in the daytime he seems to be a catnapper (3 or 4 30 minute naps on average although sometimes he fights these too!) I’m wondering if I now need to start enforcing longer daytime naps?
I find this difficult as for my own sanity I need to get out of the house daily, but I’ve heard people say you should stay home til naps are established!
Not sure where to go from here, would appreciate any help you can offer 🙂
Thank you!

    Admin · October 14, 2014 at 1:13 am

    Hi Kirsten,

    I sounds like your son could be going through a wonder week. This can throw things that worked before, out the window. But the good news is that after a week or two things will return to how they were!

    I’d recommend adding a dream feed at 10pm, this will help eliminate the 3/4am waking. And if your son is already waking at 10, perfect timing.

    Also, take a look at the article about short naps, you may have one on your hands staying home to ‘establish naps’ won’t fix this. But there is definitely some wisdom in that advice, I definitely wouldn’t recommend being out for more than one nap per day.

Kerry hillier · October 13, 2014 at 8:19 pm

I’ve loved this site since my little girl was born but we are struggling with a routine now she is 8months old. When she was younger she seemed to fit into 1 of your routines pretty well. It would be interesting to see possible routines for older babies from 6 months

    Admin · October 14, 2014 at 1:08 am

    Thanks for your message Kerry and I’m glad you’re finding the site helpful. I’m working on getting routines up for older babies, so they’re coming!

Kim · October 14, 2014 at 1:49 am

I’ve got a 9 week old baby that has had trouble sleeping during the day, but sleeps great at night. She takes a while to get to bed at night, but when you do she will sleep through it in 2-4 hour increments. Usually around 7am she will wake and stay awake until 8-9pm. That’s my problem. I spend my entire day holding her, swaddling,rocking, bouncing, trying the swing, trying to nurse every hour to help her fall asleep. The most she will nap is 30 minutes at a time, 2-3 times during the day. I thought she was overtired but I’m very attentive to her and swear I haven’t missed any signs of tiredness. The moment I notice she is tired I try to put her down for a nap. She drools a lot and is comforted by the pacifier but never cared for it before. She actively sucks it during her brief naps, and starles easily.. I can tell she is not REM-ing. I feel like I am doing something wrong and I’m feeling frustrated I cannot get her the sleep she is craving. Help. Thank you in advance.

    Admin · October 17, 2014 at 2:44 am

    Hi Kim,

    How long is your daughter awake before you put her down? You said that you thought she was over tired and often mom’s first gut instinct is right. Even though you haven’t missed any of her tired signs, for some babies, tired signs come too late and they are actually over tired signs. At this age she shouldn’t be staying up for more than an hour and a half, with that first morning awake time as short as one hour. Your bed time seems a little late too, if she’s up at 7am, 7pm would be a good sleep time.

    All of that said, is she happy during the day? Or is she cranky? If she’s happy, then maybe that’s just how she is, and she doesn’t need any more sleep yet. Some babies are just this way until they’re a few months older when they start moving around more and need more sleep to restore their energy.

Carrie · October 16, 2014 at 12:51 am

My son is exactly 5 months old today. About a month ago he started cat napping for every single nap. He wakes after 35-45 min and attempts to fall back to sleep but is never successful. He knows how to fall asleep on his own and he almost never cries when he wakes up from his naps. He’s really been struggling with falling back to sleep though. He’ll usually try for 5-10 min before giving up and then he just lays there and chats to himself or plays with his hands and feet until I come get him. How can I help him extend his naps? I know he’s still tired after these short naps. And he becomes increasingly more tired as the day goes on and he doesn’t get a good nap in. Any help or advice on extending his naps would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

    Admin · October 17, 2014 at 2:47 am

    Hi Carrie,

    Take a look at my article on 45 minute naps here and make sure you aren’t keeping your son up for too long by checking the awake time for 5 months old here. As they get older it’s common for parents to start extending their awake time, and often little ones aren’t ready for it. In particular, keep an eye on that first wake time that should still be quite short. Getting this wrong stuffs up the rest of the day and will eventually lead to night waking.

