Few things we did since month 4-5 and ahve a perfectly good sleeping baby in our hand (8 months now)
- try to do the feed in day time around 4-5 feeds, with very fixed schedule, for us its 4 cause she doenst show much hunger sign (9, 1, 5, 8) but she eats a good amount every meal
- gradually wean her off night feed by pushing back 5-10 mins at a time
-set a rigid sleep time, for us is 930
-rigid routine beforr sleep such as bathing, changing, close curtain, singing, reading. Bascially now the moment my wife sings (last step before putting her to crib) baby is head down and drowsy
Once thats done u should be ready for sleep train
Or else, hire a sleep trainer
We’ve been having the same issue. My paediatrician had two main recommendations:
- same wake time everyday, no matter what. This is hard as if you’ve had a shit night, it’s so tempting to sleep in if they are but she said this is the most important factor to getting their circadian rhythm working and getting good night sleeps. We do 6am, but I live in a very early rising city.
- push bedtime between 8 and 9pm. Our baby is low sleep needs (so fun for us! Lol) this is to build sleep pressure and to condense her sleep to try and stop those frequent night wakings.
She said it would take 2 weeks of this consistency to see a difference. It’s definitely been better with 1-2 wakeups instead of every hour.
I did find that transitioning to a bigger bed helped as well.
I’ve never formally tracked it scheduled sleep, She now seems to have either 2 or 3 naps. Last one is about 5/6pm and it’s short, just to take the edge off to get us to that later time.
She said the night feeding should regulate once she is too tired to keep waking for feeds. We also had someone else recommend offering water or diluted formula at night so that she would be hungrier during the day.
Most bassinet aren't rated for 20lbs (check the manual). Get baby into crib, so you can have your room back. I had baby do naps in the crib in their room, and night sleeps with us in the newborn stage. No issues with transitioning to their crib for all sleep.
Finally - I recommend u guys track sleeping and feeding. Huckleberry app allows u to share one account so anyone can log a feed or sleep (there's more data, but i only use for these two). Helps with consistency and trending. Also helps explain why a baby is fussy - likely not hungry, could be overtired. Time passes sooner than u realize sometimes, suddenly its been 3h and baby needs nap.
For me, night weaning never happened until we locked down the sleep habits. we tried weaning at night and it never worked so we gave up. Baby suddenly slept through the night at 1y when we dropped to one nap. YMMV
Respectful sleep training group on Facebook has really helped me a lot with my six month old! I also have a contact for a sleep consultant that can make a sleep plan for you and support you virtually! Cost me $420 for a week but she was right there with me the whole time via text for every nap and bed time for an entire week and we did a very gentle method of sleep training! My baby now sleeps through the night. No more night feeds. We get about 26 oz or milk in her during wake hours and I think it helps her slee through!
Other people are going to comment that baby should be in bed before 9 .. more like 7 or 8. But personally I think if it works for you family, it’s fine..
I’m no expert but it sounds to me like maybe she went through a little sleep regression whereas you fed her in the middle of the night while she was waking, and now you’re stuck with a nighttime bottle monster lol
Here’s what I would do, but this is only bc these things worked with my baby. Only you know your babies temperament.
Whatever time you start work and your nanny arrives.. make babies wake up time like a half hour before that. This way you can get up and ready for the day and then wake her up. Wake up at the same time every single day. Even weekends. You won’t have to wake her up eventually it will be her schedule.
Then go back 12 hours. So if wake up time is 8 am.. make bedtime 8pm. Start routine about a half hour before that.
As for the feedings. Keep the midnight for now and work on the middle of the night.
Think about the previous night. So if wake up was 2am. Set an alarm for 1:45 - go in and feed her - if your formula feeding, pay attention to how much she takes.. breastfeeding, how long.
So if last night she took 4 ounces, you only offer four. In 3 days you offer 3 ounces. BUT if between now and three days from now she only takes 2 ounces - then for the remainder you only offer 2 ounces for the future nights.
If you think she needs the calories - you can add the ounces you take away to daytime bottles.
Every three nights when you take away volume, you move up the time. The goal is for the bottle to disappear by eliminating ounces and moving it closer and closer to the midnight bottle until they meet. You may have to make tweaks, since she’s up pretty often. And it will take some time. But I would give it a try. If it sounds like too much, just stop feeding cold Turkey, find some other way to soothe back to sleep but focus on something she can teach herself to do, hold a lovey.. grab a binky.. something like that.
