3 month old - How to lengthen naps? Any way to avoid 4 month sleep regression hell?

[FinallySomeNormality]

LO just turned 3 months and on the whole is sleeping well. Nighttimes are really good (so far) as he goes to bed around 7pm, dreamfeed at 11pm (he's always asleep for this too!) and then he sleeps until 6:30-7am.

However, LO isn't my 1st DC and I'm all too bloody aware of how the 4 month sleep regression can royally eff things up! So if anyone has any tips to help navigate that awful period with the least amount of pain that would be very welcome!?

Anyway... my main question is naps. LO can only sleep for one sleep cycle during the day (43-45mins every.single.time) and has been like this for months. It's not particularly problematic as he goes down fine in his cot for these naps (will also go down in pram, but takes longer as he's too interested in the world!) but it does mean he has what feels like quite a lot of naps in one day and this can be a bit of a pain for going out and about.

Anyone know how to lengthen the naps beyond one sleep cycle?

He has a dummy which is used only for sleep. He relies heavily on this during the day for naps - will cry if he wakes and its not in his mouth. At night he goes off with the dummy at 7pm but it falls out when he goes to sleep and he doesn't cry for it and then goes all night without it in. Do I need to go cold turkey on the dummy and just get rid?

Practice makes perfect.

The more baby tries and practices linking sleep cycles, the better they get at doing it.

Be right next to baby from about 35 mins into the nap, at the first grimace out of deep sleep, dummy back in and resettle - rock the pushchair or pat/shush in the cot. The idea is to help baby go from light sleep phase back to deep sleep, rather than light sleep leading to a wake up.

Baby will not get it consistently at first, but always try. Every single nap time. Every now and again she'll link a sleep cycle. Over time every now and again will become most of the time, then all of the time. Alongside this you'll also notice you need to do less and less to help baby through the sleep cycle, until no help is needed.

I used to patiently wait next to my DD when it came to the end of a sleep cycle and at the first sign of a stir, I’d pop her dummy back in and pat/shush her. It worked half the time but by 6 months she was consistently linking sleep cycles.

Fates advice is good! I listened to her. Now generally I get 1.5 in morning and depends on afternoon sometimes 1.5 sometimes 2hrs.i get 2 naps sometimes 3. Depends on the day.

I simply go to her at 35/40 min mark as soon as I see my LO stir I pop my hand on her chest and wait until she's settled. Every baby different. Do what works for you.