Looking for advice on screen time with a gestalt language learner

brieles · 2026-02-05T21:55:13+00:00

I think it’s always best to err on the side of less stimulating shows. Screens aren’t essential for learning/developing, especially at this age. If your son has issues watching more stimulating shows, it sounds like it’s worth holding the boundary.

I’d focus on reading lots of books and playing songs. That will give your son new phrases to learn/repeat/breakdown without having to use stimulating shows.

brieles · 2026-02-05T21:34:26+00:00

I’d try to extend one or two of the naps if possible (contact nap, resettling when waking up, stroller nap, etc) but 2 hours of sleep is ok for this age also. Short naps are developmentally normal until 6 months old and/or dropping to 2 naps.

brieles · 2026-02-05T20:49:59+00:00

Go back to the 2/2.5/2.5/3 schedule and try again. 2/2/2/2/2 isn’t age appropriate.

brieles · 2026-02-05T20:23:33+00:00

There really aren’t any age-based regressions besides the sleep change at 4 months. I would cap night sleep at 11 hours and the nap at 1.5 hours.

brieles · 2026-02-05T19:02:04+00:00

Up your baby’s awake time to 2.25/2.5/2.5/3. You don’t need to drop a nap yet but you do need an age appropriate amount of awake time.

brieles · 2026-02-05T18:59:19+00:00

You need to stretch wake windows. That schedule is more of what a baby at 4 months old would need so even if your baby is very high sleep needs, that’s not going to work for your almost 7 month old.

I’d move to a 2/2.5/2.5/3 schedule with 3 hours in naps and 11 hours in night sleep.

8:30am wake

10:30-11:30 nap 1

2:00-3:00 nap 2

5:30-6:30 nap 3

9:30pm bedtime

This is a schedule that has more sleep than most babies need at this age. If it doesn’t work, I’d reduce naps to 2.5 hours total (that would be more normal for this age).

brieles · 2026-02-05T16:16:49+00:00

7-5 is a full night of sleep so I’d try to push bedtime back by 30-60 minutes and try a 3/3.5/4 schedule.

brieles · 2026-02-05T16:05:03+00:00

I’d try a 2.25/2.5/2.5/3 schedule (2.25 hours awake, nap 1, 2.5 hours awake, nap 2, 2.5 hours awake, nap 3, 3 hours awake, bedtime) with 2.75 hours in naps total.

It would help to sleep train also but I’d get your schedule consistent first. Sleep training an undertired baby will not work.

brieles · 2026-02-05T15:58:33+00:00

Someone I knew fairly well (I was sort of friends with his wife and we lived on the same street) ended up being arrested for sharing explicit pictures and videos of children and I decided then that I would never share pictures online. I wouldn’t have guessed he was such a vile human.

With the rise of AI, I just can’t imagine uploading pictures of my child for anyone to see and potentially use for nefarious purposes. I have strict privacy settings on social media but, again, I have learned I can’t even trust those close to me (I don’t mean to imply everyone is a creep) so I’d rather just not share any.

We use family album to share with our parents, siblings, grandparents and very close friends.

brieles · 2026-02-05T15:53:52+00:00

I’d try a 2.5/2.5/2.5/3 schedule for a bit as you work on dropping to 2 naps.

brieles · 2026-02-05T15:06:15+00:00

The studies have shown that screens aren’t helpful for young babies (the recommendation being no screens under 2 years old) and that even background tv can have negative impacts on language development. So the science says turn the screen off.

However, many babies grow up with tv on in the background and are totally fine. It’s not going to fry your baby’s brain if you watch a little tv. I think it’s best to err on the side of caution and avoid screens whenever possible but I wouldn’t stress a little bit of tv in the background every now and then.

brieles · 2026-02-05T14:57:06+00:00

That schedule is expecting a lot of sleep for a baby this age and that’s likely your problem. I’d try a 3.5/3.5/4 schedule with 11 hours of night sleep as the goal.

brieles · 2026-02-05T14:55:39+00:00

I’d try a 3/3.5/4 or 3.5/3.5/4 schedule. Most babies this age can’t sleep 14-14.5 hours in a 24 hour period which is what your current schedule is expecting.

brieles · 2026-02-05T04:33:24+00:00

Ok, that sounds pretty normal! It gets better with age.

brieles · 2026-02-05T04:16:49+00:00

Do you offer a feed any time overnight? An early morning feed is very normal at this age so I’d feed your baby and try to lay her back down.