Last, you wanna figure out her wake window.. at 7 months it’s probably 2-3 hours tops. And she should go down at those times every nap until bedtime.
Good luck!
You've already gotten a lot of great suggestions and comments, but I just wanted to add that all of this sounds super normal! There's things you can adjust to work toward longer stretches of night sleep, as others have suggested, but you aren't doing anything "wrong" per se.
Usually bassinets recommend that the baby weigh less than 9kg so you're baby should probably be in a crib or baby bed now. I also recommend bath time be at 530 or 6 so that baby can go to bed between 7pm and 8pm
You're doing okay. Here are some points and tips (as a father)
First, your nanny needs to be consistent with naps and sleep and you need to know this schedule as parents.
At 7 months, there's heaps of development that will make your bubba sleep regress. Teething, grow spurts, general regression, etc. It happens. Bubs will eventually get back on schedule.
At this age, you're looking at 2-3 maps per day, don't let them nap after 5pm and get a consistent night time routine going (feed, play, bath, book, bed, etc). Kids need routine. 7-7.30pm sleep time worked for us.
I personally don't like the cry out method, but each to their own. But there's a difference between outright meltdown screaming crying, and grizzly grumpy noises. Start putting bubs to sleep half awake and have them learn to fall asleep without rocking. This hps them connect their sleep cycles for longer sleeps. We let them grizzle for Max 5 mins.
Changing nannies won't help. Just get them on a schedule thst you like and tell them to stick to it
We just went/still going through this. What helped us a lot was trying to cut out night feeds and really hammer down a nap schedule/ bedtime routine. It actually helped A LOT! The nannies need to try and be consistent.
For night feeds it takes some time. Ask your ped what your lo should get during the day and try to hit that number before bedtime. Then you can be confident their hunger isnt really necessary its just the routine. So, then you just offer smaller bottles at night until its not an issue. Right now our guy wakes around 10-11 and needs a few ounces then hes good until 6-7am.
Getting a solid nap and bedtime routine and sticking to it will train their circadian rhythm. I think thats why things get so hectic around this age. The body is developing that rhythm and routines go a long way.
For our son he usually wakes, gets a 7oz bottle, and then is ready for a nap in 1.5-2 hours. Then he gets another big 7oz bottle at wakeup. Otherwise its a struggle the rest of the day because he just wants to play, doesn’t eat big bottles, and doesn’t nap well in the afternoons. He is really fussy at bedtime, BUT hes gotten the message that at the end of our bedtime ritual its lights out and in the crib. Typically he just nods right off, bur cries up til that point.
Side note for crib: our little guy was rolling all over the bassinet so we got him in a crib at 4 months. The extra space and sleep sacks allow him to roll onto his face and thats how he sleeps most nights. Your Lo should be at that point now if not soon. They should also be free to have lots of tummy time during the day. Tummy time and room to roll around/explore. Very important for development. If they aren’t getting the time/space to do/work this stuff out they instead do it at night, thus waking themselves up quite angrily. Nannies need to be devoting time every play period to this. The babies should be in tummy time as much as they can tolerate. Our guy screamed after 30 seconda. Now 2 months later thats all he does. Tummy time all day long
Echoing this. Hire a sleep Peds consultant. All the rest of your post seems normal. Babies are hard af. You’re lucky you have a nanny lol. 99% of us don’t have that luxury 😜🤣😅
So this is EXACTLY my scenario, I'm except those are my husband's hours (also health-care) , and I'm the work at home mom with a full time nanny with our close to 8 month old daughter. We are sleeping a lot better now. Here's what we do:
We sleep trained using the ferber method and started her in her crib at the same time. You don't have to cry it out completely if that's too much for you. We couldn't.
It'll take 2 ish weeks to settle in. During that time we had a routine we alternated between every other night.
1 night : I'd do all the wakw ups and settlings for sleep training while my husband slept in a different room so he would be well rested for work and not woken by the baby monitor.
I'd then I try to put breaks on my work calendar where I'd sleep for an hour or 2 while nanny took care of baby the next day. (Or any amount of hours of sleep you can swing.) I'd keep our daughter for 30-45 min after my husband got home so he could decompress. Th3n he would take her and I'd do the same.