Amanda · October 20, 2014 at 4:10 am

My 6 week old is completely skipping his late afternoon nap no matter what we do. We’ve had success getting on a eat/awake/sleep routine where he bottle feeds every 3 hours. We’re starting our morning between 7-8 a.m. no matter what he does at night, but he’s been sleeping 4 hour stretches late night to early morning. It varies a little, but the problem we’re having is, after 3 good day time naps of 1 1/2-2 hours and not keeping him awake more than 40 minutes at a time, he wakes up at 4 or 5, feeds, and will not go back to sleep no matter what. He’s wide eyed. We swaddle, rock, put him down in the crib and leave for awhile, and he just won’t settle down. At first he’s acting not sleepy, but by 6:30pm he’s incredibly fussy and still not settling. I guess he has the “witching hour” problem but I don’t know what to do about it and then putting him to bed for the night is impossibly hard as he’s so fussy. This evening we spent the whole time between 5-8 after his feed/awake time trying to keep him calm and keep him from getting over tired. What is going on with him? I know he’s young, so I don’t want to be too hard on him, I love rocking him, but we need a consistent routine where he’s not miserable for hours each evening. It makes the whole family miserable. I added up his total sleep hours for several 24 hour periods of the last week and it ranges from 13-15 hours… If he’d go to sleep in the early evening instead of cry/scream until 10 or 11pm then he’d be getting a proper total amount of sleep… so I’m very desperate. Help please.

    Admin · October 23, 2014 at 10:58 pm

    Hi Amanda,

    I wish I could help, but I think you’ve answered your own question … it sounds like ‘witching hour’. Sometimes, no matter what you do, under 12 weeks of age there is just no solution (even the medical profession doesn’t know why newborns get fussy at this time). But, you are doing EVERYTHING right, so take heart! You have a great routine, you are not letting your son get over tired, and more important than anything else, you are giving him the opportunity to sleep. You can’t do any more than that!

    Something is obviously going on for your son during the evening and he needs you. My suggestion would be to offer lots of cuddles and try cluster feeding (2 hourly feeds) from dinner time until bed time. This is recommended in The Baby Whisperer book and lots of people have found it helps a little with evening fussiness and extending night time sleeps.

    Keep up the great work!

Dre · October 21, 2014 at 9:25 pm

Hi I have a 3 month old. He sleeps good at night waking up 3.5-4 hours. But during the day he is always tired. I try to put him down for a nap but he just cries NO MATTER WHAT! A couple of days ago I got him down after waking up at 6:30 and he slept until 10:30 and then slept again from 11-12:45. Is that too much sleep. He didn’t fuss or anything between the naps I just put him in the swing. And yesterday ad today I tried to switch it thinking he was sleeping too long but he’s only been sleeping if I nurse him abd thats about a 30 minute nap. What can I do? Does he need to catch up on sleep? Am I missing something. Is sleeping from 8:30 pm to 1230 pm too long even though he wants to?

    Admin · October 23, 2014 at 11:06 pm

    Hi Dre,
    It’s hard to offer specific advice without knowing what his whole day looks like, but from a glance … let him sleep! Has he always been like this, or is it a new thing? If it’s new, it could be a wonder week.
    “Is sleeping from 8:30 pm to 1230 pm too long even though he wants to?” No, not at all! I would suggest an earlier bed time (between 6:30-7:30 seems to work best for most people) and a dreamfeed between 10-11pm (just before you go to bed) and this might help a little. If you can get him to take a feed in his sleep at the dreamfeed and eliminate that waking, he might not be as tired the next day as well. Consistency in night sleep often comes before consistency of naps, so try to get his night routine down and you might find the day follows.
    Thanks for sending in a message, and feel free to comment or ask further questions if you need to.

