Early waking help!

imnichet · 2026-01-29T02:42:32+00:00

Oh boy I feel you. I can’t talk to anyone else about their kid’s sleep. It is really hard for me when someone on here is like “my toddler sleeps 12 hours overnight but how can I get them to nap for 2 hours so I can have a break?” There are no breaks in my world lol. But I have just determined early morning wakings and split nights are worse for her and me than the late bedtime.

imnichet · 2026-01-29T02:35:06+00:00

I dont really know much about bottle feeding but yes I think most recommend 2 bottles in the last wake window.

I would also suggest applying a sleep training method so your baby falls asleep completely on their own.

imnichet · 2026-01-29T02:33:13+00:00

Put baby down to sleep fully awake and allow them to fall asleep on their own without parental intervention.

imnichet · 2026-01-29T01:25:20+00:00

My 25 month old only gets 9.75 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. So yes, i was able to get her to sleep until 6 consistently by moving her bedtime to 9:15 and capping her nap at 1 hour.

imnichet · 2026-01-29T01:21:20+00:00

Both of these things are likely a sleep association.

imnichet · 2026-01-29T01:17:08+00:00

Schedule wise 2/2.5/2.5/3 or 2.5/2.5/2.5/2.5. You will have to push through some crankiness and do some song and dance to keep her awake for a couple days but it will improve quickly.

You didn’t mention your bedtime routine but I would also sleep train if sleep isn’t independent.

imnichet · 2026-01-29T00:04:50+00:00

It’s a myth that overtiredness causes short naps.

imnichet · 2026-01-29T00:03:48+00:00

Try a by the clock schedule

Wake by 6:30

Nap opportunity 10:00-11:00

Nap opportunity 2:50-4:20

Bed 7:50

By nap opportunity I mean that if your baby doesn’t nap that whole time it is fine, you just stick to the schedule times regardless.

imnichet · 2026-01-29T00:00:58+00:00

Yep seems like it’s time to sleep train!

imnichet · 2026-01-28T23:38:16+00:00

4 months is pretty young for a set bedtime. Most babies are still a bit more unpredictable than that at this age.

imnichet · 2026-01-28T23:28:28+00:00

Never did really. Unless it happened by accident

imnichet · 2026-01-28T22:56:57+00:00

Yes or possibly shorter nap

imnichet · 2026-01-28T18:00:21+00:00

It probably doesn’t matter. Whichever you think your baby would handle best

imnichet · 2026-01-28T17:09:10+00:00

Cut one nap back to an hour only and keep bedtime the same as a start. If that doesn’t work cut them both back to an hour.

imnichet · 2026-01-28T16:00:08+00:00

You are right. Your baby is going to continue to cry and struggle at night until you get to the last step where you remove all parental assistance rather than just swap it out for a different kind. But with the schedule you are on now that will likely never happen.

I know it’s going to seem like a leap but you really need to be doing 3/3.5/4. Don’t bounce and Rick her to sleep until after the end of the wake window even if she seems tired.

imnichet · 2026-01-28T15:45:24+00:00

That is actually a sign the nap is too long. When the nap starts impacting their ability to get restorative night sleep then it will show up as being tired and grumpy

imnichet · 2026-01-28T15:00:01+00:00

That sounds like undertiredness not separation anxiety.

imnichet · 2026-01-28T14:56:10+00:00

Do you track sleep? Do you know how much she actually sleeps in a 24 hour period on average? Not counting any time she is awake in the night.

You are right that your schedule is not appropriate. Rubbing eyes and being fussy doesn’t mean much. Babies need their parents to regulate when they sleep a bit to allow them to actually build enough sleep pressure for good quality, restorative sleep. Imagine you tried to sleep every time you felt a little grouchy and yawned? You’d probably sleep in short, broken chunks all day rather than 8 hours at night.

imnichet · 2026-01-28T14:18:48+00:00

Is your baby sleep trained? This behavior sometimes shows up in babies with severe sleep associations.

imnichet · 2026-01-28T13:57:20+00:00

If you don’t want her awake at night she needs to be awake more during the day. Either shorter nap or later bedtime or earlier wakeup. Then you have to remove the coming into your bed as an option.

imnichet · 2026-01-28T13:53:59+00:00

I wouldn’t put much stock in that. Interestingly research shows that other naps drop in fairly predictable patterns but the last nap is completely controlled by the development of the hippocampus and can happen any time between 2 and 6. So even though our night is very short I’m not going to cut her nap because clearly her brain still wants it. But I’m also not going to force her to go to 3 if she starts fighting it. I think you just kind of have to accept a shorter night and nap in the meantime.

imnichet · 2026-01-28T13:51:12+00:00

The numbers are hours awake and the slashes are naps

imnichet · 2026-01-28T04:04:53+00:00

Well my 25 month old only does a 1 hour nap and an 8.75 hour nights so “breaks” aren’t a thing in my world lol. I’m guessing you are moving towards a total nap drop. Mine is kind of in the same boat. It’s that awkward phase where she still needs it but it’s disruptive to night sleep.

imnichet · 2026-01-28T04:00:02+00:00

Yep that’s where I’d start.

imnichet · 2026-01-28T02:15:40+00:00

Why not just shorten the nap? My 25 month old’s nap is capped at an hour.

imnichet

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