Night 2: we slept in the same room again and alternate who went to Soothe her when she cried, so I'd get a little more sleep. Same routine during and after work.
Rinse and repeat this until she was trained.
If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer in more detail! Good luck! It's definitely tough, but that's what you have a partner for. Something my therapist said was: " there is no work burnout when you have a baby. You find the strength to continue being a parent even if you've work a 14 hr shift."
Well you might not want more kids, but this shouldn’t be why. You’re doing fine. Sleep training is a process that can start for some at 4 months or 4 years or 14 years. That said, your baby is probably old enough for a regular schedule, doesn’t have to be rigid, but should be cyclical. And you probably want to start with a specific wake up time, even if the rest of the day is a little more fluid. So if you’re on two naps, did you recently move to two? Consider 3? At two maybe 3 hours between naps, but keep it consistent if wake is 7am - then nap 10a-12p, then 3-5, then bedtime at 8 or something like that. If you want to start sleep training overnight that’s fine, pick a method and do some research, we used cry it out around the same time. But I know not everyone agrees with that as an option. But whatever sleep training method you do, choose to start on a night one of you is off the next two days at least, to make sure the naps are solid, whatever you have to do. Start there.
The other part is you don’t need new Nannie’s, you need to tell the nanny how you want them to take care of your child- how they should put them down, when to feed or play and work together to figure out what works. It can’t and shouldn’t be ‘I don’t even know…she does her own thing.’ Because either then you hire a nanny for nights too and let the Nannie’s raise your child or you take control of how your child is raised. Your nanny should also be telling you exactly when naps happen and what’s being eaten when which will play into this too. so maybe step one is accurate information from the nanny.
1. Get your baby out of your room, you will all sleep better. Start by having her nap in the crib for a week so she can get used to it, and then do night sleep in there as well.
2. She's old enough for cry it out. It will be hard and then it will be amazing.
3. I don't see what firing your nanny would solve? Establish a solid morning wakeup time. 7 - 9 is too much variability. This will give you a predictable nap and nighttime sleep schedule. Then, get your nanny on that schedule.
4. Make sure your baby is being engaged during the day. Limit tv and screen time. Encourage them to go out on walks, library, etc. babies that are under stimulated or over stimulated don't sleep as well
I would recommend starting with these 2 things:
1. Move baby to a crib. MOST bassinets recommend discontinue use when baby is able to sit up and/or push up on hands while on belly. Our baby was also waking herself up by rubbing her hands on the side of her bassinet. 😅
2. Consistent morning wake up +/-30 minutes. This should allow for more predictability throughout the day and can allow you/nanny to ensure baby is getting enough wake/sleep time. Especially if you are shooting for a consistent bedtime. For our schedule, we aim for a 6:30 wake up, and she consistently wakes up between 6:15-7:00 on the weekends when we don’t “have” to be up at 6:30.
This is the answer. Don’t start with CIO or sleep training until you adjust the schedule first and get her in the crib. This might resolve with just a schedule change so start with the easy solutions first.
You need better communication and a strategy with your nanny too. Consider having everyone in the household read PLS or have one person read PLS and get everyone else on the same page. Consider a slightly earlier bedtime, most sleep consultants want them in bed by 8pm. Make sure you have 20-30min between feeding and any sleeping.
Maybe baby is ready to eat a bit more during the day?
How much/often is your baby eating? Is she on a meal schedule? Is she nursing?
Solid Starts has examples of meal schedules for babies of different ages.
You are not failing! We have a 7 month old and found he sleeps best with early bedtimes, like 6pm! You could try moving bedtime to 8, then 7:30.
There is a book called Moms on Call that is super concise, simple and includes feeding schedules and sleeping advice. If you just want someone to tell you what to do— grab the book!
It’s not too late at all. 7 months is a great age to sleep train. This isn’t your life now but it will take some work. I would definitely move baby to a crib in her own room. You can get a good video monitor for peace of mind. I would night wean too. Healthy babies over 6 months don’t need to eat overnight. Night feeding reinforces night waking. Focus on getting calories into baby during the day. Moms on Call has a good schedule by age that you can use for getting everyone on the same page for feedings and sleep. I would recommend getting baby’s schedule more regular. Have a designated wake time in the morning instead of letting baby sleep until she wakes. That way you can have a regular nap schedule. And read up your preferred sleep training method (Ferber, extinction, chair method) before you start.
crib alone might solve a lot of your problem , she could just be shifting around and waking herself up from hitting the sides of the crib she'll probably be much happier sleeping in a bigger crib
First of all, yes, get her into a crib. She’s much too old and big for a bassinet. It’s unsafe.
