3 To 6 Month Sleeping and Feeding Guide 2017

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CLICK TO RETURN TO THE CONTENTS PAGE
CONTENTS
(Click on a section to go to that page)
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................... 5
HOW TO USE OUR GUIDES.................................................... 7
IMPORTANT INFORMATION .................................................. 9

STARTING THE GUIDE ...................................................................... 9
SLEEP CONSOLIDATION.................................................................11
FLEXIBILITY .....................................................................................15
WHEN THINGS ARENT WORKING .................................................16
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SLEEP GUIDE AND

SLEEP TRAINING .......................................................................18
AWAKE TIMES & NAP LENGTHS .........................................21
SLEEP REGRESSIONS...............................................................24
THE 4 MONTH SLEEP REGRESSION ...............................27
SELF-SETTLING .........................................................................32
PACIFIERS ...................................................................................35
HOW DO YOU GET RID OF THE PACIFIER? ....................................36
CHANGES IN YOUR BABYS DAY/NIGHT .........................38
Copyright LITTLEONES 2015 Limited

This document is for your personal use only and may not be distributed.

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SICKNESS ....................................................................................40
GETTING BACK ON TRACK ...................................................42
EARLY WAKING ........................................................................44
HOW OUR NAPS WORK ........................................................46
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LUNCH NAP .........................48
4-6 MONTHS OVERNIGHT & HUNGER ............................50
ADVICE FOR BABIES WITH REFLUX ..................................52
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS .....................................54
3 TO 4 MONTHS .......................................................................65
QUICK GUIDE ............................................................................66
DETAILED GUIDE .....................................................................67
NOTES & TROUBLESHOOTING............................................73
FEEDING .........................................................................................73
EARLY WAKING / MORNING WAKE................................................74
THE MORNING NAP........................................................................75
THE LUNCH NAP ............................................................................76
IF THE LUNCH NAP GOES WRONG: ................................................77
CATNAPPING ROUTINE .........................................................79
THE AFTERNOON NAP ...................................................................80
THE POWER NAP ............................................................................82
THE DREAM FEED (OPTIONAL).......................................................83
OVERNIGHT ...................................................................................84
4 TO 6 MONTHS .......................................................................86


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QUICK GUIDE ............................................................................88

DETAILED GUIDE .....................................................................89
NOTES & TROUBLESHOOTING............................................96
FEEDING .........................................................................................96
SLEEPING ........................................................................................98
EARLY WAKING / MORNING WAKE................................................99
THE MORNING NAP..................................................................... 100
THE LUNCH NAP ......................................................................... 101
IF THE LUNCH NAP GOES WRONG: ............................................. 102
CATNAPPING ROUTINE ...................................................... 104
THE AFTERNOON NAP ................................................................ 105
THE POWER NAP ......................................................................... 106
THE DREAM FEED (OPTIONAL).................................................... 107
OVERNIGHT ................................................................................ 108


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INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the world of better sleep! Our Sleeping and

Feeding Guides take the guesswork out of parenting. You
will find your baby is more settled, feeds better, sleeps
better and you are a lot more confident in your parenting.
These Sleeping and Feeding Guides have been carefully

formulated to optimize your baby's awake times, feed
times and sleep times to encourage good napping and
decent sleeping at night. As your baby grows the timings in
the Guides change ever so slightly to keep up with your
baby's neurological development, natural circadian rhythms
and maturation of their sleep cycles. It is therefore
important you are using the correct Guide for your baby's
age.
Between the ages of 3-6 months your

baby's sleep cycles and habits will change
and be solidified.


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Our Guides work best when combined with these

recommendations:
Use a swaddle for all sleeps

Sleep your baby in a completely dark room, for day
and night sleeps
Use blackout blinds or similar to achieve complete
darkness
Use loud white noise for the duration of your
babys sleep, our Baby Sleep Shhh is ideal
Aim to put your baby to sleep 80% of the time in
their own bed or bassinet
Have some wind-down time prior to a nap, with no
loud noises or too much stimulation
PLEASE NOTE:
*at all times we recommend using safe sleeping practices with your baby.
*the information contained in this document is not a substitute for medical advice or care and you
should always seek the advice of your healthcare professional if you suspect your baby is unwell.
*this Guide is a product in itself and does not come with additional support or consultancy services of
any kind, apart from those offered in the Support Village.
*our products are guaranteed as long as they are being adhered to as per the documentation or our
advice. If you choose to not follow part or all of the information /Guide, that is entirely your choice,
however Little Ones is not accountable for the products not working for you in this case. A refund
option is available if you are dissatisfied with the product at any point as per the refund information
on our website.


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HOW TO USE OUR GUIDES
Some babies, if given the chance, would happily sleep all

day! Our Guides rely on you being in control of the sleep
hours your baby has, rather than letting your baby sleep
for as long as they'd like in the day. This is to ensure your
baby is getting the exact amount of sleep during the day to
allow them to do the bulk of their sleep overnight.
The guidelines change a little after 3 months. Between 3

and 4 months your baby is learning the ability to self-
settle. This means she is learning to go to sleep without
any aides, such as rocking or patting to sleep etc.
The times suggested below are when you have a "perfect"

day.
After 3 months you do start to stretch the baby out a little

bit from when she wakes until her first nap rather than
working on awake times for the timing of each nap, as in
the 0-3 month guide. Otherwise she could end up waking
for the day earlier and earlier in the morning.
The awake times listed are from when baby wakes to

when they need to be asleep, so make sure there is time to
wind down, change nappy/diaper and settle beforehand.
All the Guides for each age have a quick guide of feeding
and sleeping times, followed by a very detailed breakdown


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of the Guide and comprehensive notes. There are clickable

links throughout the Guide to take you to the notes.
If your baby is hungry earlier than the suggested feeding

times you must feed them! If your baby is constantly
hungry earlier than the suggested feeding times we
recommend seeing a health care professional as there is
likely a reason, such as low milk supply, tongue or tie,
reflux or something else causing poor feeding.
If your baby wakes early in any of the naps see nap

information the notes section to get you through the rest
of the day.
We suggest waking your baby at 7 AM to start your day,

so her bedtime will be at 7 PM. If you let the baby sleep
later, for example 8 AM then you just adjust the timings
back by an hour and bedtime would become 8 PM.
Please take the time to read the notes

throughout the Guide and refer back to
them regularly you should find the
solution to your sleep queries there. See
also FAQs for further troubleshooting.


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IMPORTANT
INFORMATION
Starting the Guide
Between the ages of 3-6 months we say it can take at
least two weeks for some babies to adjust to the new
rhythm to their day and during that time they may be
unsettled or grizzly - this is because things are different for
them and it takes a while to adjust. If your baby is
struggling with the awake times, please see the section on
Awake Times & Nap Lengths.
Think of it like if we travel overseas to a new time zone

and are jetlagged. Our sleeping patterns are thrown out
and we take a wee while to adjust to the new time - our
night sleep is affected and we feel tired and grumpy in the
day. But we persevere, we stay awake during the day to
reset our biological rhythms, because we want to fix it and
feel better and sleep better at night!
This is what it can be like for babies who are changing their
sleep times and habits - it is important to persevere and be
consistent and give them the best chance to learn the new
way of doing things. Babies are very quick learners, so if all
their ducks are in a row theyll cotton on really quickly.
If your baby seems to suddenly start sleeping a lot worse

in the night when you first start the Guide, this is actually
quite normal for the first wee while as they are recovering


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from a build-up of sleep debt and getting over any residual

overtiredness.
Once they have started with our Guide it will also highlight
any other issues going on, such as sickness, reflux, allergies
- this could also be a cause for their unsettled behaviour
once you know their naps and feeds are on track with the
schedule.
We always advise you to stick closely to the Guide for the

first few weeks so you and your baby can really get the
rhythm of things.
Above all, we need to remember that the hard work you

put in now is a real investment in your babys sleep for
years to come. It is to your babys ultimate benefit you are
fostering good sleep habits with them, which will aid in this
massive period of growth and development in your babys
life.


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Sleep Consolidation
Between 8-16 weeks a baby's daytime sleep cycles mature

to be around 45 minutes in length. This is developmentally
normal and it happens to all babies.
However, babies whose naps remain 45 minutes or less all

day become tired and unhappy. With continued
catnapping they lose the ability to concentrate, learn new
information and they become fussy.
After 30 minutes your baby enters a deep sleep this is

what happens in that deep sleep:
Stress reduced (cortisol lowered)
Memory strengthened

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Immune system restored and strengthened

Energy levels restored
Growth hormone released
After 1 or more hours of sleep babies go into REM sleep

and these things happen:
Stress/cortisol levels are further reduced
Short term memory is transferred into long term
memory
Brain connections are made
Newly learnt skills are processed
Emotions are processed and regulated
This is why our Guides are built on the framework of the

2-hour lunch nap, ensuring your baby has that big chunk of
restorative sleep.
If your baby is/was catnapping all day but still sleeping well
at night, we do find that people tolerate the short naps
because they get long night time sleep. This is manageable
until you lose the decent night sleep and you are left with
fragmented night sleep and short naps.
This happens between 4-6 months.
When your baby's sleep cycles first develop to become 45

minutes long during the day, they are still 4-6 hours long
overnight. So, your baby might just wake once a night to
feed and sleep through another 6 hours until morning.


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Somewhere between 4-6 months their night sleep cycles

change in length and the level of arousal between cycles
increases. Their night time sleep cycles are now shortened
to 2 hours long which means a lot of babies begin to wake
every 2 hours at night as well as catnap in the day.
Unfortunately, the two are linked: short cat naps in the day
and broken night sleep.
Once you start on our Guide, our goal is to tackle the naps
and the nights at the same time. Self-settling is key here,
to help your baby put themselves back to sleep between
cycles in the day and overnight, but there is also a period
of tricky change for your baby. This will look like:
- more catnapping!
- waking early from the lunch nap
- resisting settling at nap times
- waking more frequently overnight
- waking for periods of time in the night
- waking early morning
What is happening during this time is that your baby is re-

adjusting to the new sleep times and lengths. They will
have gotten used to the previous amount of sleep they
were having, which might have been more or less than the
times in the Guide and it was most likely in different
chunks (eg, poor day sleep but great night sleep or the
other way around). Through the Guides you are changing
the balance, regulating their naps to eventually consolidate
their nights and your baby needs to adjust to this new
equilibrium.

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As your baby's naps start improving you will experience

some regression in their night sleep - this is because
they're regulating their sleep hours and are trying to get
used to having good naps in the day, so they're less tired
at night time than they're used to being. Same goes the
other way - once their nights improve, they'll be less
exhausted in the day that they were previously so it takes
a while for them to adapt to the nap times/lengths on the
Guide.
Babies will do this at different times and different stages,

all quite age dependant. A younger baby will usually adapt
quite quickly whereas a baby going through the 4 month
regression already has a lot of developmental stuff on their
plate so it'll take a bit longer!
Most of this learning will go on behind the scenes, in your

baby's brain. You won't see evidence of it for a while and
you'll think things are a million times worse. Hang in there!
This is an important part of the process and one day it will
just click and you'll be so pleased you stuck it out! The last
thing your baby wants is to be working really hard
developmentally to consolidate their sleep and then have
their routine changed on them mid-development.
IF your baby is really struggling and you are over it or it is

stressing you out - just follow the catnapping routine in
the 3-6 month Guide and give your baby some more time
to adjust.


