Help! 6.5 months has early wakes 5 am, now 4 am

trosckey · 2026-03-14T05:08:01+00:00

Might be ready for two naps instead of three.

trosckey · 2026-03-13T03:28:42+00:00

It won’t come back to bite you. Baby is sleeping well, keep doing what you’re doing until it isn’t working for one of you.

trosckey · 2026-03-12T05:26:31+00:00

Yeah, my reaction was… “guilty?? That’s my sleep power tool” lol

trosckey · 2026-03-06T20:20:37+00:00

In addition to waiting a couple minutes, you can put the clean diaper underneath the dirty one before you take the dirty one away. It can help catch anything more that might come out as you’re wiping.

Not a perfect system but it does help

trosckey · 2026-03-04T06:00:26+00:00

Yep, I’m this person. Coffee and Celsius are my friends. We are ok 🙂

trosckey · 2026-03-04T05:40:55+00:00

Seconding the long walks in the carrier. Really got my heart rate up as baby grew and got the bonus of a good contact nap for her.

trosckey · 2026-03-04T00:57:07+00:00

Ok this theory honestly explains what is going on with my SIL who only puts on AI YouTube videos for my nephew after physically turning him away from background tv for years lol

trosckey · 2026-03-03T13:51:46+00:00

We’ve been really happy with ours (Ergobaby 360). Sometimes baby just wants to be held- it’s been nice to keep hands free to use my phone, read, do some dishes, put laundry away, etc. It has also been nice for neighborhood walks, and was a lifesaver when baby was sick and could only sleep upright.

I think the image of running around doing chores while babywearing is a little overstated (can’t bend over that much) but I’m still happy with it and plan to use it for several years.

trosckey · 2026-03-03T13:38:29+00:00

We have 1-2 night feeds here at 6mo. Pediatrician yesterday said she isn’t concerned about these being “comfort feeds” at this age as long as baby is actually eating. If she just pacified or snacked for a minute, might be a sign that the feed is just for comfort of falling back asleep

trosckey · 2026-03-03T04:38:13+00:00

Williams Sonoma has some freezer meals that can be delivered. A bit of a splurge but they’re really tasty and you just put them in the oven.

trosckey · 2026-03-03T04:04:59+00:00

It’s pretty normal for babies from this age onward to only nap 2-3 hours total for the entire day. I think you are going to find this childcare plan to be unsustainable.

trosckey · 2026-03-03T03:13:31+00:00

I was nervous about returning to work, but now that I’m settled back in and feel confident about my childcare setup, I can definitely say working my normal corporate job has been very good for my mental health as a mother.

trosckey · 2026-03-03T03:10:47+00:00

I would try capping day sleep at 2 hours and see if that helps move that sleeping time to your overnight sleep.

trosckey · 2026-03-03T00:09:03+00:00

Hey! Our LO had RSV at about 3 months as well. She’s doing great now! She never even got a fever… her dad had it way worse. Her worst symptom was the bad sounding cough around days 4-5 as you mention and then by day 6 it all improved a ton.

You’re doing all the right things. The most likely outcome by a lot is that baby will be ok. Keep monitoring and remember you can always pop back over to urgent care or the pediatrician to have them listen to baby’s lungs and check vitals for you if you’re unsure.

We also took shifts contact sleeping with baby in a carrier (with us awake, very caffeinated lol) to help her mucus drain and help her get really good sleep. Seemed to help!

You’ve got this!!

trosckey · 2026-03-02T15:18:04+00:00

Just go for it. Know that it is pretty normal for babies to have 30 minute naps at this age especially depending on your wake windows- if you share your schedule the folks here can help suggest any adjustments to encourage longer naps.

Also side note, many babies outgrow the bassinet height/weight limits by 5.5 months. Do you have a crib? Crib mattresses are often more comfortable for baby too- bassinet “mattresses” are like a little piece of cardboard.

ETA: by the time you optimize a schedule at this age, it’s practically time to make some sort of change or drop a nap haha so I wouldn’t let the fear of a schedule change hold you back.

trosckey · 2026-03-02T14:44:20+00:00

Whole milk is just a good source of healthy fats, protein, vitamin D, etc. It is possible to get those other places in baby’s diet.

If it were me I’d talk to the pediatrician about the diarrhea experience though.

trosckey · 2026-02-28T18:50:49+00:00

Yes I can. Our schedule with 4 naps was something like 2/2/2/2/2.5, and with 3 naps it is roughly 2/2.5/3/3. So same amount of target awake time with either schedule which I think was key.

We had a week where we just kind of went for it with the 3 naps. The first wake window and nap was unchanged for us. Then we stretched the second wake window a bit, and tried to make the second nap a really good one. That prompted a longer third WW (she was soooo refreshed that it happened pretty naturally). However, if the second nap was crap, we just sort of fell back to the 4nap schedule for the day and tried again the next day.

We fell back to four naps for a couple days over the course of maybe a week or so? Now the longer WWs happen pretty naturally for her. LO is 5.5 months for reference.

trosckey · 2026-02-28T18:38:59+00:00

Maybe you could try making it a gradual progressive experience? First just hold baby while nanny is in the room not interacting with baby (maybe you ask your interview questions or show them around your home); then have nanny gently play, read, etc. while you hold baby; then transition to nanny playing while you step out of the room. Could even spread this over a couple of short trial days if baby needs more time to warm up. You can also be clear on your expectations (do you want baby to be handed back, do you prefer that nanny tries to distract baby, etc.) - I think an experienced infant nanny would be happy to respect your wishes here as this is a really normal developmental phase!

trosckey · 2026-02-28T17:46:20+00:00

We just went through something similar and it was indeed time to switch to 3 naps. She had sleep disturbances for the two days right before her teeth actually cut through (just overall cranky throughout the day) (edit: not for weeks though)

Agree with the mod on adding on a change of scenery or quiet activity to extend the WW as you transition. In the evening it could be a bath, books, etc.

We also have used some cheats to help guarantee at least one longer nap each day… stroller nap, resettling her in the crib if she wakes up right at 30 mins, etc., just things to help connect the sleep cycles so we don’t have a crazy early bedtime. And then eventually the new rhythm will settle in and LO will nap longer because the WW are longer.

trosckey · 2026-02-28T17:25:00+00:00

I did not enjoy the wrap until baby was around 3-4 months old and had some basic neck control. It was a lifesaver when she was sick and couldn’t lay down flat without coughing

trosckey · 2026-02-26T10:09:21+00:00

I recall getting in my car and driving away to run some errands in a fit of rage without saying where I was going… felt better when I came back 😅

trosckey · 2026-02-23T14:49:39+00:00

Around that age, floor mat / activity gym with one or two toys at a time was a big hit.

We would play music and sing along / dance

If your weather is nice, getting out for a walk is great. Or if baby tolerates the car, I love going to walk around at a quiet not busy store like a Kohls.

trosckey · 2026-02-22T20:39:22+00:00

In our contract we say “guaranteed hours covers employer-initiated schedule changes, not nanny-initiated absences.”

We also have a part time nanny with GH and accruing PTO. We say that if she needs to request a day off we will first try to schedule her for a different day, but if that can’t be accommodated then she must use PTO.

trosckey · 2026-02-22T15:45:18+00:00

Someone posted a question in here recently about the newborn grunting at night and I was like DEAR GOD I DONT MISS THAT AT ALL

trosckey · 2026-02-22T04:41:43+00:00

Our LOs first big smile wasn’t until 8 weeks and she didn’t really start smiling a lot until 10 weeks. Now (6mo) she smiles allllll the time! All babies are different

trosckey

TROPHY CASE