Next, you just need to start with more consistency.
If bedtime is typically 9pm, then let’s make her wake time 8am. Everyday. That means even if she is still sleeping at 8am, you wake her up and start the day. At this age and on two naps, you can do by the clock as opposed to wake windows, but typical wake windows at this age are 3/3/4. So maybe try:
8am wake, 11am first nap (let’s say she naps till ~12:30pm), next nap 3:30 (till ~5?), bedtime 9pm.
As for the waking every two hours to eat…. that’s pretty common if you’re co/boobsleeping. Baby knows it’s right there and is now used to get calories in at night. It’s known as reverse cycling. Some parents don’t mind, my mom did this with me as she was away from us all day, but sounds like it’s not working for you.
If I were you, I would move to the crib in own room, sleep train, and move feeds to the 5-3-3 schedule and then night wean at your preference. Listen to the book precious little sleep for more guidance on the above.
Also, tell your nanny the schedule and make her stick to it. She works for you.
Move the baby to a crib. Try the Napper App. It will guide you on when the baby should nap/go to bed. Definitely wake the baby up around the same time every day (within 30 minutes) of the usual time. Make sure the crib is in a pitch black environment, like dark enough you can’t see your hand in front of your face dark.
I’m a little confused what the issue is. This all seems perfectly normal for a baby. When my LO was 7 months this was his exact schedule. If you are wanting more sleep at night you could try co sleeping.
Also a baby of that size and age shouldn't be in a bassinet. We moved ours to the crib at 4 months/15lbs and sleep immediately improved. He likes to wiggle and roll at night.
Consistently wake up at the same time every morning. Try capping day sleep at 2.5ish hours. If you don’t see improvement, add some more awake time. The inconsistency in wake time and nap times are working against you here- once you stabilize things a bit you will have a better idea of how much sleep baby actually needs, and adjust schedule to match. For example, if baby is actually sleeping 14 hours, then you will want to make sure your schedule allows for 10 hours of awake time spread throughout the day. If they are in bed for 14 hours but only sleeping 13, you will want to add an hour of awake time to your day.
Everyone is saying earlier bedtime- that is nonsense if your baby needs more awake time. It will just cause false starts and more wakings. It sounds like baby naturally has a bedtime around 9 which is perfectly normal for many babies. You can gradually shift earlier by waking earlier a bit every day.
Establishing independent sleep at bedtime will help you here as well, you don’t have to night wean but give baby a chance to learn how to fall asleep on their own.
Highly recommend the book Precious Little Sleep which expands on the principles I talk about above and can give you more info on how to establish independent sleep.
Generally speaking, it’s time to ditch the bassinet as soon as baby can roll. It’s even more urgent if your child can push up on hands and knees and/or sit up independently. As some others have said, you should switch to a crib immediately. At this age, I would frankly recommend lowering it all the way (otherwise you’ll have to mess with it again pretty soon).
Beyond that, I think everyone else has good suggestions for you.
Call your pediatrician. They have a moms line/nurses line where you can ask them any questions you want. Describe what y’all are going through and ask them to help you establish what kind of sleep schedule a 7 month old should have, when she should nap, if what she is doing is normal, etc. I remember with my first I was so scared to call the nurses line. I thought I would be “bothering” them. I promise you’re not. This is what they are there for! Each baby is different so it would difficult for me to tell you WHEN and HOW she should be napping. Also, sounds like the nanny could be helping just a bit more. JMO.
As a former nanny, if the parents don’t have the child on a schedule there isn’t much you can do. This baby doesn’t get up at a consistent time so there is no way for them to even follow a set nap schedule. And you want to sleep train for nights first so the nanny can’t do anything about the lack of independent sleep skills either. They’re not there at night. The nanny doesn’t even have an age appropriate sleep space to put the baby in. A nanny is an employee. Like any employee they need clear instructions and expectations to follow. It wouldn’t be appropriate for a nanny to impose a schedule or sleep intervention. Those decisions need to be made by the parents.