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Flexibility
Our Guides are quite flexible, in that you can alter the
times for the feeds and sleeps to better fit in with your
family, as long as the awake times and total nap hours are
adhered to.
This means that if youd like an earlier start to your day,

say 6:30 AM instead of 7:00 AM, youd just move the
entire Guide forwards by half an hour. The same goes the
other way.
The morning and afternoon naps are easy

to do on the go, out and about in the
stroller, carrier or car.
In no way are we meaning for you to be stuck at home all

day long. The first and last nap of the day are easy to do
on the go and once your baby is sleeping well in their cot
at night, the lunch nap can also be done by some babies in
a pram too. Toddlers sleep from 12:30-2:30 so its likely
you'll be at home at that time of the day eventually
anyway if you have more than one child.
However, if your baby has got a sleep association and you

are trying to get them to sleep well in their cot overnight,
the easiest place to start is to teach them during the day.
This means you may need to do a few days at home to


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teach them the cot is where they sleep. Not the car, the
pram or on you.
To do the morning and afternoon nap in a

pram/car/carrier, still have the wind-down period and then
aim to be in the car or pram etc very close to the normal
nap time. If your little one isn't going to sleep try and keep
a few of their sleep associations that they usually have, like
their cuddly, white noise, Baby Sleep Shhh as this will help.
If all else fails KEEP DRIVING/PUSHING! Most babies will

find going to sleep while moving very comforting and will
do so easily, others need a little help and just like learning
to go to sleep in their bed, they need to be given the
chance to learn. If your baby goes to sleep for their lunch
nap in the car, you can transfer them to their bed once
home to complete the nap.
When things arent working

Please always refer to the detailed notes in the Guide to
troubleshoot if things start to go awry or your baby wakes
early from their nap etc.
Once established on our Guide and your baby is sleeping

well and in a lot more of a predictable rhythm, you will
quickly notice if something isnt right. The main reasons for
a baby of this age not settling or resettling when
established on a Guide are:


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they are genuinely hungry (you would need to

refer to the feeding notes for your Guide to
trouble-shoot this)
they havent learnt to self-settle.
their conditions for sleep arent quite right, i.e.
their room is too light, there is no white noise,
they are not swaddled (in babies younger than
4 months)
they are sick


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THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A

SLEEP GUIDE AND SLEEP
TRAINING
A SLEEPING AND FEEDING GUIDE:
This means allowing your baby to nap at the optimal times

and lengths so they are ready for sleep and will fall asleep
easily during the day and will sleep well at night. This helps
enforce good sleep habits under 3 months so when your
baby is between 3-4 months old they will understand
when they are put into bed what they are meant to do.
Babies who follow a nap Guide for their

day generally wont need sleep training
because they will be given the
opportunity to sleep at the best times.
Following a nap pattern also allows feeding to be at

optimal times so they wont wake hungry from a nap and
will feed well during the day so they sleep well at night.


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SLEEP TRAINING/SELF-SETTLING TRAINING:
This is teaching your baby to go to sleep without parental

sleep associations/crutches. This is done by using methods
such as Rock or Feed to Soothe or other methods detailed
in our Self Settling Guides.
Where sleep training gets a bad rap is from methods such

as extinction (cry-it-out/Ferber which we don't
advocate). Babies 0-12 weeks certainly do still self-settle
however it's a totally neurological/instinctual reaction and
not a cognitive one. 12 weeks and over they need to learn
to cognitively put themselves to sleep otherwise this will
affect their ability to nap longer than 45 minutes and stay
asleep longer than 2 hours at night.
OUR PHILOSOPHY:
Between 0-3/4 months: you can settle your baby

completely to sleep if needed. Using Baby Sleep Shhh
for all sleeps will help settle your baby so you shouldn't
need to actively settle (rock or feed) them unless they
aren't asleep before the maximum awake time. Using a
swaddle, dark room and time to wind down will help
with your little one learn its time to sleep. See our
Setting Guide 0-3 Months for more help to settle your
little one.


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Between 3/4-6 months: Especially after 4 months, if

your baby cant self-settle, at the very least we
recommend gradually reducing your input of you
helping your little one to sleep and allowing them the
chance to fall asleep unassisted. Following our Settling
Guide 3-6 months in conjunction with the Guide will
help allow your baby to learn to self-settle.
Over 6 months: If your little one cannot self-settle,

they are now very aware and will protest VERY loudly
if they are tired and need to sleep and you dont give
them the sleep association they want to go to sleep, ie
by you rocking or feeding to sleep. This is a habit and
this is the only way they know how to go to sleep. This
is where proper sleep training comes in; where you
need to teach them to put themselves to sleep aid in
better napping and overnight sleep. Following Self
Settling Guide 6-12 or 12 Months + will help with
teaching your little one.


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AWAKE TIMES &

NAP LENGTHS
The awake times stated in the Guide are the MAXIMUM
times your baby can be awake and when they definitely
need to be asleep by, rather than the time youd start
putting your baby to bed, if overtiredness is to be avoided.
Some babies of the same age will get tired after 1 hour 45
and some 2 hours after waking. So if your little one is
settling and napping to the normal wake up time and only
doing 1h45 hours awake time then that's great! If your
baby is waking regularly/hourly/or difficult to settle
overnight or only sleeping for 20-30 mins in a nap then
the likely cause is they are under tired and their awake
times needs to be adjusted a bit so they consolidate their
nights and naps to be longer.
Our Guide differs from other sleep programmes because

we offer the maximum time, which is the time that all
babies of that age will get overtired at. Other programmes
might say 1 hour awake time for an 8 week old, however
another 8 week old might easily stay awake for 1.5-2
hours, so 1 hour isn't going to work for them and the
mother will struggle to get them to go to sleep. OR the
baby will go to sleep with some rocking and then other
problems will happen at different times of the day.


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The trap that a lot of mums will get into is

thinking that their little one can only stay
awake for a short time.
Weve seen it happen many times, where babies are being

put down 1 hour after their last nap and while the babies
will often go to sleep if you do something to actively settle
them (rock, feed etc), they will then be WIDE awake at 3
AM for a couple of hours because they just need some
awake time. Gradually extending your babys awake time
during the day will resolve these issues.
We can't tell you on a daily basis when your baby will

definitely get tired because it will depend on what they
have done during the day, how their night was, how their
day naps have been so far. We can tell you the maximum
time when all babies for that age group will get overtired.
So if, when starting out on our Guides, you find that your
baby can only genuinely stay awake for 1.5 hours, it is fine
to put your baby to bed then and let them sleep until the
normal wake up time. You can aim to increase this awake
time by 5 minutes every 2 days.
If however, your baby starts displaying any of the following

behaviours, youll need to scale back the nap lengths
and/or increase the awake times:
Being difficult to settle for naps and bedtime


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Not sleeping until the nap wake time (ie having

shorter naps than the Guide)
Not sleeping for the full lunch nap
Waking more overnight, or more after midnight
Staying awake for periods in the night
Waking early in the morning
Our Guides can be flexible to accommodate your babys

sleep needs. You should only shorten your babys morning
nap length when it is beginning to impact on their lunch
nap or night-time sleep - not just because theyve reached
a certain age.
It might take a few days of experimentation to get the

awake time vs sleep time right for your baby.
It is a bit of a catch 22; your baby wont be able to stay

awake for longer periods during the day if they are waking
a lot overnight. But they will likely continue waking
overnight if you let them sleep more during the day.
As your baby starts to sleep better in the night they will

easily be able to stick to the awake times.


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SLEEP REGRESSIONS
Babies go through several periods in the first year where
they experience "sleep regressions". In some cases babies
have to re-learn sleep skills due to the parts of their brain
responsible for sleep changing and maturing. Other times
the regressions are more to do with developments in their
physical and/or social skills and around nap transitions.
8 weeks -
This is the magic mark where many babies begin to catnap
and start sleeping worse in the day. Their newborn
sleepiness has worn off and they've sort of "woken up".
What also happens at this point is their maternal melatonin
has worn off, so they need to produce their own melatonin
to settle to sleep easily and sleep well. Melatonin is a sleep
hormone that is only produced and released in the dark, so
having a super dark room from this age onwards really
helps babies link sleep cycles and stay asleep during the
lunch nap and overnight.
4 months -
This is the famous 4 month sleep regression and is possibly
the biggest change in your baby's sleep that will ever
happen. This is where babies start to wake fully between
each sleep cycle rather than drift between cycles
automatically as they did when they were younger. If your
baby is relying on you to go to sleep at the start of their
naps and bedtime they will now be needing you to
replicate that every single time they wake between cycles.
That's every 35-45 minutes in the day and 2 hours

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overnight. Unfortunately, this sleep regression wont go

away until your baby can totally self-settle.
8 months -
There is a sleep regression around 8 months and it is all
about the massive physiological developmental changes
your baby is experiencing at this time. At around this age
many babies are learning to crawl, might be pulling up to
stand, they will have language explosions. This can mean
your baby wants to wake in the night simply to practice
their new skills! They might also start resisting some naps
or waking earlier in the lunch nap. They are quite literally
distracted by their own amazingness! This is completely
normal and unless they're really upset you are best to
leave them to it. It is during this time it can be easy to
quickly establish some bad sleep habits as you might be
inclined to go back to rocking or feeding your baby to get
them back to sleep. This regression does go away and
should only last a few nights on and off.
6/8 & 12/15 months -

At these times there can be a tiny hiccup in your baby's
sleep as they go through nap transitions. At 6 months (or
thereabouts) your baby drops their afternoon nap and then
somewhere between 12-15 months your baby will drop
the morning nap. While our Guides are carefully
formulated to make these transitions as easy as possible
for your baby (by gradually reducing the nap times until
they're gone), there can still be a period of adjustment.
This might mean your baby starts waking earlier in the
morning or after one sleep cycle at bedtime for a few days.
As with the 8 month regression, this WILL resolve itself


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and you need to be really careful not to interfere and

create more sleep habits during this time!
Remember not all babies will reach these developmental

stages at the exact age I've specified. So if your baby is 3.5
months and showing signs of needing to learn to self-
settle, its safe to assume they've hit the 4 month
regression.
Baby sleep is delicate and complicated

and there is so much going on for them
developmentally and neurologically in the
first 12-18 months!
Even on this Guide, your baby might experience

disturbances to their sleep as they are adjusting to the
changes in their neurology. However, you're lucky,
because being on our Guide means your baby has the best
chance to minimise these disruptions and sail through the
regressions a lot easier.


