19 week old cat napping

[Karanciri]

Hello,

I know this has been done to death but I'm trying not to create too many bad habits. My 19 week old was sleeping really well during the day and night (bf so went from 6.30pm-2/3am, fed for a few mins then straight back to sleep till 6/7). We did dream feed for a while with an expressed bottle but she took less and less so stopped.
Cue dreaded regression. In the weeks leading up to her being 4 months we would aim for one or 2 naps in cot, putting down awake. She would drift off fairly easily with dummy.
Now she can't link her sleep cycles she is only managing 30 min naps. Then bing, wide wide awake, cooing.
I've tried keeping to smaller wake windows (usually she just fights sleep until her usual 2 hour wake window approaches).
So what I've been doing for the past week is putting her down for her long ltn, when she wakes after 30 mins I pick her up, and she then goes back to sleep on me for another 1 and a half (she does fight a bit but generally goes back to sleep).

Is this the right thing to do? Getting desperate now as her night time sleep is now going rapidly downhill, she is waking from 1am, every 2 hours wanting fed then takes ages to back down to sleep.

Many thanks

You would be better getting her to go to sleep in something that moves (bouncer, pushchair etc).

You can then help her learn to link sleep cycles without being moved or disturbed, but by moving the surface she is on. So restart bouncing the bouncy chair 25 mins into the nap, for example. Then as she learn a to link the cycles herself, she'll need less and less movement from you until none is needed.

Only then, once baby has successfully learnt to link cycles and is sleeping 90 minutes plus without any intervention, would I move to static cot naps.

@FATEdestiny thank you! I have tried bouncing her in the past, she's not a fan of movement. It look a long time for her to fall asleep in the pram (she only started doing it the past few weeks), again she will only do 30 mins even if I'm walking up and down the same bit of path.
She's never liked being rocked in our arms as a newborn either, she very much wanted to be swaddled and put down or you needed to be standing still. Unfortunately she started to roll over early so we had to stop.
I've also tried the rousing slightly method 10 mins before she usually wakes up but that has never worked, it usually ends up her waking early.

I have tried bouncing her in the past, she's not a fan of movement.

All bets are off at the 4 month mark.the whole mechanism for baby sleep changes at this point in a way it will not so radically change ever again. So I'd try again. The perceived preference will wildly change with age at this stage.

But if baby won't have any movement, you will get better long term habits by using in-cot soothing methods, rather than picking her up out of the cot. So that means dummy in, hand on chest firmly and rhthymic patting. If you have a bedside /sidecar cot, cuddling your face close to baby's helps too.

@FATEdestiny
Thank you, this explains why she is now able to sleep in the pram. I will try again.

She actually managed to sleep for 45 mins in her cot yesterday, she was on her front for the first time so perhaps she is less likely to be startled that way (she usually wakes up flailing!).
Thank you for your advice!