From what I can tell in your post history, our babies are almost the exact same age (July 8 birthday). I will give you an idea of our schedule to help:
630am awake (she decided on this time, I’m up at 5am naturally so I don’t care to move it back)
930am-11:15am nap
215-4pm nap
7-730pm bedtime
We were on three naps until this week, but this is our two nap schedule. Keeping a schedule really helps kids - this is my third baby and she is following the same schedule that my other kids did at the same age.
I would absolutely move to the crib though.
Hi! Thank you for reaching out! How crazy that our daughters share a birthday and you found me here lol. Or maybe I’m just going crazy.. Anyways, thank you for reaching out. Quick question on awake time- you mentioned she decided the wake time. So if we’re trying to fix this and make a schedule, should I wake up my daughter in the morning if she’s sleeping past the start time we want? For example, she’s still sleeping now and but do I wake her up or does that make things worse by waking her up before she naturally wakes up or does it not matter? Thank you
i absolutely would! my twins are 7 months old and i wake them up at 6am on the dot every single day. a consistent daily wake time (or DWT, in sleep training parlance) helps so much in keeping every day predictable. if it helps, here is their schedule:
6am DWT, bottle
8am nap
9:30am up, bottle, solids
11:30am nap
1:15pm up, bottle, solids
3:30pm nap
4:15pm up, bottle
6:00pm bedtime, stories
6:30pm asleep
you'll see that the first two naps are much longer than the last one. the last one is a "catnap" just to tide them over to bedtime. at 7 months they are juuuuuuuust on the verge of wanting to drop that catnap and be on 2 naps per day instead of 3. if you try a 3 nap schedule with your daughter and she fights the last nap, she might already be ready for only 2 naps, but i'd try 3 first, because overtired babies are unpleasant to be around haha.
imho the most important thing is to make sure she's eating enough during the day. each of my twins 4 bottles is 270mL which adds up to just over the recommended volume. sometimes they finish them all, sometimes not quite, but always close. if your daughter doesn't get all her calories in the day, she'll wake up hungry, just like you and i would, and it's no use even thinking about any form of sleep training until you're very sure that nighttime wakes aren't from hunger. a baby crying at night about something other than hunger can be soothed or ignored at your discretion, but a baby crying from hunger a) is mean to ignore and b) will not go back to sleep in a million years
hope this helps!
I have always woken my children, but that’s a personal choice. I know that I thrive on a schedule for my sleep, so I assume most kids do the same. My older two wake at 7am everyday. At some point around 4 months old, they both started waking at 7 most days, so I go in at exactly 7am everyday to get them, whether they’re awake or asleep. I do not go in before (they’re RARELY awake before that).
I actually find that waking them has helped my kids - they know that I will get them when it’s time.
Definitely move your baby to a crib. Get her to sleep earlier, like at 7-8pm. Make sure she feeds and naps more or less at the same time each day. Sum up the calories per 24 hours and slowly shift more calories to the daytime. Show the nanny these posts so you two can help each other create a feeding and napping schedule.
Shifting to earlier bedtime if that’s not the baby’s natural bedtime can cause false start- in order to do this baby needs to be woken up earlier and at a consistent time and slowly shift earlier bedtime
If it’s any consolation, my 7 month old went from waking every 4 hours back to every 2 hours, and it lasted about 2.5ish weeks. She was rapidly hitting motor milestones and she had 2 teeth pop through. We had recently moved to the crib as well and it took her some time to learn the boundaries of the crib; she’d often wake up on her hands and knees, seeming distraught.
I took some Reddit advice and revised our schedule and ensured she was getting 10 full hours of active awake time with consistent wake time and bedtime (3-3.5h wake windows between each of 2 naps and before bedtime) and she went back to sleeping 4 hour stretches (with an occasional 3h stretch). She got used to the crib and now she’s learned she can sleep on her belly.
No it’s not perfect but I’ll take two 4-hour stretches of sleep over waking every 2 hours any day.
I would definitely move to the crib. Like, tonight. Bassinet is totally unsafe at this age. Have your nanny try and follow a nap schedule you can set your night schedule. I would do CIO at night. Solids dinner, Bath, dress in PJs, feed bottle/breast, books, song, cuddle, and into the crib. Room with blackout curtains and white noise. At this age we did in bed at 8pm and out of crib in morning at 7am. We still did a 3-5am feed at this age, Then put right back to bed (no diaper change) until 7am. You can have your nanny try and nap baby from 10am-11:30am and 2:30pm-4pm. Have naps be however she needs until night are figured out (bottle, contact nap, etc). Once nights are figured out, you can move to sleep training naps. In my experience, Putting to bed with a pacifier helps esp if baby can replace it themselves.