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THE 4 MONTH SLEEP

REGRESSION
There is a lot of talk about how a babys sleep dramatically

changes around the 4-month mark. You might have had an
amazing sleeping newborn and suddenly theyve started
waking a lot more in the night and catnapping in the day.
This is commonly called the 4-month sleep regression;

however, it is better not to think of it as a regression but
more of a maturation of your babys neurological
development. Their brains are developing and their sleep is
becoming more like ours as adults.
An adult sleep cycle goes through periods of deep sleep

and periods of REM sleep. REM sleep is a lighter sleep
where we dream and are more likely to be woken if
something is different or bothering us in our environment.
Our deep sleep is where we are unlikely to be woken.
Adult sleep cycles are about 100 minutes long, then we
rouse slightly and fall back asleep again, into the next sleep
cycle without even realising it.
Young babies are a bit different. They have periods of

active sleep and periods of quiet sleep. Active sleep is
what the baby enters straight after falling asleep, this is like
REM sleep in adults and they can be easily woken during
this time. They breath shallower, can grunt, cry out and if
anything is bothering them they are easily woken. During

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this phase your baby is likely to wake if they went to sleep

in your arms and you put them down. After active sleep
they enter quiet sleep - this is when breathing is more
rhythmic and it is like the deep sleep stage in adults. A
babys sleep cycle is about 45 minutes in total and if tired
enough, if nothing is bothering them and have a full
tummy, babies under 3 months will rouse between sleep
cycles but then enter into another 45-minute cycle of
active through quiet sleep until they have had enough
restorative sleep and wake up.
After 3 months babies go through a massive development

in their sleep cycles and they don't drift from one to
another so easily.
By four months they wake completely at

the end of a sleep cycle and need to
consciously try to go back to sleep. This
wakefulness is the part that is referred to
as the four-month regression.
Sleep habits are very easily formed in babies older than 3

months. The way we put our babies down to sleep as well
as the way we resettle them during naps or in the night
will dictate how they learn to go to sleep. We call these
things sleep associations; cues or behaviours your baby
associates so strongly with going to sleep that they cant
sleep without them. The most common sleep associations

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for babies are feeding, rocking or patting to sleep or the

use of a pacifier. The way babies are put to sleep at the
start of a nap or at bedtime is the only way they know how
to go to sleep. If they then wake at the end of a sleep
cycle and that same sleep association isnt there they will
not be able to go back to sleep without it. This is why your
baby may start waking every 45 minutes during the day
and every 2 hours in the night and needing your help to go
back to sleep.
Sleep associations are a normal part of falling asleep. Even

as adults we need something to help us fall asleep (such as
a pillow and blankets). It's when these associations disrupt
your baby's sleep, because they require your assistance,
that it becomes a problem. If a baby relies on a parent-
controlled sleep association to fall asleep at the start of a
nap or at bedtime, they will then need the same conditions
replicated when they surface from their sleep cycles during
the day and in the night.
We can categorise the tools babies use/require to get to

sleep in two categories - baby controlled and parent
controlled.
BABY CONTROLLED SLEEP ASSOCIATIONS are things

that a baby can easily access or use or do themselves to
assist them to fall asleep, or things in a babys sleep
environment that signal it is time for sleep. If your baby is
using these things, they will be able to move between
sleep cycles on their own, without needing your help.
These are:

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A cuddly or comforter
Baby sleeping bag
Swaddle (in babies younger than 4 months)
Pacifier (around 8 months babies can replace their
own pacifiers in the night)
White noise (for babies younger than 12 months)
Thumb sucking
PARENT CONTROLLED SLEEP ASSOCIATIONS are things

that a parent (or caregiver) has to do to get the baby to
sleep; things a baby is incapable of replicating themselves.
The most common are:
Feeding
Rocking
Patting or tapping
Shushing
Holding
Replacing a pacifier (for babies younger than 8
months)
If a baby is relying on any of these parent

controlled sleep associations, they are not
going to be able to self-settle.


30
The best way to tackle this stage in your babys

development is to foster good sleep habits from early on,
rather than have to try and change any parent-controlled
sleep associations down the track. If, however, you need
help to do so, the Settling Guides which have gentle,
effective methods of teaching your baby to settle
themselves to sleep.


31
SELF-SETTLING
Self-settling refers to your babys ability to be able to go
from awake and alert to sound asleep, without any help
from you. Just like how you go to sleep at night.
Self-settling really only becomes an issue around the 4-

month mark and beyond. Up until 3 months, we think
you're fine to settle your baby to sleep if needed or
overtired, while at the same time fostering good sleep
habits by using a super dark room, loud white noise (get
our Baby Sleep Shhh - honestly, it's amazing!), swaddle or
baby sleeping bag. The idea is that once you set up those
perfect positive sleep associations you will only be
removing one of them - your assistance - when your baby
needs to learn to self-settle. They will still have all those
other things to positively associate with sleep, so it will be
a lot easier for them than implementing a complete and
total change to what they're used to. If your older baby is
needing to learn to self-settle, using these tools is a crucial
starting element.
Until your baby can COMPLETELY self-settle (i.e. you put

them in their bed and they fall asleep themselves), without
patting, rocking or feeding, they will continue to catnap in
the day and wake every couple of hours in the night once
theyre around 4 months of age.
For a baby who has been self-settling from a younger age,

or been on our Guides a while, you could well coast


32
through this stage in your baby's development. Older

babies will need more help.
We need to remember that the skill of

self-settling is something your baby needs
to be guided to do, with consistency and
perseverance.
Like learning to read for a 5 year old, self-settling is a

learned skill that babies wont just get overnight. It is
something completely new for them and they need a
process of coaching, consistency and the chance to learn
to do it themselves. Us giving in and continuing to settle
them means were denying them the chance to work on
this new skill; were not doing them any favours in the long
run. They will get frustrated, because it is a whole new
way of doing things. Babies only way of communicating
this frustration is through crying but unless it is genuine
emotional crying, most babies cries while self-settling are
protest cries; your baby is literally shouting at you.
It is important to remind ourselves that we are providing

them with a crucial skill set that will mean they are able to
sleep well for years to come; something that is vital to
their growth and development. You certainly dont want a
2-year-old toddler who still wakes up all through the night.
Babies are quick learners, meaning theyll form new habits

really fast this can mean theyll quickly develop a sleep

33
association reliant on you really easily too. The good news

is those habits can be re-taught and, depending on which
process youre using (and their age), your baby can learn
the valuable new skill of self-settling in under a week - it
really is up to you!


34
PACIFIERS
Pacifiers are great settling tools for younger babies as
sucking is extremely comforting. Babies younger than 3
months will resettle between sleep cycles a lot easier than
older babies and wont need the pacifier replaced every
time they come out of a sleep cycle. However, once your
baby is closer to 4 months (and beyond) if they are using a
pacifier to go to sleep they might need it every time they
wake between sleep cycles (45 minutes in the day and 2
hours at night). This is a lot of pacifier runs!
Until your baby is able to replace their own pacifier at

around 7-8 months old, they will need YOU to replace it
for them because they are relying on the pacifier to fall
asleep, so much so, that they arent able to go back to
sleep without it.
If your baby isnt waking and needing their pacifier

replaced, you are fine to keep using it. However, if it
becomes a problem, this is a good age to ditch the pacifier,
unless you're happy to ride it out for a few more months
until your baby can put it back in themselves. What we
also find with using the pacifier at night is that it can
actually mask genuine hunger - the sucking tricks their
brains into thinking theyve been fed. This can, in itself,
lead to more night waking because your baby is genuinely
hungry, rather than just waking for the pacifier.


35
How do you get rid of the pacifier?

Firstly, you need to make sure youve got other positive
sleep associations in place, such as a swaddle (or baby
sleeping bag), white noise, a super dark room, a cuddly or
comforter or even a Lulla doll. Get the Baby Sleep Shhh
track going and play it very loud or use a baby Shusher to
help with settling.
There are two methods, depending on how quickly you

want the pacifier gone and the level of protesting youre
comfortable with.
QUICK METHOD: You will ditch the pacifier cold turkey,

starting with the first nap of the day and working through
the other naps and bedtime that same day. You might
need to help your baby settle for their naps by patting or
shushing if they're upset while they get used to not having
a pacifier.
If theyre protest crying (which any crying here will be -

they are protesting the change, there is nothing actually
wrong with them), you can leave them for 6 minutes.
Make sure you set a timer and go and do something to
busy yourself. If your baby is still crying after 6 minutes
you can pat or cuddle to soothe them, then try again.
You'll be surprised at how they can go from crying to fast

asleep at about 5 mins 30 seconds!
Each nap you put your baby down for, use the same
method (patting or shushing if they're upset) and be

36
consistent with your approach. Every nap they will take

less and less time to settle. It will take about 3 days to
break the habit (sometimes sooner!) if youre consistent in
your approach.
GENTLE METHOD: here, you will replace the pacifier with

another settling tool such as patting or side-settling. You
will begin by settling your baby to sleep using your chosen
method WITH the pacifier for 3 days. Then, you will put
your baby down for their naps and at bedtime WITHOUT
the pacifier and you will settle them completely to sleep
using your chosen settling method. Once they are used to
going to sleep without the pacifier you will then work on
removing the settling, by only settling to calm them rather
than to put them to sleep. You can use the 6-minute
check-in method here too, as described in the previous
method.


37
CHANGES IN YOUR BABYS

DAY/NIGHT
While on a Guide babies will have the best chance to meet
their food/milk and sleep needs. The Guide can also
highlight anything else going on which could be inhibiting
your babys feeding or sleeping.
But even once established on our Guides, babies can go

through periods of a day, 3 days, a week of unsettled
behavior or a seemed sudden worsening of their naps or
sleep. This is completely normal (in most cases) and would
happen whether on the Guide or not. The Guide will
however, give you the framework to ride out these
changes/interruptions and will give you the tools to get
through the rest of the day.
If you notice a sudden or random behavior/regression, we

always advise you to wait a week before seeking answers
through the Support Village - this will feel like a lifetime
but it will very often just be a one-off or a developmental
phase that lasts a few days (these happen quite regularly!)
and will resolve itself.
You can use this troubleshooting list to rule out any of the
following as well:
Check the length of your babys day naps

Can your baby totally self-settle (for babies 3-4
months onward)?

38
Did your baby take less food/milk that day?

Are they now too hot/cold in their bedding?
Was there anything that happened in their day that
was different to normal (such as having to do all
naps out and about etc)?
Are they sick? Remember ear infections or sore
throats will often not show any other outward
symptoms and it can be really hard to know that
your baby is unwell. A disruption to their sleep is
usually the first indicator
If you have another child in the house have they
been sick recently? Have you yourself been sick?
*in the case of an obviously sick or unwell baby or a baby

who is refusing to eat/drink or won't stop crying you must
seek medical advice.


39
SICKNESS
Sickness can have a negative impact on napping and night-
time sleep. Even if your baby doesnt appear sick, signs to
look out for are:
Sudden changes to their sleep over the last 24

hours
Waking/unsettled sleep between 7 PM and 10 PM
Waking early in the morning and not settling back
to sleep
Catnapping (unless your baby has a fever)
Babies with a fever will want to sleep, let them sleep. For
some babies, falling asleep at a random time is the first sign
they have a fever.
But, if you manage to get the fever down, or they are sick
with no fever, here is a rough guideline for what to do with
naps.
Morning nap: We like to keep the morning nap the same

ending time as usual. You can put your baby down earlier
than the maximum awake time. But wake at the normal
wake time so the lunch nap isn't affected.
Lunch nap: You can put your baby down earlier than the
nap time if they are very tired also if they are sick, talk to
your doctor about pain relief options to give your baby
before the nap, 1 to aide in settling initially and 2 because

40
when babies are sick they often cat nap, so it helps stop
this. It is fine to let them sleep as long as they will for the
lunch nap, but cap it at 3 PM for a baby under 18 months,
2.30 PM for 18 months -2.5 years.
Afternoon nap: If under 6 months this nap can be used as

a catch up nap and let them sleep longer if needed, but
always wake at 5 PM (so if you want them to sleep longer
you need to put them down earlier; this usually happens
naturally anyway because they have not slept as long at
the lunch nap).
For older babies/toddlers if you notice a sudden change in

personality for a few days, this is most likely due to a
sickness causing them to be grumpy.
If you know your baby isnt sick anymore and if they start
to wake more overnight or naps go backwards you will
need to start following the guide more closely again.


