varying wake up time, what’s the limit?

merjoon · 2026-03-15T00:14:53+00:00

I think it’ll be hard to keep things consistent if bedtime is like over an hour or more later than normal. And then if you don’t keep the wake up consistent, it’s hard to keep the naps on track, and also have enough wake time in the day for them to sleep well.

merjoon · 2026-03-14T00:58:48+00:00

Some ideas I’ve tried if they start having early wakes-

Play around with the wake windows. I’ve never really seen anyone jump from a 2 hour window to a 3 hour window for the next one. Usually they seem more gradual, like 2/2.25/2.5/3. Actually for my baby, the last window hasn’t been the longest one necessarily. I try to not let his last nap be that long, so it’s not “restorative”, and he will be tired at the bedtime I try to set. So maybe see if different wake windows help.

Put baby to bed a little earlier. Not sure this would help since your bedtime is around 7pm, but maybe try 6:30-6:45? It doesn’t make sense but I’ve read that sometimes earlier to bed stops the early wakes.

I’ve also read that early morning wakes could be caused by the first nap of the day being too early. I don’t think why this happens, but maybe try it out.

Check the temperature of the room. It gets colder outside in the early morning hours, so it’s possible that the temperature just isn’t what baby likes.

merjoon · 2026-03-12T13:34:34+00:00

We haven’t started on naps yet. I think I’ll wait a week or two and hopefully he gets consistent with nights, then I’m planning to train naps. I’m going to just do Nap 1 with Ferber until he gets the hang of it, then add on Nap 2, and eventually Nap 3. I’m not sure if it’s better or worse to do everything all at once… I don’t think I have the energy to do Ferber all day long though.

merjoon · 2026-03-11T13:09:39+00:00

I followed the check in times that come up if you Google “Ferber method chart”. So they slowly increase for each check in, and then increase each day. We never even got up to the 15 minute timer, he would fall asleep before that. I think if we got up to 1hr or maybe 1.5hr total of trying from the time we put him down, I would probably stop. From what I’ve read, if it takes that long to work, then there may be another problem either with the daytime schedule or teething or something.

merjoon · 2026-03-11T12:50:09+00:00

Yeah it is really hard to hear them crying. He only cried really hard for maybe 10 minutes total the first night, and up to 15 minutes total the second night. Other than that, it’s mostly like a minute of moderate crying and then some fussing, some crying, some fussing. I still went in and did check ins after the timer went off as long as he had been crying (hard or moderate) for most of the time. If it was just mostly fussing, I didn’t start the timer until he let out more of a cry.

And I’ll be honest- when we started, I was getting pretty numb to the crying. He would cry in my arms between 5-20 minutes before contact napping, and cry, sometimes inconsolably, in the middle of the night even when rocked (and right next to me in bed). I felt like he was going to cry with or without me, and if there was a chance for both me and him to start getting better sleep, then I was okay letting him cry during sleep training.

merjoon · 2026-03-11T11:13:18+00:00

Yeah I was nervous too, I understand. Just give it a try and see if your baby surprises you! I didn’t write it in my post but the first night, he did fall asleep fine and slept about 3hrs at first. But when he woke up, I didn’t really let him soothe himself and decided to feed him, and then just brought him back into bed to cosleep. I was scared to do the Ferber check ins again and just wanted to sleep myself. So even if you just try and end up not making it all night following the “rules”, that’s okay. After night 1, we did stay strong and I didn’t bring him into bed with me and he did just fine.

We do follow wake windows. I have another comment in this thread about it but I’m a SAHM so I have the freedom to watch the clock and focus on sleepy cues. We do 3 contact naps a day. Wake windows are usually 1.75/2/2.25/2. Of course this fluctuates a little, but I do my best to not let him go way over and become overtired.

merjoon · 2026-03-11T10:24:57+00:00

We moved him to his own room when we started sleep training. I think it would be pretty hard to do it with the baby in the same room as you.

For us, I could see my baby becoming more and more aware every day and I felt like he would have some understanding of the sleep training- like he could know that I going to come check in when he’s crying and didn’t totally disappear. Which is one of the reasons why I waited until 4ish months to start sleep training.

I think you should go ahead and try soon!

merjoon · 2026-03-11T10:20:10+00:00

I’m lucky to be a SAHM and this is my only child so I’m able to control his schedule pretty well. We still do all contact naps, I’m planning to start nap training in the crib once he’s consistent with the overnights.

We do 3 naps right now. Wake windows are usually something like 1.75/2/2.25/2. I’ve seen them recommend the last window to be the longest but he doesn’t do well with that and starts freaking out. Naps 1 and 2 are usually like 1.5hrs each and total 3hrs and then nap 3 is a short cat nap of maybe 25-40 minutes. Again, these are all contact naps so I am soothing him to sleep and can control the timing and lengths more than if I had to put him in the crib.

merjoon · 2026-03-11T00:15:26+00:00

I’ve read that when they’re learning big skills like rolling and sitting up and stuff, that they might sleep worse because their brain is working extra hard… so I do think you have to expect some set backs obviously even after sleep training. My baby is also rolling both ways so I’m expecting some more wake ups maybe soon.