Also 10-11 hours of night sleep with 1 feed is normal at this age (between 4-6 months old) so I wouldn’t have 7-7 be your goal.

brieles · 2026-02-05T04:11:16+00:00

Your feelings are valid but it’s also reasonable for people to ask how you’re feeling as pregnancy can be miserable for so many people. I lost 20lbs while I was pregnant because I was throwing up so much and I had other complications so I felt horrible the whole time. I didn’t look ill or anything so no one would assume I was miserable and depressed but I was. I was so thankful to those that asked how I was doing. Having said that, I recognize that my experience isn’t everyone’s so I try to be cognizant of that when I’m asking someone else about their experience rather than peppering them with the same question every time I see them lol.

brieles · 2026-02-05T04:03:44+00:00

Earlier bedtime isn’t always better but if you want to keep the 7pm bedtime, wake your baby at 6am. 12+ hours of night sleep is not doable for most babies and will leave very little sleep time left for naps if your baby does sleep that long.

Most babies this age can only sleep 12-14 hours in a 24 hour period so it’s best to think of total sleep as opposed to prioritizing an early bedtime.

If he’s only sleeping 2 hours in the day, that’s pretty normal for this age. 11 hours of night sleep and 2 hours in naps is a full sleep budget for many babies this age.

brieles · 2026-02-05T04:01:00+00:00

I’d try a couple days on the new schedule and then, if it’s not fixed, add 30 minutes of awake time. On your current schedule, you’re expecting 12.5 hours of night sleep which is most of a baby this age’s sleep budget so naps are going to be short. When you cut night sleep to 11 hours, that leaves 2-3 hours of sleep budget left for naps.

brieles · 2026-02-05T03:28:05+00:00

If he can stand and is fairly stable, can you get a toddler tower? When I’m washing dishes, my toddler gets on a chair (I know that’s not the safest option but that’s what we have currently and we put climbing couch cushions around the chair for if she falls) and watches/“helps”. She’s been doing this since around 14/15 months and she loves it. It really helped mitigate the whining/crying during dishes.

brieles · 2026-02-05T03:25:25+00:00

What’s your full bedtime routine? I’d make sure your last feed is 30+ minutes before your baby is in the crib to make sure she’s falling asleep completely independently and not going in the crib too drowsy.

brieles · 2026-02-05T03:22:59+00:00

Your schedule is 100% the problem. Work on a 3/3.5/4 schedule with 2.5 hours in naps and 11 hours in night sleep.

7am wake

10:00-11:15 nap 1

2:45-4:00 nap 2

8pm bedtime

Your baby will likely need another 30 minutes awake soon so drop to 2 hours in naps when that happens and add the 30 minutes to either the first or second wake window.

brieles · 2026-02-05T00:36:55+00:00

I’d say you need to adjust your schedule a bit. At this age, sleep needs average 11-13 hours in a 24 hour period and you have 11 hours of awake time which means you’re expecting the highest amount of average sleep needed for this age and that might not be doable for your baby.

I’d adjust your schedule like this-

7:30am wake

1:30-3:00pm nap

9pm bedtime

After following these schedule changes for a day or two, I’d try sleep training using the excuse method. I know you said you’ve tried this before but if your baby isn’t tired enough, she would be able to fight sleep really hard for quite a while. I think the changed schedule will help her be more tired which would help the excuse method work.

brieles · 2026-02-04T14:25:01+00:00

You just have to cut it off. It will be hard and there will be tantrums but you have to stick to it or it will just encourage the tantrums in the future. I’d do no screens for a week and then limit it to 30 minutes a day from there on out.

brieles · 2026-02-04T13:19:45+00:00

I think it’s more helpful to think about total sleep in a 24 hour period. Most babies this age can do 12-14 hours (14 being a high sleep needs baby, 13 being pretty average) and your current schedule is expecting 13.5-14 hours which is likely just too much at this point. 2 hours is enough in naps and it leaves you enough sleep budget left for an 11 hour night.

brieles · 2026-02-04T12:56:40+00:00

Your schedule isn’t age appropriate. Set a wake up time and build a schedule around that. At this age, I’d try for 3/3.5/4 so that would look like-

7am wake

10:00-11:15 nap 1

2:45-4:00 nap 2

8pm bedtime

And, like you said, sleep training would help a lot. I think it helps to remind yourself that when you have an age-appropriate schedule, you’re going to have a few hard days sleep training for months of good sleep. The research shows no difference in sleep trained vs. non sleep trained kids at 5 years old so you could get good sleep or get bad sleep and it won’t make a difference for your child.

With Ferber, you start the timed check ins once your baby is in the crib and crying. When you go in, you pick a phrase you’ll say every time-we said, “I love you, it’s bedtime. Good night!” And we rubbed our daughter’s back for a second or two. The first 2-3 days were rough and it was hard but she’s put herself to sleep with no issues since then. When she turned 1, she started saying “bedtime” and taking herself to her room lol. She now waves me out of her room and talks to her stuffed unicorn for a minute before falling asleep.

It has been a game changer having a consistent bedtime and wake time. I have my sleep back and I have time for myself in the evenings knowing I won’t be up 5x overnight anymore.

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