41
GETTING BACK ON TRACK

If you've been away on holiday, if you've had a busy few
days, if your wee one has been sick or something has gone
wrong and you've veered from the Guide and your baby is
not sleeping well, here are some ways to get back on track
once everything has settled down:
spend a few quiet days at home and focus on your

baby and their sleep needs. It's likely they'll be
craving a calming environment with very little
stimulation so they can chill out
stick to the Guide as closely as you can - your baby
will be needing that structure back and "going with
the flow" won't help them to know what's coming
next in their day. It's very easy to get into a habit of
letting them sleep longer in the day if they're very
tired, but all extra day nap hours come at a cost and
it may mean your baby starts waking more at night
or staying awake for long periods. It is far better to
give them the chance to catch up by having a good,
restful sleep overnight rather than extra naps in the
day
however, you can put your baby down slightly
earlier for their naps if they've got a lot of sleep
debt to catch up on. Just be careful not to go too
much over the total nap hours for the day
still wake them at 7am in the morning, regardless of
how the night went. This is a crucial factor in
regulating their circadian rhythms and getting them
back on track.

42
Above all, remember that any changes in your baby's sleep

are due to this disrupted period - they are fixable and
reversible and it doesn't mean your baby is broken!
The best thing you can do is go back to

the Guide, re-read the notes and work
through your day one nap at a time.


43
EARLY WAKING
If your baby is doing well on the Guide and following it
closely, the only reasons for waking before 6 AM are:
they are cold. This is common as 5AM is usually the

coolest part of the night, especially during winter.
Having your baby in a merino sleeping bag, or
swaddled and then cotton or wool blankets over
the top for babies under 4 months is the best way
to go. Using a heater in their room is good, as long
as you can control the temperature - use a
thermostat to set the room temperature: 18/19
degrees (64-68 F) are the perfect room
temperatures for babies. Babies who are too hot or
over-bundled can also wake at 5am too. This is the
period of the night when babies come into their
lightest sleep (they enter deep sleep again right
before it's time to wake up), so anything that makes
them uncomfortable at this time of the morning will
wake them and keep them awake.
they have had too much day sleep. This would

mean your baby had simply had enough sleep in
that 24-hour period and they genuinely don't need
to sleep till 7 AM. Check their total daily sleep
hours against the recommended amount in the
Guide.
they were very overtired at bedtime. Overtiredness

stimulates increased production of a hormone

44
called cortisol, which is similar to adrenaline and

peaks during the afternoon and evening. Higher
cortisol levels means your baby's sleep will be more
restless, causing night waking and early morning
waking.
their morning nap was too early or for too long. It is

important to keep their morning nap as close to the
scheduled time as you can. A morning nap that is
too early will actually cause more early morning
waking as they learn they can catch up on the
missed sleep at that nap!
they are sick. If you can rule out hunger, being too
hot/cold and day sleep having been an issue, it
might pay to have your baby checked by your
doctor. Even if they don't seem sick, ear infections
or sore throats are common culprits for early
waking and don't always present with other
symptoms such as a fever or runny nose etc.
genuine hunger in younger babies who have

recently been weaned off night feeds. Offering
them half a feed or one side here would be your
best bet, then putting them back to bed until 7 AM
and offering the rest of the feed after 7 AM.


45
HOW OUR NAPS WORK
The naps in this Guide are very carefully formulated

around establishing and maintaining a long lunchtime
sleep. This nap stays the same approximate time and
length from newborn right through to 2.5 years old. The
other naps in the day are structured around the lunch nap,
with the goal of achieving the 2 hours (or close to) for this
nap.
As you move through this Guide the morning nap slowly

decreases in length nearer to 6 months. This is to continue
to promote a long lunch nap and also to allow for some
more awake time in the morning, which your baby starts
needing as they get older.
In the Guide youll see that the nap times move by 15

minutes in each age bracket. This means your aim is to
move your babys nap time incrementally. It is written like
this (this is from the 3-4 month Guide):
9.00/9:15 AM Morning Nap 45 mins (Ideally 9:00/9:15-9:45 AM)
This means that at 3 months the morning nap is at 9:00

AM, but by 4 months its at 9:15 AM you will move their
nap time gradually over that month.


46
If your baby is going to sleep earlier than the times in the

Guide and/or waking earlier than the wake-up times, you
can use a power nap. This is a strict 10-minute nap that
bridges the gap between their normal scheduled naps if it
is greater than the maximum awake time. This means your
baby can last until the next naptime so you are back on
track with your nap timings for the rest of the day.


47
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE

LUNCH NAP
The backbone of our Guides is a long lunch nap. This is the
same for babies of all ages and is designed to coincide with
the natural dip in energy levels we all (adults and babies
alike) have between the hours of 12 and 2 PM.
Napping at this time means babies are more likely to fall

asleep, stay asleep (all things going well) and it is when
sleep will be the most restorative for them.
The other naps are then calculated around the lunch nap.
While it might be convenient or seem logical to let your

baby have a longer nap in the morning followed by a
shorter nap at lunch or in the afternoon, this can lead to
problems closer to 6 months once the daytime sleep hours
reduce naturally and your baby loses the late afternoon
nap. This means their longest nap of the day would then
be in the morning with only two short naps to get through
the rest of the day and by late afternoon they will be
exhausted and need to go to bed by 6 PM (resulting in an
unsettled night and a 6 AM wake). Beyond 6 months, any
sleep after 3 PM can mean your baby will not settle well at
bedtime and correlates to a wakeful period at 3 AM.
Once closer to 15 months old, your baby will have reduced

and then dropped their morning nap altogether, leaving
the lunch nap in place. This is a far easier transition than it

48
would be for babies who are used to having a longer nap

in the morning and a shorter one early afternoon because
youd be tweaking and readjusting two naps and
converting them into one.
If you have a baby and a toddler, the lunch nap happens at

the same time for both ages, so you will enjoy a couple of
hours of bliss when both your kids are asleep!
Between 3-5 months the lunch nap can go wrong for a

variety of reasons, these include: hunger, settling issues (4-
month sleep regression), sleep environment or too long in
the morning nap. Your baby, despite being tired, might
even refuse to go back to sleep.
By establishing a good lunch nap early on

you will ensure your baby is not too
overtired for the afternoon and bedtime is
relaxed and happy.


49
4-6 MONTHS OVERNIGHT

& HUNGER
Between 4-6 months your baby may start waking more
overnight even if they were previously sleeping well and
even if they were sleeping through the night. If your baby
can self-settle (without a pacifier) at all naps and bedtime
you can rule out a settling issue as a reason for the wakes
overnight.
The next most common reason is that they are hungry. By

6 months old babies are ready to be eating solid food and
in particular, protein. Until they are well established on
solids they might start waking more in the night because
they are genuinely hungry.
Milk is still the most important food for a baby until 8

months of age, however milk is digested very quickly and
doesn't sustain your baby for long periods.
If your baby is breastfed or bottle-fed

and you don't want to start solids until
6 months or later, you will need to treat
night waking as hunger and feed
straight away.


50
If you have started solids and your baby is still waking it is

likely that you need to increase the amount or add protein
at lunch for a baby 6 months and older. We like to start
with lunch solids and increase by 1 teaspoon per day until
your baby is eating at least a cup, then introduce dinner.
Start with 1 teaspoon and increase to at least a cup then
introduce breakfast.
If you are using a pacifier and overnight you are resettling

with a pacifier instead of feeding (if you haven't introduced
solids), please be careful. A pacifier can mask the fact that
your baby is actually waking because they are hungry.
Because the baby sucks the pacifier, like when they are
feeding, even though they may go back to sleep, their
brain thinks that its getting food. You could be resettling
when actually the reason for the wake was hunger.
Please note, it is normal to have up to 2 wakes in the night

until solids are well established (at least a cup at two
meals, lunch and dinner). After this most babies will sleep
through. If still waking, it can be normal to have one feed a
night until 8 months when solids come before milk. If your
baby is older than 9 months and is still waking overnight,
she will be doing so out of habit and is not needing milk,
exclusively breastfed or not.
We do not recommend doing dream feeds over 6 months

as this can create habit waking or waking later in the night
and also encourages them to take calories overnight
instead of during the day.


51
ADVICE FOR BABIES WITH

REFLUX
This is a section compiled from experience with babies
with reflux. There is a wide range of severity of reflux and
some babies will be happy with only a small amount of
help, while others with severe reflux will need all the help
they can get so that you, your baby and your partner can
also get some sleep.
*this information is not intended to be used in place of

medical advice
Before starting any therapy, medical or complementary

therapy or medication or if you suspect your bay has reflux
please consult your doctor.
If you want to know what causes reflux please read here:

https://www.littleones.co/blogs/our-blog/crying-over-
spilt-milk-what-is-reflux
SLEEP POSITIONS:
Essentially you want your baby to be as upright as
possible
Cot/Bassinet on an angle: books or cot positioners to
increase the level of your baby's head so that it is more
inclined than their body
In a carrier: although this can sometimes push on their
stomach and therefore brings their acid up

52
Baby Swing: the swinging and rocking motion helps

settle as well as the upright level
OTHER TIPS:
Dummies/pacifier: these can help soothe the baby by
encouraging them to swallow saliva which may be
enough to wash the acid down and help with pain
Swaddling: Try arms down tight swaddle and arms up
looser swaddle around their tummy.
Don't do up nappy/diaper too tight around their waist:
This is a good tip for colic babies too
Cranial osteopaths: Some mothers find this helps
FEEDING:
Keep as upright as possible after feeds and during
awake times keep in bouncer or rocker (avoid lying
your baby flat)
Feed as upright as possible: Rugby ball position, so they
can sit upright feeding
Breastfeeding: mothers should avoid coffee, chocolate,
green apples,
When starting solids: be careful with green apples,
banana, avocado,
If you notice spilling/vomiting more with certain foods
see a doctor.


53
FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS

Q - Im following your guide but my baby is still

waking at 3 or 5 am
A - If your baby is able to self-settle for naps and at night-

time, you can rule out a settling problem for this wake.
Take a close look at the amount of day sleep they are
having. Too much day sleep, can mean theyll wake at
night. If this problem is new and/or sudden it could also be
that something else is going on, e.g. sickness. See our info
section on Early Waking.
Q - It feels mean to wake my baby from her

morning nap, how does this affect the lunch time
nap if I dont wake her?
A The morning nap sets up the nap success for the rest
of the day. If your baby has too much sleep at the first
nap, this can adversely affect the length of the lunch nap
and the rest of the day.
Q - My baby is supposed to have an awake time

of 2 hours, however after 1.5 hours he is showing

54
tired signs (yawning). Should I put him to bed

early?
A - Babies have a natural dip in their energy levels at

around 1-1.5 hours of awake time. This is when many
people assume theyre ready for a nap and your baby will
probably fall asleep at this time because its inside their
sleep window, especially if youre doing something to
settle them. But they wont actually sleep longer than one
sleep cycle if you did put them down now as theyre not
tired enough to sleep longer. Try taking your baby outside
for some fresh air or change their activity. If youre just
starting on the Guide and have a baby under 4 months you
can work on an awake time of 1.5 hours and increase it by
5 minutes every 2 days. Refer to the info section on
Awake Times.
Q - How will I know when my baby has gone to

sleep if Im not in the room with her?
A - We recommend the use of a baby monitor as the best

way to observe your baby going to sleep. A video monitor
is great if its within your budget. You affix the monitor on
the wall above babys bed so you get a good birds-eye-
view image of them as theyre sleeping. This is extremely
valuable because often a baby might be awake but silent
for quite a lot longer than you realise! This of course will
affect your timing of their next nap. We also recommend
allowing time for your baby to self-settle over the age of 3
months, so its not always best rushing in and aiding them


55
back to sleep. With a video monitor you can easily see if

theyre settling fine on their own or if they are getting
upset.
Q - It usually takes 10 minutes for my baby to fall

asleep once I put him in his bed, should I let him
sleep 10 minutes longer?
A - If you know your baby takes a while to fall asleep, try

giving them some quiet wind down time before putting
them to bed. This could be lying quietly on the mat, use of
a pacifier, soothing music playing, cuddling or swaying with
your baby. This will get them in the zone for sleep.
Q - If my baby is crying when I put them to bed,

what should I do?
A - We always suggest babies are put to bed ready for

sleep but awake so that they learn to fall asleep by
themselves. If youve followed our Sleeping and Feeding
Guide closely your baby should definitely be ready to sleep
by the time they go to bed. Often babies will cry at
naptime if they have been put to bed too early or too late.
Some babies use grizzling here as a way of unwinding. It is
fine to leave your baby to cry a bit as long as its wind-
down crying and not emotional crying.