      Dre · October 24, 2014 at 10:41 pm

      We’ve moved his bed time to 7:30. I try to make sure he take at least two naps, he usual sleeps for 2.5 hours. But sometomes even tgat is a hassle. He wakes up more often now than he did with an 8:30 bedtime. His naps I usually try to get him ready for them about 45 minutes after he wakes up from the previous one, because if I don’t he refuses to go to sleep if I wait any longer. By 1 hour he’s over tired. Or at least he seems to be. Where should I go from here? To a 630 bedtime?

        Admin · October 31, 2014 at 6:46 am

        Have you tried adding a dreamfeed? Have you tried putting him down earlier than the one hour mark for his naps? (If he seems over tired it is worth a try). Are you making sure he’s not over stimulated during the day? (No loud bright toys in his face all the time, limited swings, rockers and baby gyms). Unfortunately there’s no magic answer, sometimes it is just trial and error. What is your mommy instinct telling you? Often your first thought will be the right one!

Samantha · October 23, 2014 at 1:00 am

My baby is 3 months old today. He’s on a 3 hour feeding routine, starting with his first feed of the day at 8am. He’s typically up for an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and a half after each meal, then sleeps until his next scheduled meal. This is never longer than 2 hours. At night we feed him at 8pm then have a bedtime routine which puts him in bed around 9. Then he’s up around 11:30, 2:30, and then 5:30 hungry, very hungry for each time he’s up. Many nights he also won’t go back to sleep after the 2:30 feed, staying up sometimes until he starts his hunger cry around 5:30. Between 2:30 and 5:30 I’ll leave him in his crib and he’ll start crying a few times throughout this 3 hour window in which I’ll go in, soothe him briefly, and then leave. I’ve tried increasing the number of ounces he’s eating during the day, hoping this would help him not be as hungry at night, but for most daytime meals he won’t eat more than 3 to 4 ounces. He’s a wonderful daytime napper but a horrible night time sleeper. No one seems to have any suggestions. Help!

    Admin · October 23, 2014 at 11:13 pm

    Well done on the naps Samantha! I know there would be a lot of envious moms out there. And although your nights aren’t working as good as your days, they are actually not that different from the majority of babies. Your son sounds fairly typical. I have 2 suggestions for you:
    1. Think about bringing his bed time earlier. Although it sounds counter intuitive, the earlier the bed time is usually the later babies sleep. So if you can get your son’s bed time to around 7pm you might find that he skips that 5:30am waking.
    2. You could also add in a dreamfeed before you go to bed (usually between 10-11pm). I can see that he is up ever three hours in the night and this dreamfeed would break the cycle of 3 hourly feeds – which are fine in the day but you want them eliminated at night.
    Moving his bed time to 7pm would mean that your first feed would also move to 7am though, and since you have a beautiful day this change in routine might change things during the day. So think hard about it before you do anything!

Robyn · October 26, 2014 at 11:57 am

My 3 month old is only eating 2.5 oz at most each feeding…and spits the rest up if we try to force her to eat..she also wakes up 2-3 times at night bc of this, how can I get her to eat more..bc I’m afraid she isn’t sleeping enough..even her naps are only 20 min at a time

    Admin · October 31, 2014 at 6:51 am

    Hi Robyn, I’m not a feeding expert and because you think your daughter isn’t getting enough milk I would suggest seeing a health professional. I would hate to give an opinion when your daughter’s growth and health are at stake. Good luck.

