Our awesome 11 week old (12 lbs at 8 weeks) has settled into a pretty consistent sleep pattern at night: ~4.5-5.5 hrs & then again 3 hrs later (~3am) & then again at 3hrs later at ~6/6:30. We used to do a dream feed, but it stopped working (he’d just get an extra feed & then wake up a couple hrs later, as if the dream feed didn’t happen). Challenge is that even if we go to bed at 8:30, we can sometimes only get a 3hr stretch. (We also have a 2.75 y/o we need to get ready for bed etc.)
Any ideas for how we can either shift or elongate the long stretch?
(About once a week he’ll do something longer - 6hrs or this Monday; 7.5.) I know the answer is probably just time, but our first was doing 8 hrs consistently by this time, and was smaller, so thought it couldn’t hurt to ask. I also recognize some babies aren’t doing 5hr stretches at this age- please know we appreciate any king stretch of sleep
@christbearer95 My 12 week is a pretty sleepy baby anyway and I do think the way she sleeps is mostly based on her temperament.
However, I got some great advise that helped us get her to 6-8 hour stretches - Follow wake windows for baby's age (1-1.5 hours), limit naps to two hours, mental stimulation when they're awake, and lots of tummy time, and a consistent bedtime routine.
@mamacub63 Thank you! Those are the wake windows we do & the other activities, as well. It’s probably just his nature, and will take time. Appreciate the ideas!!
@christbearer95 Have you tried the Huckleberry app? It helps to keep track of day sleep and wake windows. I found that tracking and curbing day sleep helped to extend night sleep. Also, that young, I think it’s pretty normal to not have longer stretches than you mentioned.
@christbearer95 I like that it has the sweet spot feature if you upgrade. It is freaky accurate! It kind of takes the guesswork out of why my baby is crying.
@christbearer95 Shift calories to daytime as much as you can. Make sure baby is having a full feed and not a snack at least every 3 hours. Once you know they’re eating enough during the daytime hours, respond to overnight wakeups by trying to soothe in other ways instead of immediately offering a feed as the first solution (paci, shushing, patting etc). My 9 week old just started sleeping 10-11 hours overnight without a feed, and that’s what I did in addition to following wake windows. My first was also STTN by 12 weeks following the same advice.