56
Q - My baby is supposed to nap at 9am but will

fall asleep in the car when I drop my older children
at school at 8:30am. How do I fix this?
A - We would suggest moving your entire Sleep Guide

forwards by half an hour, so youd wake baby at 6:30am
rather than 7am. Then her first nap would be 8:30am and
you can do this nap in the car. Bedtime would then be
6:30pm. As your baby gets older she will be able to stay
awake while you drop off your older children.
Q - If my baby wakes between 6:30am and 7am

should I try and get her back to sleep?
A - If your baby has had a good nights sleep, it would be

fine to get your baby up at this time and start your day a
bit early. For babies over 3 months you would stretch
them out to your normal nap time or theyd start getting
used to waking early and continue to do so. If your baby
has had a wakeful night and you feel they could use some
extra sleep, we would suggest trying to resettle them back
to sleep for another sleep cycle (45 minutes) and then
adjust your naptimes back to compensate.
Q I have a weekly activity during the lunch nap.

What can I do?


57
A - If your baby is in a good sleep pattern you can recreate

their sleep environment in a pram and do the nap out and
about. You can do this by taking some portable white
noise, a blackout shade and their comforters or pacifiers.
You may find that your baby doesn't sleep as long while
out but you can let them catch up on sleep by increasing
the length of the 3rd nap, or by putting to bed earlier for
the day.
Another way of altering the guide for a baby who you have
to wake from the morning nap, is on the day of your
activity, you can swap the morning and lunch nap around
and allow as long as possible sleep (up to 2 hours) in the
morning. Then follow the awake time for the next nap and
wake at the usual wake time of the lunch nap. This is
absolutely fine to do on the odd occasion, but see the
section on The Importance of Lunch Nap as to why it can
have a negative effect on the day if done long term.
The Guide is a guide of how much sleep babies need to

get through the day from 7-7. Any more or any less can
have a detrimental effect on the night. So if you want to
go out for lunch and your baby only sleeps one sleep cycle,
occasionally that is fine if you've got the chance for a third
nap or they have an early bed time and they can catch up
there. But if your baby starts waking overnight or early
morning its likely that they are overtired and have a build-
up of cortisol causing the unsettled night; going back to
sticking to the guide will eliminate the problems.


58
Q - My mother-in-law says it is cruel to wake a

sleeping baby, yet your guides say I should?
A - We always say it is better to wake your baby in the day

rather than your baby wake you in the night! Waking your
baby helps them regulate their sleep hours and consolidate
their night time sleep. Being more in control of their naps
ensures they have the right amount of daytime sleep so
they have a reasonable bedtime and sleep well at night.
Q - What if my baby falls asleep whilst feeding?
A - This is a common occurrence with younger babies

especially. Often babies under 3 months appear to be
asleep while nursing but are actually milk drunk and
usually need to just burp. Our feeding times are scheduled
well before your babys next naptime to try and avoid your
baby feeding to sleep. The exception is the top-up feed
before the lunch nap for babies younger than 4 months. If
you find your baby is in the habit of trying to sleep during
this feed, you could try giving them the milk feed in a
bottle instead; they will drink it faster and they will be less
likely to sleep on a bottle rather than on the breast. You
want to avoid your baby falling asleep before their nap
time, because even a 5-minute sleep can mean they wont
want to go to sleep when nap time comes around!


59
Q - My baby always falls asleep in the car or in

the pram. How do I stop this?
A - If you are closely following our Sleeping and Feeding

Guides, you should begin to get a good understanding of
times when your baby is likely to be sleepier and times
when it would be fine to go out if you want them to stay
awake. You can always plan to do the morning or
afternoon sleep in the car or pram so that you can get out
of the house! Wed recommend you try and do the lunch
nap in babys bed as this will ensure they sleep better and
for longer. If however your baby has fallen asleep in the
car right on her nap time, it is fine to transfer her to her
bed to finish the nap. We find that after the 2:30pm feed
is usually the best time for an outing for babies under 6
months.
Q - Why does my baby always wake after 45

minutes for her lunch nap and at bedtime?
A - Once babies reach around 4 months old they start fully

waking between sleep cycles. Your baby will need to learn
to go to sleep on her own before she can go back to sleep
at the 45-minute mark. It may take a few days, or even
weeks of you needing to resettle her at this wake before
she learns that she has to sleep longer. Having a dark room
and white noise will help your baby transition between
cycles easier. Often the cause of this wake at night-time is
overtiredness; make sure you are sticking to the awake
time windows for your babys age to avoid her being too


60
overtired come bedtime. If your baby can self-settle and

has started waking at the 45-minute mark, dont rule out
hunger or sickness as these are the next most common
reason for the wake here.
Q I would like to follow your Guide, but am I

going to be stuck at home all day? How do I get
out and about with my baby?
A - In no way are we meaning for you to be stuck at home

all day long. The first and last nap of the day are easy to do
on the go. Once your baby is sleeping well in their bed at
night, the lunch nap can also be done by some babies in a
pram too . See the section on Flexibility. Toddlers sleep
from 12:30-2:30 so its likely you'll be at home at that time
of the day eventually, if you have more than one child.
However, if your baby has a sleep association and you are

trying to get them to sleep well in their bed overnight, the
easiest place to start is to teach them during the DAY, so
you may need to do a few days at home to teach them the
bed is where they sleep, not the car, the pram or on you,
while you are breaking this association.
Q What is the difference between White Noise

and Baby Sleep Shhh?


61
Baby Sleep Shhh or a Shusher is a settling tool. Designed

to help settle your baby, it works amazingly well on babies
under 5 months or overtired/overstimulated or sick babies
over 5 months, because it initiates the calming reflex in the
brain. Our audio track of Baby Sleep Shhh can also be used
on repeat to play the whole time they are asleep, but we
recommend having it VERY loud initially to settle the baby
if they are crying and turning it down if you are going to
play it for the whole nap/overnight. iPhones and iPads
won't play Shhh loud enough unless you've got it right
next to their ear (about 10cm from ear), so we recommend
playing it on an MP3 player plugged into some cheap
speakers. A Shusher used properly should be about 30 cm
from their ears on full volume and turned down once
asleep.
White noise is best used for the rest of the nap (if youre
only using Shusher/Baby Sleep Shhh to settle). After 4
months you wont need the Shusher/Baby Sleep Shhh as
much to settle (unless you are weaning off another sleep
association, such as feeding to sleep or a pacifier) so you
can just turn on the white noise at the beginning of the
nap and your baby can tune into it and clear their mind to
go to sleep. White noise should be used until at least 1-
year-old and is the easiest sleep association to wean off,
you turn the volume down every few days until you don't
need it anymore.
Q Will playing White noise or Baby Sleep Shhh

damage my little ones hearing?


62
Babies are exposed to sounds of up to 95db in the womb

(as loud as a lawnmower). We recommend playing Baby
Sleep Shhh louder than their cries if they are crying to help
settle them. Then turning it down to as loud as a shower
when asleep to around 55-65db (the level of
conversational speech).
Q My baby is a catnapper but he sleeps

through the night. Why does he need to sleep
more during the day?
Catnapping and good night time sleep isnt sustainable

unfortunately. Eventually your babys night sleep will
change to become fragmented with 2 hourly waking.
Working on the catnapping in the day is your best line of
defence/ Read the section on Sleep Consolidation for
more information.
Q I want my baby to be flexible and be able to

sleep anywhere, I don't want to have her sleep in
a dark room all the time
Setting up great sleep habits to begin with will mean your

baby is biologically aligned to want to sleep at her
scheduled nap times. You can easily recreate your sleep
environment while out and about with the use of portable


63
white noise, a shade cover for your stroller etc. Once your
baby is over 12 months there are other cues to let your
baby/toddler know that its sleep time other than darkness.
They have also consolidated their sleep more so being in a
completely dark room is not quite as important.
Q My baby is tired and Im putting him down

earlier than the max awake time, how long should
he sleep for
If you are putting your baby down earlier than the

scheduled nap time, you can let your baby sleep until the
normal nap wake-up time. This will mean theyre sleeping
for longer at that nap so you will need to make sure it isnt
affecting their settling or the length of the rest of their
naps that day,


64
3 to 4 MONTHS
Remember our Guides work best when combined with
these recommendations:
Use a swaddle for babies under 4 months, for all

sleeps
and night sleeps
darkness


65
QUICK GUIDE
3 to 4 Months
5:00/6:00 AM Early Wake
7:00 AM Morning Start
7:00 AM Morning Milk Feed
Awake time 2 2 hours max
9.00/9:15 AM Morning Nap 45 mins (Ideally 9:00/9:15-9:45 AM)
10:00 AM Lunch Milk Feed
11:15 AM Top-up Milk Feed
Awake time 2 hours max
Lunch Nap 2 hrs (Ideally 12:00/12:15 PM -
12/12:15 PM
2:00/2:15 PM)
2:00/2:15 PM Afternoon Milk Feed
Awake time 2 hrs max
Afternoon Nap 15-30 mins (Ideally 4:30/4:45 -
4:30/4:45 PM
5:00PM)
5:00 PM Dinner Milk Feed
6:15 PM Bedtime Milk Feed
7:00 PM Bed Time
Expressing Time (only if you are introducing a bottle
9:00 PM
at the dream feed)
10:00/10:30
Dream Milk Feed (Optional)
PM
Overnight Milk Feed (if no dream feed)
Total Day
3 hours max (between 7 AM - 7 PM)
Sleep


66
DETAILED GUIDE
3 to 4 Months
Early If your baby wakes before 6:00

5:00/6:00
Wake AM and wont resettle see notes.
If your baby wakes between 6-
6:30 AM feed one side or half a
bottle and try to settle back to
sleep until 7 AM. If she wakes
6:00/7:00 Morning
after 6:30 AM if crying or
AM Start
hungry get her up for the day,
otherwise leave in bed if happy
and keep her morning nap at
9:00/9:15 AM
Wake your baby if not already
7:00 AM
awake. Change nappy/diaper.
As long as she woke after
6:30AM keep her nap between
9:00/9:15 AM
Morning
7:00 AM Give the baby a full feed.
Milk Feed
If you fed the baby one
breast/half a bottle between 5
7:30/8:00
AM and 6 AM then feed the
AM
other breast or the other half of
the bottle now.