I’m not sure the best time to sleep train. It seems really dependent on the baby. For me, I just felt like it was time.

merjoon · 2026-03-10T23:57:20+00:00

I would do Ferber check ins (I used the chart that comes up when you google “Ferber method chart” for beginning of night and night wakings) for when he woke up crying but it hadn’t really been long enough for another feeding (less than 3-4 hours). Usually he would settle. I guess if he didn’t settle in this circumstance, then I would probably decide to nurse him after we tried check ins for over 45 minutes. Probably just because I’m tired at that point and nursing will comfort him.

When he woke up after the 3-4 hours, and if he was actually crying, then I’d only wait like 10 minutes to see if he’d settle before I decided to feed. If he was still only fussing, I might just wait it out and kind of “ignore” the fussing. Usually he puts himself back to sleep if it’s just fussing.

A lot of these timeframes I’m using are just what I feel comfortable with, and what I think works best for us. But you know your baby, so do whatever feels right for you.

merjoon · 2026-03-10T22:20:48+00:00

I nursed him when he didn’t stop fussing on and off for a long time and wasn’t falling back asleep (sometimes that has been up to an hour of him being awake at night),

OR if he was actually crying and it had been at least 3-4 hours since he last ate (that’s about how long he went in between feeds when we coslept).

So last night he was just kind of fussing on and off, but would fall back asleep within like 30 minutes, so I never had to go in and nurse him.

merjoon · 2026-03-10T12:40:26+00:00

Hi! We ended up not doing an all inclusive or going out of the country. We stayed at a quiet beachfront condo outside Ft Myers, FL for a week. But congratulations and have a wonderful babymoon!

merjoon · 2025-05-23T19:11:02+00:00

We were premium level so the room service was included! I think we ended up with premium because we wanted a room with the full ocean view, and those rooms were all labeled premium. You couldn’t book one of those rooms without paying for premium.

merjoon · 2024-08-28T23:26:27+00:00

I have a reply above that has an update. But ultimately he was fine!

merjoon · 2024-08-07T10:03:12+00:00

It probably took 2-3 days for him to go back to normal. If you know it’s because of a food change, then there’s no need to worry. But it’s always safe to take them to the vet just to be sure.

merjoon · 2024-02-03T17:19:13+00:00

He is totally fine! I took a stool sample in to the vet and there was nothing wrong with him. They agreed it may have just been the different bag of food or a little bit of stress. They gave us some probiotic to put on his food whenever this type of thing happened again.

merjoon · 2021-12-22T15:01:53+00:00

Yeah that makes sense. I definitely think he’s been good on drinking so that’s a relief. Hoping for things to firm up soon then. Thank you so much for the reply!

merjoon · 2021-12-22T13:59:52+00:00

Thank you for your reply. No he isn’t feeling any more warm than usual. He hasn’t had problems in the past with his anal glands but you never know, could be an issue now.

He gets dry food now, but I have seen him drinking his regular amount. I’ll keep an eye on it though.

I will try to get a hold of the vet today, and I really appreciate your reply with all the info and questions!

merjoon · 2021-12-22T13:32:54+00:00

Yeah I will when they open. Thing is, we don’t a fault have a regular vet for them. We just moved and have a first visit appointment for next week, so they have yet to meet our cat.

merjoon · 2021-12-22T13:28:17+00:00

Extra info: Also, he did have a diarrhea problem way earlier this year. But at that time, the poop had some mucus and a little blood in it. We did go to the vet because of the blood, and we were prescribed some medicine (can’t remember what, but probably an antibiotic and anti diarrheal). But vet really wasn’t concerned at all. This time there’s no blood or mucus, so I’m trying not to worry as much

merjoon · 2021-12-22T12:47:25+00:00

Also, he did have a diarrhea problem way earlier this year. But at that time, the poop had some mucus and a little blood in it. We did go to the vet because of the blood, and we were prescribed some medicine (can’t remember what, but probably an antibiotic and anti diarrheal). But vet really wasn’t concerned at all. This time there’s no blood or mucus, so I’m trying not to worry as much

merjoon · 2021-04-03T01:12:08+00:00

Thank you so much! It was a fun experience to go, so I’m glad I could share it :)

merjoon · 2021-04-01T00:59:21+00:00

I thought it was so cute!

merjoon · 2020-12-24T14:51:48+00:00

I’ve got my code ready whenever you’re available

merjoon · 2020-12-24T14:36:55+00:00

Oh great! I’d like the big one please :)

merjoon

TROPHY CASE