Martina · October 28, 2014 at 10:20 am

Hi I have a 14 week old boy whom is a happy chappy however since the clock change he is a little out of sync he normally feeds 6 oz from 7am wake up every 3hours and then naps for 45mins after an hour and half of play/activity out and about. Bedtime is 7 30 with dream feed at 10 this keeps him going till 4am feed again then start over at 7am! However since clock change he appears overtired going for nap he also is dribbling a lot so am wondering if onset of teething or growth spurt!
Any hints great fully accepted

    Admin · October 31, 2014 at 6:58 am

    Hi Martina,
    I’m not sure where in the world you’re located and when your clock change was, but it can take little ones a good month to settle into the changes that one hour shift makes.
    Some other things it could be:
    – teething
    – a growth spurt
    – a wonder week
    My advice, go with his cues. No matter what the reason for his behavior. If he seems tired, put him down earlier than normal (terrible to lose that great routine I know, but better to have a happy baby and mom). Especially keep an eye on that first wake time, it should always be shorter than the rest of his awake times and keeping it too long can cause over tiredness that continues throughout the day.
    Well done on such an awesome routine so far with such a young-un, and I hope your happy chappy returns soon!

Faith · October 28, 2014 at 11:57 pm

I have a newborn almost 14 wks old. She was 9 weeks early. She sleeps most of the day and night. We came home at 5 weeks and she would wake every 3 hours to eat. Now I am waking her most feedings. She was awake about 5 hours today. Should I be concerned?

thanks

    Admin · October 31, 2014 at 6:40 am

    Hi Faith,
    Because your daughter was so early we would expect her days to be much like that of a 5-6 week old. Prem babies can have special needs so if you concerned I would strongly suggest talking to your health care professional.

Kerry hillier · October 30, 2014 at 5:08 pm

My baby is 9 months old and I’m struggling with an appropriate scgedule to suit her needs. It’s difficult to get her to wake up around the same time every day. But I try not to let her get up before 6. When we get up, she has breakfast at 7 and can sometimes be rubbing eyes/yawning around this time. I’ve tried putting her down at the first signs of tiredness and I’ve tried keeping her up for longer, but she always wakes around the 30 minute mark, sometimes after 20, sometimes 40, and very rarely has an hour uninterrupted. I can never generally extend the first nap of the day which generally falls between 8-9 (I’ve even tried earlier but still a short nap). Upon waking, she is fine for about 30 minutes then gets wingey as though she hasn’t had enough sleep. She has a snack around 10 which she’s never usually interested in and lunch around 11.30. I then try to put her down for a nap after lunch which again, she wakes after 30 minutes. I’ve tried an earlier nap before lunch and still wakes around 30 minutes. Generally I can get her to extend this nap so that she has about 1 hour 20-1 hour 30 in total which I’m still not sure is enough. It can be very restless though. Around 2pm she has milk and is offered a snack, which again she is very rarely interested in. Then we will put her down for another nap anywhere between 3.30-4.30 to tie her over till bedtime. She has tea around 5pm, bath at 6pm, milk at 6.15 and is in bed between half 6 and 7 where she will usually fall asleep easily and unaided. Nights can vary but she very rarely sleeps through. She generally wakes anywhere from 3am onwards, sometimes goes back to sleep, sometimes doesn’t. Then will sometimes stay there until morning but can sometimes be up and down every half hour. What kind of schedule would you aim to get her into? She’s never been the best of sleepers but had usually fit into 1 of your routines up until 4 months

    Admin · October 31, 2014 at 7:04 am

    Hi Kerry, I’m working on some routines for older babies and will have them up soon!

Helen Raethel · November 8, 2014 at 8:24 am

Hi there

I have a 12 week old baby. Every morning around 3am-6am he is super squirmy in bed. Thrashes head side to side and moves around a lot. Looks like hes uncomfortable about something. We ruled out wind (after lots of burping and infacol) not reflux (as its been treated). Its accompanied by “eh eh rh” sound not crying. Hes usually asleep when it happens and it does eventually wake him up. No one seems to know what it is. Thanks

    Admin · November 12, 2014 at 12:03 am

    Hi Helen, that is a tricky one, and because I’m not medically trained it’s hard to guess at a medical reason. The ‘eh’ or ‘eairh’ sounds usually means the need to burp or painful gas in the tummy / intestines, but the latter is usually also accompanied by leg movements, not primarily head from side to side (unless he is tightly swaddled). My first assumption would be reflux, and even if he is medicated it can take a while for the damage to his throat to heal – it’s not an instant take the medication and now it’s all better scenario.
    Keep up the burping, give the relux meds time to work and keep an eye on any other ‘symptoms’ that accompany it.