67
Your baby will be starting to get

tired now. Take her to her room,
Change
9:00 AM check nappy/diaper, swaddle
and Settle
and start to settle the baby for
sleep.
9:00/9:15 Morning They need a sleep here of 45
AM Nap mins.
Wake your baby if she is not
already awake, regardless of
9:50 AM what time she went to sleep.
awake.
Note what time she woke from
the morning nap as this
determines the time of the lunch
nap, 2 hrs from when she
woke from the morning nap.
Feed the baby a full feed (or do
Lunch
10:00 AM one lunch feed at 10.45-11 AM
Milk Feed
closer to 4 months old)
Top the baby up before lunch
Top-up
11:15 AM nap (if you havent given her a
Milk Feed
full feed at 10:45-11 AM)
Your baby will be starting to get
tired now. Take her to her room,
Change
12 Noon check nappy/diaper, swaddle
and Settle
and start to settle the baby for
sleep.
12:00/12:15 Lunch The baby will get tired 2 hrs 15
PM Nap mins after they woke from their

68
last nap. The baby should have a

good sleep here of no more
than 2 hours. At 3 months the
baby will be napping from
12:00-2:00/2:15 PM. As she
gets closer to 4 months her nap
will move closer to 12:15-2:15
PM.
The baby may wake after one
sleep cycle of around 45 mins -
1 hour. Allow her up to 15 mins
to resettle herself as long as she
is not crying. See
troubleshooting notes.
If you have only just started on

our Guides and your baby cant
yet self-settle, you may have to
resettle her during this nap for a
while until you teach her this
skill.
awake. If she woke during the
nap or didn't sleep well for some
2:00/2:15
reason let her sleep until 2:15
PM
PM but don't let her sleep past
2:15 PM or longer than 2
hours.
2:00/2:15 Afternoon Give the baby a full feed when
PM Milk Feed she wakes.


69

the lunch nap as this determines
the time of the afternoon nap, 2
hrs from when she woke from
the lunch nap.
The baby can sleep 15 to 30
mins. Around 3 months she will
4:30/4:45 Afternoon
nap around 4:30 PM, but closer
PM Nap
to 4 months she will be napping
at 4:45 PM.
the afternoon nap as this
determines the time of bedtime,
2 hrs from when she woke from
the afternoon nap.
The baby will start to cut right
back on this nap. The afternoon
nap is always the hardest to get
them to sleep and stay asleep,
especially if she hasn't slept well
during the day. If she didn't
sleep well at the lunch nap she
will get tired around 4:30 PM.
Wake the baby now if not
already awake. The time of this
wake determines the bedtime. If
5:00 PM
she woke at 4.45 PM for
example, bedtime will be 6.45
PM.
Dinner Feed the baby one side or half a
5:00 PM
Milk Feed bottle. Feed both sides here if

70
you are low on milk, your baby

cluster feeds at night or during a
growth spurt.
6:00 PM Bath the baby.
Start feeding in a quiet dark
room. If she didn't finish the side
you fed at 5:00 PM, start with
Bedtime
6:15 PM that same side and then feed
Milk Feed
the other. Or give a full bottle. It
is important to try not feed the
baby to sleep.
Settle the baby in her bed for
7:00 PM Bedtime
the night.
If you are introducing a bottle at
the dream feed, express now
from both sides. Your supply will
likely be regulating now so you
9:00 - 9:30 probably won't be expressing
Expressing
PM much more than 100ml/3oz
between both breasts, you may
need to top up her bottle as she
may be taking more than what
you can express.
Get your baby out of bed and
change nappy/diaper if needed.
Dream
10:00-10:30 Feed her quietly and avoid
Feed
PM stimulating or talking to her. You
(Optional)
want to keep her as sleepy as
possible.


71
Hopefully she will be sleeping

from the dream feed through to
6/7 AM. However, it is normal
Overnight to have 2 feeds (including the
dream feed) in the night until
solids are well established
around 6 months.


72
NOTES &
TROUBLESHOOTING
Feeding
Around 12 weeks your baby will generally go through
another growth spurt. During a growth spurt you will need
to let her feed for longer at feeds and she may end up
cluster feeding in the evening.
If your baby starts to refuse the top up before her lunch

nap (especially bottle fed babies), do one feed closer to 11
AM to ensure she is full enough to sleep well during the
lunch nap. If she wakes during the lunch nap and you
haven't topped up, assume hunger and go in and feed
straight away to resettle. If this happens for more than a
few days go back to doing the 10 AM feed and also
topping up before the lunch nap, especially during a
growth spurt.
If you find that your baby is getting hungry in the

afternoon or cluster feeding before bed then go back to
doing the 10 AM feed and also topping up before the
lunch nap to get more milk into them during the morning
especially if they are breastfed or during growth spurts.


73
NOTES &
TROUBLESHOOTING
Early waking / morning wake
If your baby wakes before 5 AM and you have already fed
her overnight, leave her to settle back to sleep if she will,
unless she gets upset, or she might develop an early
waking habit
How to tackle the early morning

wake:
If your baby wakes between 6-6:30 AM feed one side or

half a bottle and try to settle back to sleep until 7 AM.
If your baby wakes before 6:30 AM and wont settle back

to sleep, give her a 10 minute power nap 2 hours from
when she woke, then continue with the morning nap at
the scheduled time in the Guide.
If she wakes after 6:30 AM get her up for the day if crying
or hungry, otherwise leave in bed if happy and keep her
morning nap at 9:00/9:15 AM


74
NOTES &
TROUBLESHOOTING
The morning nap
During this Guide the morning nap should be moving

slowly from 9 AM at 3 months towards 9:15 AM by 4
months.
Your baby will likely be cutting down on this nap naturally

now and only sleeping one cycle of around 35-45 minutes.
If she is still sleeping longer than this, you should wake her
from the nap at 45 minutes as it can have negative effect
on the lunch nap and cause her to either wake after 1
sleep cycle or wake early from the nap due to not being
tired enough.
If the lunch nap is going wrong and you can rule out
hunger, try cutting this nap to 30/40 minutes rather than
45.
You should only shorten your babys morning nap length

when it is beginning to impact on their lunch nap.


75
NOTES &
TROUBLESHOOTING
The lunch nap
Your baby should be napping from 12 PM to 2 PM or 2.15
PM by the beginning of this guide. If anything goes wrong
in the lunch nap at any time during this guide and she
wakes for a decent period, settle her back to sleep until
2:15 PM and wake her then.
Once she gets closer to 4 months she will be napping

12:15 - 2:15 PM.
Between 3 and 4 months your baby is coming out of their

newborn phase and they should be learning to self-settle.
In other words, learning to go to sleep without any help,
much like adults do. Due to this change in development
she will come into a lighter sleep at the end of a sleep
cycle around 35-45 minutes. The baby needs to be given
the chance to settle herself back to sleep. If you are
already topping up before the lunch nap, you can assume
that it is not hunger causing a wake and leave the baby for
10-15 minutes to resettle, as long as they aren't crying;
this is the time that they learn they can sleep longer than
one sleep cycle during the day rather than waking.
If after 10-15 minutes the baby is still awake, go in and

resettle, treating it like a night wake, until asleep.


76
If after a few days of doing this, the baby is still waking

then it will likely be something else, such as they are
relying too heavily on a parent-dependant sleep
association at the start of their nap they are sick or they
are too hot or cold.
If the lunch nap goes wrong:

If the baby does wake during the lunch nap (between 12-1
PM) and you have given a top up feed before the nap,
allow 15 minutes to self-settle back to sleep as long as
shes not crying.
If she is not resettling after 15 minutes or she is crying, try

and resettle her in her bed by whatever means necessary,
e.g. side settling, rocking etc. If she wont resettle and it
requires you do half of the 2.15 PM feed, it's better to
have her sleep even 20 minutes more before 2.15 PM and
also have an afternoon nap, than getting her up and just
having an afternoon nap. From now on the afternoon nap
will likely only be one sleep cycle anyway no matter how
hard you try.
If you haven't done the top up feed before the nap assume
hunger and feed straight away to resettle.
If the baby wakes after one sleep cycle at lunch and you
tried to resettle and feed and she still wont sleep, get her
up for the afternoon. To recover the afternoon, see the
Catnapping Routine, where youd do a 30-minute nap after
her 2 PM feed, then another 30-minute nap at 4:30-5:00
PM to get her through to a 7 PM bedtime.


77
If the baby slept well in the lunch nap but woke early
(between 1-2 PM), for example at 1.45 PM instead of 2:00
PM then the normal afternoon nap will start after the
normal amount of awake time but finishing at 5 PM
therefore giving her a catch up.


78
CATNAPPING ROUTINE
3 to 4 Months

Awake time 2 - 2 hours max
9:00/9:15 AM Morning Nap 45 mins
10:00 AM Milk Feed
11:30 AM Top-up Milk Feed
12:00/12:15 PM Lunch Nap
Wake. Start from here if your baby has woken early from
12:45/1:00 PM
their lunch nap and you cant resettle them.
1:45 PM Afternoon Milk Feed
2:00 PM Afternoon Split Nap (45 mins)
2:45 PM Wake
5:00 PM Wake and Dinner Milk Feed
5:30 PM Dinner Solids (if you have introduced lunch)
6:15/6:30 PM Bedtime Milk Feed
7:00 PM Bed Time


79
NOTES &
TROUBLESHOOTING
The afternoon nap
This nap will be getting much shorter now.
If the baby slept well at the lunch nap and woke at 2:00
PM or didnt sleep solidly at lunch and then slept till 2:15
PM, the afternoon nap will be 4:30 PM. If she slept well
from 12:15-2:15 PM then her afternoon nap will be closer
to 4:45 PM.
Settling should be a lot quicker by now and should only

take a few minutes.
For settling we recommend Baby Sleep Shhh and

shush/patting on side for resettling.
This is always a hard nap to get the baby to sleep. If the

baby has had a bad day of sleep then make this easy for
yourself and take the baby for a walk in the pram or a
drive in the car. The afternoon nap can work as a catch up
nap; if anything went wrong during the first two naps you
can try to make this slightly longer than the suggested time
(as long as you still use the awake times), but do not let
them sleep past 5 PM if you want them to go to bed at 7
PM.


80
If the afternoon nap is cut short for some reason, then

bring your bedtime forward to compensate. Even if this
means a 6:00 - 6.30 PM bedtime.


81
NOTES &
TROUBLESHOOTING
The power nap
This is a nap you can use at any time of the day to bridge
the time between their normal naps if your baby has
woken early.
To do a power nap you put the baby down after the

normal awake time for a sleep but only let them sleep for
10 minutes.
This is very strict and may feel strange waking the baby
after such a short time, but if you let them sleep longer
than this your baby will not be tired enough for her next
nap.
After the 10-minute nap you can put the baby down for
their next nap at the usual time.
We would only use this power nap if it meant that even

after adjusting your day, your bedtime would be earlier
than 6 PM.


