FATEdestiny are you about?

[brokengate]

@fatedestiny and any other sleep gurus.

Wonder if anyone can offer some guidance, feeling clueless.

I have Dd 25 months who was the most horrific sleeper until I did Ferber at 14 months. Now she's 730 to 6.30 and 1.5 hour nap.

I also have Dd five months. I think I'm doing better overall with her, but have got a little stuck.

She goes down in pushchair at 7pm and stays with me till bed. I change her and feed her again at 10pm and then she goes down in next to me until bang on 4am. Then she's full of smiles and general loveliness but it's 4am. She takes a feed well, winds and changes then beams and shouts till 6am. By which point I'm nearly up with toddler.

She then naps on and off morning. Two hours after lunch and half hour at 5ish.

Now don't get me wrong, she's doing great, and I did 14 months of hourly wakening before. And she's been a tricky one till three months as well, but four am starts are slowly breaking me. Just such a long day with two of them.

What should I be doing to start to push that a little later? Or should I leave it be until she's weaning.

Many thanks for any help.

I only just saw your thread, sorry.

It's a tricky age at 5 months. What you really want to do is drop the 10pm wake and feed. So start doing in-cot bedtime at 7pm. But as you'll know, safe sleep guidelines means you can't do that until 6 months. But I suspect that's what she needs. Maybe wait a month and middle through? (Although lots changes when weaning starts).

The idea is that you shift the 10pm feed for a middle of the night feed. I know that's not ideal but the pay off is (hopefully) a later morning.

Then over time, because the first chunk of sleep is always the best one, it should gradually lengthen. You can help this along by resetting instead of feeding where possible. This then leads to night weaning which then leads to sleeping through (!!)

Thank you so much. Yes I can do another month, or whatever it takes I just need to know I'm on track not to mess up again.

Last night was strange. She woke four but not crying. I shushed her and gave her dummy back. Did this till 4.30 thinking I would get up soon, just exhausted. Both woke 7, and toddler!!

She took her first feed much better. Usually messes around as full from 4am one.

See how tonight goes and will aim to shift to that at 6 months.