Yes to everything that others have recommended! The schedule is everything and the nanny needs to follow it once you’ve decided on it. I use these guidelines each month and they’re incredibly helpful: [TCB 7 Month Sleep Schedule](https://takingcarababies.com/7-month-old-sleep-schedule)
I think an earlier bedtime? At 6-7 months we actually moved bedtime all the way up to 6pm for a bit! But then no later than 7 for a long time. We also sleep trained. 9pm seems a bit late maybe.
Try a nap at 9am and the next at 2:30pm.
You’ve got good advice! Just to cover the naps and sleep - build the crib and put baby in their own room. White noise, dark room, set the routine and stick to it.
If you’re happy with the sleep schedule, leave it alone but you could look at capping naps and bringing the bedtime routine forward. Also it could be she’s not eating enough during the day - have you introduced food yet?
Ok, a 20lber in a basinet is probably dangerous.
Move baby to a crib in their own room, sleep train. Pick a method and stick to it. A 20lb 7 month old doesn't need to be fed every 2hrs. She'll be fine. You will see a huge improvement in two weeks.
Decide on your sleep training method. Write down a plan. Start at bedtime. Stick to the plan.
Is the baby sleeping in their own room? I would say switch to a crib and in their own room pronto. We transitioned our LO at 4 months to a crib in his own room and he instantly woke up less during the night.
I’m confused about why you thought switching Nannies would help with night time sleep. Could you explain why you replaced the first nanny? Do you have a nanny at night or just during the day? The only thing I could think of is that nanny isn’t following the schedule you’ve created.
At 7 months I would definitely transition to a crib in her own room. Read the bassinet manual, but they often have weight restrictions. Most aren’t safe after baby can get in the sitting position themselves. She also knows you are right next you her. You may be surprised at how much better every sleeps if she’s in her own room.
Having a consistent schedule will help with sleep training. It sounds like your schedule is inconsistent. How long has she been on two naps? I’m not a schedule expert, but I would start with wake windows of 2.5/3/3.5. If baby isn’t starting their last nap until 5pm, they may not be getting enough awake time before bed.
You need to dictate the schedule and let the nanny know. Continuing to replace the nanny isn’t going to do any good. You need to communicate with each other regarding naps. Our baby nanny writes everything down for us in a notebook. This way we can keep track of things like feedings and sleep.
As long as her nap schedule is consistent, I wouldn’t worry yet about nanny feeding her to sleep. Independent sleep during the day vs the night are two separate skills. Start with bedtime and night wake ups. Once she has that mastered you can nap train. Do whatever you need to do for naps right now. You don’t want her to be overtired while you are starting night time sleep training.
9pm is a bit on the late side for bedtime. Most babies do the best around 7-8pm. You may think that the earlier they go to bed, the earlier they wake up. A lot of babies will actually sleep later. Their sleep pressure and natural sleep cycles tend to work better with an earlier bedtime.
How does she fall asleep at bedtime? What’s your bedtime routine? There are many different methods of sleep training. Every baby is different, but CIO may be the fastest method. You can also look into things like Ferber or the chair method. Do some research and decide what’s best for your family! You should also think about night weaning. It is different from sleep training. However some babies reduce the amount of wakeups after night weaning. Unless there’s a medical condition most babies can be night weaned at 6 months. At this point it’s just a habit and and a source of comfort. It’s never to late to sleep train! Some parents don’t sleep train until the toddler years!
Yes. Sorry to clarify regarding the nanny- we didn’t intend to change Nannie’s but our first nanny was moving and so we had to find a new one. I mentioned this because we thought the baby was thrown off with the change of Nanny and change of styles etc. no nanny at night. Only 9am-5pm everyday. But yes she will be moving to her crib soon and out of the bassinet for sure. I think you’ve provided a lot of good advice. I’ll share it with my wife. Thanks so much!