82
NOTES &
TROUBLESHOOTING
The dream feed (optional)
The dream feed should be becoming quicker by now. If
she stays awake for any period of time after this feed, you
need to look at how much daytime sleep she is having.
If the baby is sleeping well from the dream feed to 7 AM,

has done so for a few weeks and becoming less interested
in their feed at 7 AM or taking less from their bottle, you
can slowly start to reduce the amount you give them at
the dream feed. Do this by reducing the bottle amount by
30ml/1oz or breastfeed time by 5 minutes every three
days. As long as the baby still sleeps through till 7 AM you
can keep reducing the feed. You will need to be VERY
lenient if the baby starts to wake in the night or starts
waking earlier in the morning, you will need to assume
hunger and may need to keep the dream feed in until they
are established on solids and taking two full meals around
6 months.
If the baby is waking 2-3 hours after the dream feed, or 2-

hourly, it is a sign that the dream feed isnt working and
you are best to drop it altogether and feed your baby
when/if she naturally wakes in the night.
If, for whatever reason, your baby ends up going to bed an

hour later than normal, dont do the dreamfeed that night.


83
NOTES &
TROUBLESHOOTING
Overnight
If you are doing a dream feed, your baby might sleep
through till 7 AM. However many babies may still need
another feed overnight until they are well established on
solids. A good indication whether she needs a feed or not
is if she is not interested in feeding at 7 AM after feeding
in the night.
If she wakes between 4 AM - 6.30 AM feed one side or

half a bottle and settle back to sleep. Feed the other side
or the other half of the bottle between 7-7:30 AM.
If your baby is waking early and not showing any signs of

sleeping closer to 7 AM the most likely reason is too much
day sleep and they are therefore not tired enough to do a
long stretch overnight. If you are doing the right amount of
day sleep and your baby is still waking before 4 AM there
is likely something else going on, for example they aren't
getting enough milk between 7 AM - 10.30 PM or other
medical reasons.
All overnight feeds (7PM - 7AM) should be done in their

room by keeping the lights dim, dont talk or stimulate your
baby, only change nappy/diaper if necessary.


84
If you are feeding overnight for whatever reason, your

baby will likely only take a top up or possibly not be
hungry at all at the 7 AM feed. This will mean that if you
aren't topping up before the lunch nap, you should go back
to topping up those days.


85
4 to 6 MONTHS
Between 3 and 4 months your babys sleep cycles will
have changed and youll now need to start fostering really
good sleep habits to help towards self-settling. See the
information at the start of this document for more help
with this.
If your baby can't self-settle at naps and bedtime you may

notice that they have also started catnapping and/or
waking overnight 3 to 6 times, in which case you will be
having to aide them back to sleep in the same way they
originally went to sleep. This is sometimes called the 4-
month sleep regression. Our Settling Guide has more
information about how to break these parent-assisted
sleep associations.
During this Guide your baby will also start naturally

reducing their afternoon nap in preparation for dropping it
at 6 months. This means between 5 and 6 months you
might need to help your baby get this nap in, by doing it in
the stroller or a baby swing etc. If they are resisting the
nap altogether, it could be they are getting hungry as this
naptime will be very close to their 5pm feed. Doing the
double feed between the morning and lunch naps will help
with this.


86
If your baby is really struggling with

catnapping or if the lunch nap goes
wrong, you can use the catnapping
routine at the end of this Guide to get
you through the rest of the day.
Remember our Guides work best when combined with

these recommendations:
Use a swaddle for babies under 4 months, or baby

sleeping bag
and night sleeps
darkness


87
QUICK GUIDE
4 to 6 Months

Morning Nap 30-45 mins (Ideally 9.15/ 9.30 - 9:45/10
9:15/9:30 AM
AM)
10:00 AM Lunch Milk Feed
10:45/11:00
Lunch Milk Feed (if on solids)
AM
11:30 AM Top-up Milk Feed or Solids (if you are introducing solids)
12:15/12:30 Lunch Nap 2 - 2 hrs (Ideally 12:15/12.30 - 2:15/2:30
PM PM)
2:15/2:30 PM Afternoon Milk Feed
4:45 PM Afternoon Nap 10-15 mins (Ideally 4:45/4.50 - 5:00PM)
5:00 PM Dinner Milk Feed

7:00 PM Bed Time
Expressing Time (only if you are introducing a bottle at the
9:00 PM
dream feed)
10:00 PM Dream Milk Feed (optional)
Overnight Milk Feed (if no dream feed)
Total Day Sleep 3 hours max (between 7 AM - 7 PM)


88
DETAILED GUIDE
4 to 6 Months
5:00/6:00 If your baby wakes before 6:00

Early Wake
AM and wont resettle see notes.
If your baby wakes 6-6:30 AM
feed one side or half a bottle
and try to settle back to sleep
until 7 AM. If she wakes after
6:30 AM if crying or hungry
6:00/7:00 Morning
get her up for the day,
AM Start
otherwise leave in bed if
happy. Keep her morning nap
at 9.15/9.30 AM to ensure it
doesn't enforce early morning
waking.
7:00 AM
awake. Change nappy/diaper.
As long as she woke after
6:30AM keep her nap between
9:15/9:30 AM
Morning
7:00 AM Give the baby a full feed.
Milk Feed
If you fed the baby one
7:30/8:00
breast/half a bottle between 6-
AM
6:30 AM then feed the other


89
breast or the other half of the

bottle now.
Take the baby to her room,
check nappy/diaper, swaddle
or sleeping bag and put in her
9:15/9:30 Morning
in her bed for her nap. This nap
AM Nap
will slowly move from 9:15 AM
to 9:30 AM between 4 and 6
months
Wake the baby if she is not
9:55 AM already awake, regardless of
what time she went to sleep.
the morning nap as this
determines the time of the
lunch nap, 2 hrs 15 from when
she woke from the morning
nap.
Feed the baby a full feed (or do
Lunch Milk
10:00 AM one lunch milk feed at 10.45-
Feed
11 AM)
If your baby has shown signs
10:45/11:00 Lunch Milk
of needing solids, do a full milk
AM Feed
feed here instead of at 10 AM.
Top the baby up with milk
before lunch nap (if you
Top-up
havent given her a full milk
11:30 AM Milk Feed
feed at 10:45-11 AM) If your
or Solids
baby is starting solids introduce
them here. No need to top up


90
with milk if she is taking about

cup of solids.
Your baby will be getting tired
now. Take her to her room and
Change
11:50/12 wind down, check
and Wind
Noon nappy/diaper, swaddle or
down
sleeping bag and put the baby
in her bed for her nap.
The baby will get tired 2 hrs 15
mins after they woke from
their last nap. This nap will
slowly move from 12:15 PM to
12:30 PM between 4 and 6
months. The baby should have
a good sleep here of no more
than 2 hours.
If you have only just started on

12:00/12:15 our Guides and your baby cant
Lunch Nap
PM yet self-settle, you may have to
resettle her during this nap for
a while until she learns to do it
herself
At 4 months your baby should

be napping from 12:15 PM to
2:15/2:30 PM. Once theyre
very close to 6 months, their
nap will move to 12:30 PM to
2:30 PM.


91

awake.. If she woke during the
nap or didn't sleep well for
2:15/2:30
some reason let her sleep until
PM
2:30 PM but don't let her sleep
past 2:30 PM or longer than 2
hours.
2:15/2.30 Afternoon Give the baby a full feed when
PM Milk Feed she wakes.
the lunch nap as this
determines the time of the
afternoon nap, 2 hrs from
when she woke from the lunch
nap.
Afternoon The baby can sleep 10 to 15
4:45 PM
Nap mins.
As long as the baby did at least
10 minutes, bedtime will still be
7 PM. If the baby didn't nap for
some reason and shes closer
to 6 months, put her to bed at
6:15/6.30 PM and bring the
dinner feeds forward by half an
hour.
The baby will start to cut right

back on the afternoon nap.
From 5-6 months this nap will
be very hard to get them to
nap. You may need to go for a


92
drive or take your baby for a

walk.
Wake your baby now if not
5:00 PM
already awake.
Dinner
5:00 PM Give your baby a full feed now.
Milk Feed
Dinner If you are introducing solids,
5:30 PM
Solids feed dinner now.
6:00 PM Bath the baby.
You shouldn't need to do this
in her room anymore as you
dont want to create a
feed/sleep association,
Bedtime however if there is too much
6:15 PM
Milk Feed going on in the lounge then
you can still feed in a quiet
room. If she is fully breastfed,
you may need to top up with
expressed milk now.
Take your baby to her room,
Wind check nappy/diaper, put in
6:50 PM
Down sleeping bag and put her in her
bed for the night.
Settle the baby in her bed for
the night. If she didn't have an
afternoon nap and shes closer
7:00 PM Bedtime to 6 months, she might wake
after 35/45 minutes; this is
likely overtiredness. If she does
this, you will need to start

93
waking her from the lunch nap

at 2:15 PM and then getting in
an afternoon nap at 4:45 PM
for 10-15 minutes.
If your baby isnt settling well

at bedtime and you are giving
her longer than the guide for
her afternoon nap, you will
need to reduce the afternoon
nap.
If you are introducing a bottle
at the dream feed, express now
from both sides. Your supply
will likely be regulating now so
you probably won't be
9:00 - 9:30
Expressing expressing much more than
PM
100ml/3oz between both
breasts. You may need to top
up with a bottle as she may be
taking more than what you can
express.
Get your baby out of bed and
Dream change nappy/diaper. Feed her
10:00 PM Feed quietly and avoid stimulating or
(optional) talking to her. You want to
keep her as sleepy as possible.
If you are doing a dream feed,
your baby might sleep through
Overnight
till 7 AM. However, it is normal
to have 2 feeds (including the


94
dream feed) in the night until

solids are well established at 6
months. A good indication
whether she needs a feed or
not is if she is not interested in
feeding at 7 AM after feeding
in the night. If so you can try
resettling at one of the wakes
overnight rather than feeding
for a few days.


95
NOTES &
TROUBLESHOOTING
Feeding
If your baby starts to refuse the top up before her lunch
nap, do one feed closer to 11 AM to ensure she is full
enough to sleep well during the lunch nap. If she wakes
during the lunch nap and you haven't topped up, assume
hunger and go in and feed straight away to resettle. If this
happens for more than a few days go back to doing the 10
AM feed and also topping up before the lunch nap,
especially during a growth spurt.
If you find that your baby is getting hungry in the

afternoon or cluster feeding before bed then go back to
doing the 10 AM feed and also topping up before the
lunch nap to get more milk into them during the morning
especially if they are breastfed or during growth spurts.
Around 4-6 months your baby may show signs of

wanting/needing solids, please ensure you take the advice
of your health care professional about weaning. Milk is still
the most important food for your baby so make sure you
still give milk before solids. Lunch is the first place to start
with solids, then introduce dinner.
If you have started solids and your baby is still waking it is

likely that you need to increase them. We like to start with
lunch solids and increase by 1 teaspoon per day until your


96
baby is eating at least a cup, then introduce dinner. Start

with 1 teaspoon and increase to at least a cup then
introduce breakfast. This will happen over a month or so
once you introduce solids.
If your baby is taking solids at the lunch meal, depending

on the quantity they take they still might need a milk top-
up before the lunch nap.


97
NOTES &
TROUBLESHOOTING
Sleeping
Between 4-6 months your baby has usually lost her startle
reflex and learning to roll, so this means that you can start
transitioning out of her swaddle into a sleeping bag.
Initially start with the morning nap in the sleeping bag.

Then introduce the lunch nap. You may have to resettle
her after one sleep cycle for a day or two. Once she is
sleeping well at the lunch nap you can introduce the
sleeping bag overnight.
We recommend a baby sleeping bag rather than sheets

and blanket as your baby is less likely to get cold when she
moves around. If you are finding that your baby is getting
onto their tummy and not settling, you can introduce a
Safe T Sleep type product.


