7mo very early waking

[PestilentMorpork]

We have recently had some success with gentle sleep training (using the Lucy Wolfe ‘stay and soothe’ method) my 7month old. Previously he was waking every 1.5 to 2 hours, but we have now managed to get him to sleep from 6:30 / 7pm til roughly 4am on his own in his cot.

However, we can’t seem to crack the 4am wakes. He always stirs around then, and he won’t be settled back to sleep in his cot. I can sometimes feed him back to sleep and get another hour if I hold him or bring him into bed with me, but even that is hit and miss. He’s usually wide awake and ready for the day.

In terms of his schedule, he tends to have a first nap early (starting between 6am and 7am) for 40 minutes to an hour. His next nap starts around 10-11 and is usually 1.5 to 2 hours. His third nap usually starts around 2pm and is usually around 1.5 hours.

We start his bedtime routine at about 5:30 and he’s in bed for 6. Usually takes him around 30 - 60 minutes to fall asleep (with us there to soothe him). This soothing time is getting shorter each day, but still fairly lengthy.

Is there anything I can do to keep him asleep for longer? Shorter day time naps? Earlier or later bedtime?

He’s exclusively breastfed and wasn’t remotely night weaned before sleep training, but I don’t think he actually needs fed overnight because he has two decent meals a day and eats well, on top of 5 good milk feeds. He also doesn’t seem hungry at 4am - just wide awake and ready for the day!

Thanks so much if anyone has any advice

While an average night time sleep at this stage is 11h, anything within the range of 10h-12h would be considered totally normal. Therefore a 6pm asleep-by time giving you a 4am wake time is entirely expected.

She needs a later bedtime. If you have no reason to get up by a specific time in the morning, I'd suggest a significantly later bedtime initially, to shift the routine. Say for example aiming for your 10h overnight sleep being 9pm - 7am (and knowing that if baby stays asleep for 11h until 8am, that this is OK).

That will clearly need an extra nap slotting in between waking at 3.30pm and bedtime at 8.30pm (for 9pm sleep). I'd suggest 5pm for 60 minutes, but whatever you think would work.

The idea isn't to keep an 8.30pm bedtime long term (although that might be what suits, you never know) but to use it to shift routine.