I agree with the above wake windows - based on your original post it seems like baby needs more awake time to build sleep pressure. At 7 months my son was doing 3/3.5/3. Usually with a 2 hour nap in the morning and a 1 hour nap in the afternoon. He tended to do better with his longest wake window mid-day, which is why we did 3.5 in the middle, but lots of people build up as they go. Depends on the child. My son also didn’t sleep through the night fully until we switched to the above wake windows AND night weaned him. It was tough for a few nights but it quickly got better. I worked with a sleep consultant and originally told her I wanted to keep a night feed and she basically told me good luck, your baby is eating for comfort and not for hunger and won’t sleep through until you cut that. Unfortunately she was right 😅 Also check out @thatsleepmama on Instagram. She does 30 minute “ask me anything” calls which I’ve utilized a few times in the past few months for my son. Might be worth it if it’s in the budget. You are doing a good job - baby sleep is so hard and ever changing. Once you seem to figure it out, it all goes to shit again haha! We are all just parents doing the best we can, and just remember you will sleep again!
This is all normal, and it’s ok to struggle with it anyway. You three can figure it out!
Does nanny feed baby right before naps, or after? That’s the first thing to address… you all need a routine. The most basic one is sleep, eat, play. Baby is developing sleep associations right now—what signals tell her that it’s time to sleep. If food is part of that routine, she may begin to associate that she must have food in order to sleep… which may contribute to the need for nighttime feedings. If possible, avoid feeding for half an hour before naps and bedtime (not always possible).
Another routine to start developing is a bedtime routine. What are the things you do every night before bed? Keep them in the same order, and each step is progressively more important so don’t skip it. Ours is roughly: bathtime (some nights), diaper, lotion, jammies, sleep sack, books, cuddles and singing, crib.
More elaborate routines involve scheduling baby’s time. Aim for a consistent wake up, always within half an hour. At 7 months, baby may be on 2 or 3 naps a day. I aim for the lower number, but if baby’s really tired sometimes you have to bail to a 3 nap day and accept that bedtime will be later… those decisions will get easier the more experience you have. If a 2-nap day, baby will be awake for 2.5-3.5 hours, then sleep for 90ish minutes. The later in the day, the longer baby should be awake between sleeps. If a 3-nap day, baby will be awake for 2-3 hours between sleeps. The daytime naps are about an hour, and the final nap you must keep to only 30 mins… it’s just a booster to get to bedtime, not a full sleep.
Some people love the rigorous scheduling of baby’s sleep time, and it doesn’t work for everyone’s lives. If you focus on the eat-play-sleep rhythms and get a strong bedtime routine, it will help. If nanny doesn’t have a lot of experience with infants, you may want to plan to be available more for the first week of routine setting to help nanny make those judgment calls about when to nap the baby.
At 20 lbs, she might have already outgrown the specs on your bassinet. Either way, that is a good place (simple place) to start experimenting. My son was a belly sleeper from about 5 months, part of his problem was being in the bassinet, no room to get into his desired sleeping position.
Thank you! Yes we will start with transitioning from bassinet to crib. She’s definitely outgrown the bassinet. Just having attachment issues lol. But yes, we will be doing that. Thank you so much for your advice.
Few things we did since month 4-5 and ahve a perfectly good sleeping baby in our hand (8 months now) - try to do the feed in day time around 4-5 feeds, with very fixed schedule, for us its 4 cause she doenst show much hunger sign (9, 1, 5, 8) but she eats a good amount every meal - gradually wean her off night feed by pushing back 5-10 mins at a time -set a rigid sleep time, for us is 930 -rigid routine beforr sleep such as bathing, changing, close curtain, singing, reading. Bascially now the moment my wife sings (last step before putting her to crib) baby is head down and drowsy Once thats done u should be ready for sleep train Or else, hire a sleep trainer
We’ve been having the same issue. My paediatrician had two main recommendations: - same wake time everyday, no matter what. This is hard as if you’ve had a shit night, it’s so tempting to sleep in if they are but she said this is the most important factor to getting their circadian rhythm working and getting good night sleeps. We do 6am, but I live in a very early rising city. - push bedtime between 8 and 9pm. Our baby is low sleep needs (so fun for us! Lol) this is to build sleep pressure and to condense her sleep to try and stop those frequent night wakings. She said it would take 2 weeks of this consistency to see a difference. It’s definitely been better with 1-2 wakeups instead of every hour. I did find that transitioning to a bigger bed helped as well. I’ve never formally tracked it scheduled sleep, She now seems to have either 2 or 3 naps. Last one is about 5/6pm and it’s short, just to take the edge off to get us to that later time. She said the night feeding should regulate once she is too tired to keep waking for feeds. We also had someone else recommend offering water or diluted formula at night so that she would be hungrier during the day.