Kerry · November 10, 2014 at 5:11 am

I have a 7 week old baby and am trying to get into a routine. When I put her down and she cries, how long should I wait before going in to her? Also, when I settle her when she is crying at sleep time, should I ever pick her up? Or just leave her in the cot and try to soothe her in there by patting etc?

    Admin · November 11, 2014 at 11:52 pm

    At this age Kerry, I would go into her when she cries. In my opinion, 7 weeks old is too young for a routine and too young for controlled crying (or any variations of that). As for picking her up, it comes down to your mommy instinct, but I would pick up for a cry, but soothe in her cot for a whinge. But all of this is just my personal philosophy based on a gentle parent lead approach, and doesn’t suit every parent.

Mandy · November 11, 2014 at 4:02 am

My daughter is 11 weeks old (was born 4.5 weeks early). She has had stretches of sleeping up to 6 hrs at night, however this usually occurs when she goes to bed late like 11pm. She will be really fussy from 730ish to 11 as she is already getting tired so I have been doing bedtime routine starting around 7-730 and then she is fed and in bed sleeping by 9 at the latest depending on how feeding goes/diaper changing needs last minute ect. When she goes to bed this early she will still sleep at least 4 hrs. however then after that is up/down every 1-2 hrs the rest of the night. Since half of her long stretch I am getting myself ready for bed etc. I am not getting very good sleep. I want to start a dreamfeed around 11ish as I will have to get her up by 6am to leave for daycare. Is this feed a full feed? Is the bed time a full feed? Both, one or the other, one big/one small?

Thanks!

    Admin · November 11, 2014 at 11:50 pm

    Every feed should be a big feed at this age Mandy, especially if she was early. By giving her big full feeds at bed time and at the dreamfeed she will be less likely to wake through the night (when she gets older, it’s a big ask at this age). I’d also suggest cluster feeding – there is a good explanation in The Baby Whisperer book – the theory is to get more calories into them during the day so they don’t need to wake for them during the night. This might help her stretch longer between feeds overnight.

Katie · November 16, 2014 at 8:03 pm

Hello!
Wow! What a website. Thank you so much for all the time and thought that you put into all of this incredible information. For a new mom, this is a breath of fresh air! Talk about a labor of love!

We have a 7-week old and we struggle with her waking up from her naps seeming quite upset. We will put her down after being cuddled, rocked, sung to, burped… (not fully asleep, but very drowsy) and she’ll be out like a light. Then, about 10-15 minutes later (almost like clockwork) she will wake up crying. Not just whimpering, but really crying. We check her temperature, her diaper, etc… anything that would cause a baby to cry and 90% of the time, there aren’t any issues. Should we have a time limit that we let her cry in order for her to attempt to settle herself? This will continue through most of her naps – she will wake up crying every 10-15 minutes which is resulting in a VERY tired baby as I don’t think she is getting the deep / full sleep that she needs.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Again, thank you for your time! Take care. Katie

Dee · November 19, 2014 at 3:09 am

Hi, my son is 14 weeks old tomorrow. His wake time during the day has increased to 1.5 hours and he usually takes 4 naps a day totalling about 5 hours and about 10 hours sleep at night, usually waking once. My question is, each day seems to be slightly different in terms of what time he gets up and when he takes his nap. I would love to have a more time specific routine and also for him to have a set bedtime every night. However if we try to put him to bed too early he won’t fall asleep and will keep crying until we spend a long time walking with him til he sleeps, same thing happens if he is overtired.. At this age should we impose standard nap times and a standard bedtime? Currently we work on his bed time as 1.5 hours from the time he wakes from his last nap, so it is changing every night

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