Wake to sleep

[emmamw06]

My 11 week old is waking every 35-45 mins during day naps (currently working on extending A time but I think I pushed it too far because naps became 20 mins). Should I try the wake to sleep method? Can someone explain it to me?
Also, I'm considering using it for night wakings. She wakes around 3am each night, which I think is more habit than hunger. Should I use it at this time also? Thanks

[nevinsmama]

Hi there! W2S is explained well here:How do I address habitual wakings? (wake-to-sleep and other methods)
If the 3am waking is your ONLY waking I would say it is hunger and count your blessings! Short naps are VERY common at this age but W2S can help as can, of course, age appropriate routine. If you want to post your day, we are happy to take a look!

[emmamw06]

Awesome, thanks.
Our day is as follows:
E 7am
A
S 8.15am - sleep 30-40 mins/awake 1 hr, sometimes another 30 min sleep
E 10.30am
A
S 11.45am - as above
E 2pm
A
S 3.15pm - as above
E 5.30pm
A bath, pyjamas etc
S 7pm - goes to sleep easily, no wake ups
DF 10pm
NF 3am - awake 15 mins, falls asleep on bottle and straight back to bed
I have tried pushing her out to 1.20 min activity and she started napping for only 20 mins. She goes into bed very easily but just keeps waking up after a short time. She loves being held to sleep during the day - it's when I try to put her into her cot that I get the short napping. I guess I've become a prop?
With the night feeds, she wakes around 3am no matter what time we dream feed (whether it's 10 or 11) so I thought maybe it's become habit? She slept through the other night (11pm DF to 6.30am WU). What do you think?

[mothergoose]

Hi emma,
Just wanted to jump in to say we are still in the exact same boat short naps 35-45 min all day with the occasional super long one in the afternoon but nearly always needs resettled in the middle. I have tried wts with no success. Also tried going in for 35min mark and holding throught the jolts/blocking visual stimulation etc....this has worked a few times for us but cant feasibly do it with a toddler at home too. I tried pushing out A time got to 1hr 45 but naps just got harder to settle for and shorter......let me know if you find a solution...its nice to know im not the only one xx

[Kellyjs]

Hi hun, thought I'd jump in if that's ok? I've used w2s vv successfully on DD although she was a bit older.

At that age tbh, I would feed at 3am especially around this age there's a huge GS coming up. That's a decent time between the DF and nf so I would presume hunger. You could look at reducing the amount if she become less interested in her firt feed of the day.

I would continue with the 1hr 20mins A hun. Perhaps go in at around the 20mins mark and hold through the jolts (HTTJ). As she's used to being held to sleep it could be the transition into deeper sleep wakes her up. It's quite hard to do but you kind of have one hand or arm over her chest and arms and one over her legs. Wait for the jolt, and hold for a few seconds. Perhaps introducing ssh at this point will help to when you transition to ssh/pat.

Ok once that's done for the first nap of the day, leave her and see how long she naps for. That'll give us a good indication if the. A time is about right. As pp said though short napping is vv common at this age and there's not much we can do but try these little tricks and have the. A time right. Fancy giving it a go and letting me know? Xx

[emmamw06]

Great, thanks so much for the help xo

[emmamw06]

So the moment we hit 12 weeks my daughter became a dream sleeper - sleeping all night without waking/feeding and taking independent naps in bed/pram/car. Now we at at 16 weeks everything is going a bit wonky - broken sleep within naps and waking to feed once at night. I assume this is the 4 month regression as she is definitely in a wonder week! Any tips to survive this? Is there any info on the site about this period? Thanks

[Kellyjs]

Ahh the 4mo SR, so sorry you've hit it hun   . It is just a case of riding it out I'm afraid. The key is consistency. Don't start any bad habits that you know will cause you troubles in the long run. I can't find anything specific to the 4mo SR here.

A NF can pop back around now too as there's a major growth spurt, so I wouldn't worry about that xx

Developmental Milestones