98
NOTES &
TROUBLESHOOTING
Early waking / morning wake
If your baby wakes before 6 AM and you have already fed
her overnight, leave her to settle back to sleep if she will,
unless she gets upset.
How to tackle the early morning

wake:
If your baby wakes between 6-6:30 AM feed one side or
half a bottle and try to settle back to sleep until 7 AM.
If your baby wakes before 6:30 AM and wont settle back

to sleep, give her a 10 minute power nap 2 hours from
when she woke, then continue with the morning nap at
the scheduled time in the Guide.
If she wakes after 6:30 AM get her up for the day if crying
or hungry, otherwise leave in bed if happy and keep her
morning nap at 9:00/9:15 AM


99
NOTES &
TROUBLESHOOTING
The morning nap
From 4-6 months your morning nap needs to be moving
from 9:15 AM to 9.30 AM, which will then move the lunch
nap from 12:15 PM to 12.30 PM closer to 6 months.
Your baby will likely be cutting down on the morning nap

naturally now and only sleeping one cycle of around 35-45
minutes. If she is still sleeping longer than this, you should
wake her from the nap as it can have negative effect on
the lunch nap and cause her to either wake after 1 sleep
cycle or wake early from the nap as shes not tired enough.
If the lunch nap is going wrong and you can rule out
hunger, try cutting the morning nap to 30/40 minutes
rather than 45.
You should only shorten your babys morning nap length

when it is beginning to impact on their lunch nap.


100
NOTES &
TROUBLESHOOTING
The lunch nap
At 4 months your baby should be napping from 12:15 PM
to 2:15/2:30 PM. Once theyre very close to 6 months,
their nap will move towards 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM, in
which case they may be able to go until bedtime without
an afternoon nap.
If anything goes wrong in the lunch nap at any time during

this guide and she wakes for a decent period, settle her
back to sleep until 2:30 PM and wake her then.
If she is not doing the full 2 hours at the lunch nap and is
waking earlier and she is doing 45 minutes at the morning
nap. You can try to reduce her morning nap to 30 to 40
minutes to improve the length of the lunch nap.
Between 3 and 4 months your baby has come out of their

newborn phase and they should be learning to self-settle.
In other words, learning to go to sleep without any help,
much like adults do. Due to this change in development
she will come into a lighter sleep at the end of a sleep
cycle around 35-45 minutes. The baby needs to be given
the chance to settle herself back to sleep. If you are
already topping up before the lunch nap, you can assume
that it is not hunger causing a wake and leave the baby for
10-15 minutes to resettle, as long as they aren't crying;


101
this is the time that they learn they can sleep longer than
one sleep cycle during the day rather than waking.
If after 10-15 minutes the baby is still awake, go in and

resettle, treating it like a night wake, until asleep.
If after a few days of doing this, the baby is still waking

then it will likely be something else, such as they are
relying too heavily on a parent-dependant sleep
association at the start of their nap they are sick or they
are too hot or cold.
If you aren't topping up before the lunch nap, go back to

doing this - it will more than likely be hunger waking the
baby at the lunch nap, in which case feeding to resettle
would be your option here.
If the lunch nap goes wrong:

If the baby does wake during the lunch nap (between
12/12:15 - 1/1:15 PM) and you have given a top up feed
before the nap, allow 15 minutes to self-settle back to
sleep as long as shes not crying.
If she is not resettling after 15 minutes or she is crying, try

and resettle her in her bed by whatever means necessary,
e.g. side settling, rocking etc. If she wont resettle and it
requires you do half of the 2.15 PM feed, it's better to
have her sleep even 20 minutes more before 2.15 PM and
also have an afternoon nap, than getting her up and just
having an afternoon nap. From now on the afternoon nap

102
will likely only be one sleep cycle anyway no matter how

hard you try.
If you haven't done the top up feed before the nap assume
hunger and feed straight away to resettle.
If the baby wakes after one sleep cycle at lunch and you
tried to resettle and feed and she still wont sleep, get her
up for the afternoon. To recover the afternoon, see the
Catnapping Routine, where youd do a 30-minute nap after
her 2 PM feed, then another 30-minute nap at 4:30-5:00
PM to get her through to a 7 PM bedtime.
If the baby slept well in the lunch nap but woke early
(between 1:15-2:15 PM), for example at 2 PM instead of
2:15 PM then the normal afternoon nap will start slightly
earlier but still after the normal amount of awake time.


103
CATNAPPING ROUTINE
4 to 6 Months

9:15 AM Morning Nap 45 mins
10:00 AM Milk Feed
10:45/11:00
Lunch Milk Feed (if on solids)
AM
11:30 AM Top-up Milk Feed or Solids (if you are introducing solids)
12:15 PM Lunch Nap
Wake. Start from here if your baby has woken early from
1:00 PM
their lunch nap and you cant resettle them.
2:00 PM Afternoon Milk Feed
3:00 PM Wake
5:00 PM Wake and Dinner Milk Feed

7:00 PM Bed Time


104
NOTES &
TROUBLESHOOTING
The afternoon nap
This nap is very short now and will only be 10-15 minutes
at around 4:45 PM.
As you reach closer to 6 months you may have to work

very hard to get an afternoon nap in, by either taking your
baby for a walk or drive.
Make sure you wake her from her lunch nap at 2:30 PM at
the latest to ensure an afternoon nap. If your baby isn't
wanting to take an afternoon nap you can try waking from
the lunch nap at 2:15 PM to get a short nap in before 5
PM, but do not let them sleep past 5 PM if you want them
to go to bed at 7 PM. Make sure you do not let her sleep
longer than the total daytime sleep hours for their age. If
the afternoon nap is cut short for some reason, bring your
bedtime forward to compensate. Even if this means a 6-
6.30 PM bedtime.
If your baby doesn't nap for some reason in the afternoon,

you will probably find that she will wake after one sleep
cycle after going to bed for the night. This is due to
overtiredness and you will need to ensure they have an
afternoon nap the next day. We recommend having a
short 10-minute afternoon nap until 6 months.


105
NOTES &
TROUBLESHOOTING
The power nap
This is a nap you can use at any time of the day to bridge
the time between their normal naps if your baby has
woken early.
To do a power nap you put the baby down after the

normal awake time for a sleep but only let them sleep for
10 minutes.
This is very strict and may feel strange waking the baby
after such a short time, but if you let them sleep longer
than this your baby will not be tired enough for her next
nap.
After the 10-minute nap you can put the baby down for
their next nap at the usual time.
We would only use this power nap if it meant that even

after adjusting your day, your bedtime would be earlier
than 6 PM.


106
NOTES &
TROUBLESHOOTING
The dream feed (optional)
The dream feed should be very quick by now. If she stays

awake for any period of time after this feed, you need to
look at how much daytime sleep she is having.
If the baby is sleeping well from the dream feed to 7 AM,

has done so for a few weeks and becoming less interested
or fussing with their feed at 7 AM or taking less from their
bottle, you can start to slowly reduce the amount that you
give them at the dream feed. Do this by reducing the
bottle amount by 30ml/1oz or breastfeed time by 5
minutes every three days. As long as the baby still sleeps
through till 7 AM you can keep reducing the bottle. You
will need to be VERY lenient if the baby starts to wake in
the night or starts waking earlier in the morning, you will
need to assume hunger and may need to keep the dream
feed in until they are established on solids and taking two
full meals around 6 months.
If, for whatever reason, your baby ends up going to bed an

hour later than normal, dont do the dreamfeed that night.
If you are introducing solids earlier than 6 months you will

find that your baby will naturally start to cut down on this
feed. Once she is taking 60ml/2oz or less for three days
you can drop the feed.

107
NOTES &
TROUBLESHOOTING
Overnight
If you are doing a dream feed, your baby might sleep
through till 7 AM. However some babies may still need
another feed overnight until they are established on solids.
A good indication whether she needs a feed or not is if she

is not interested in feeding at 7 AM after feeding in the
night.
If she wakes between 4 AM - 6.30 AM feed one side or

half a bottle and settle back to sleep. Feed the other side
or the other half of the bottle between 7:30 AM - 8:00
AM.
If your baby is waking early and not showing any signs of

sleeping closer to 7AM the most likely reason is too much
day sleep and they are therefore not tired enough to do a
long stretch overnight. If you are doing the right amount of
day sleep, your baby can self-settle at naps and bedtime
and your baby is still waking overnight there is likely
something else going, for example they aren't getting
enough milk between 7 AM - 10.30 PM, or other medical
reasons. You can try and drop the dream feed to see if she
does a longer stretch in the night and only feeds once then
settles back to sleep until 7 AM. This is better than doing a
dream feed as well as feeding overnight.


108
If the baby is waking 2-3 hours after the dream feed, or 2-

hourly, it is a sign that the dream feed isnt working and
you are best to drop it altogether and feed your baby
when/if she naturally wakes in the night.
All overnight feeds (7PM - 7AM) should be done in their

room by keeping the lights dim, dont talk or stimulate your
baby, only change nappy/diaper if necessary.
If you are feeding overnight for whatever reason, your

baby will likely only take a top up or possibly not be
hungry at all at the 7 AM feed. This will mean if you aren't
doing a top-up before the lunch nap you should go back to
topping up those days.


109
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Little Ones!
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clicking here:


110

3 To 6 Month Sleeping and Feeding Guide 2017

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Prepared exclusively for sara.a86@gmail.

com Transaction: 19892

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HOW TO USE OUR GUIDES.................................................... 7

IMPORTANT INFORMATION .................................................. 9

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SLEEP GUIDE AND

AWAKE TIMES & NAP LENGTHS .........................................21

THE 4 MONTH SLEEP REGRESSION ...............................27

CHANGES IN YOUR BABYS DAY/NIGHT .........................38

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GETTING BACK ON TRACK ...................................................42

EARLY WAKING ........................................................................44

HOW OUR NAPS WORK ........................................................46

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LUNCH NAP .........................48

4-6 MONTHS OVERNIGHT & HUNGER ............................50

ADVICE FOR BABIES WITH REFLUX ..................................52

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS .....................................54

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QUICK GUIDE ............................................................................88

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Welcome to the world of better sleep! Our Sleeping and

These Sleeping and Feeding Guides have been carefully

Between the ages of 3-6 months your

Copyright LITTLEONES 2015 Limited

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Our Guides work best when combined with these

Use a swaddle for all sleeps

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HOW TO USE OUR GUIDES

Some babies, if given the chance, would happily sleep all

The guidelines change a little after 3 months. Between 3

The times suggested below are when you have a "perfect"

After 3 months you do start to stretch the baby out a little

The awake times listed are from when baby wakes to

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of the Guide and comprehensive notes. There are clickable

If your baby is hungry earlier than the suggested feeding

If your baby wakes early in any of the naps see nap

We suggest waking your baby at 7 AM to start your day,

Please take the time to read the notes

Copyright LITTLEONES 2015 Limited

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Think of it like if we travel overseas to a new time zone

If your baby seems to suddenly start sleeping a lot worse

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from a build-up of sleep debt and getting over any residual

We always advise you to stick closely to the Guide for the

Above all, we need to remember that the hard work you

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Between 8-16 weeks a baby's daytime sleep cycles mature

However, babies whose naps remain 45 minutes or less all

After 30 minutes your baby enters a deep sleep this is

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Immune system restored and strengthened

After 1 or more hours of sleep babies go into REM sleep

This is why our Guides are built on the framework of the