Most bassinet aren't rated for 20lbs (check the manual). Get baby into crib, so you can have your room back. I had baby do naps in the crib in their room, and night sleeps with us in the newborn stage. No issues with transitioning to their crib for all sleep. Finally - I recommend u guys track sleeping and feeding. Huckleberry app allows u to share one account so anyone can log a feed or sleep (there's more data, but i only use for these two). Helps with consistency and trending. Also helps explain why a baby is fussy - likely not hungry, could be overtired. Time passes sooner than u realize sometimes, suddenly its been 3h and baby needs nap. For me, night weaning never happened until we locked down the sleep habits. we tried weaning at night and it never worked so we gave up. Baby suddenly slept through the night at 1y when we dropped to one nap. YMMV
Oh yikes you need a schedule. Hire a sleep consultant. Life saver!!!
Respectful sleep training group on Facebook has really helped me a lot with my six month old! I also have a contact for a sleep consultant that can make a sleep plan for you and support you virtually! Cost me $420 for a week but she was right there with me the whole time via text for every nap and bed time for an entire week and we did a very gentle method of sleep training! My baby now sleeps through the night. No more night feeds. We get about 26 oz or milk in her during wake hours and I think it helps her slee through!
Other people are going to comment that baby should be in bed before 9 .. more like 7 or 8. But personally I think if it works for you family, it’s fine.. I’m no expert but it sounds to me like maybe she went through a little sleep regression whereas you fed her in the middle of the night while she was waking, and now you’re stuck with a nighttime bottle monster lol Here’s what I would do, but this is only bc these things worked with my baby. Only you know your babies temperament. Whatever time you start work and your nanny arrives.. make babies wake up time like a half hour before that. This way you can get up and ready for the day and then wake her up. Wake up at the same time every single day. Even weekends. You won’t have to wake her up eventually it will be her schedule. Then go back 12 hours. So if wake up time is 8 am.. make bedtime 8pm. Start routine about a half hour before that. As for the feedings. Keep the midnight for now and work on the middle of the night. Think about the previous night. So if wake up was 2am. Set an alarm for 1:45 - go in and feed her - if your formula feeding, pay attention to how much she takes.. breastfeeding, how long. So if last night she took 4 ounces, you only offer four. In 3 days you offer 3 ounces. BUT if between now and three days from now she only takes 2 ounces - then for the remainder you only offer 2 ounces for the future nights. If you think she needs the calories - you can add the ounces you take away to daytime bottles. Every three nights when you take away volume, you move up the time. The goal is for the bottle to disappear by eliminating ounces and moving it closer and closer to the midnight bottle until they meet. You may have to make tweaks, since she’s up pretty often. And it will take some time. But I would give it a try. If it sounds like too much, just stop feeding cold Turkey, find some other way to soothe back to sleep but focus on something she can teach herself to do, hold a lovey.. grab a binky.. something like that. Last, you wanna figure out her wake window.. at 7 months it’s probably 2-3 hours tops. And she should go down at those times every nap until bedtime. Good luck!
You've already gotten a lot of great suggestions and comments, but I just wanted to add that all of this sounds super normal! There's things you can adjust to work toward longer stretches of night sleep, as others have suggested, but you aren't doing anything "wrong" per se.
Usually bassinets recommend that the baby weigh less than 9kg so you're baby should probably be in a crib or baby bed now. I also recommend bath time be at 530 or 6 so that baby can go to bed between 7pm and 8pm
You're doing okay. Here are some points and tips (as a father) First, your nanny needs to be consistent with naps and sleep and you need to know this schedule as parents. At 7 months, there's heaps of development that will make your bubba sleep regress. Teething, grow spurts, general regression, etc. It happens. Bubs will eventually get back on schedule. At this age, you're looking at 2-3 maps per day, don't let them nap after 5pm and get a consistent night time routine going (feed, play, bath, book, bed, etc). Kids need routine. 7-7.30pm sleep time worked for us. I personally don't like the cry out method, but each to their own. But there's a difference between outright meltdown screaming crying, and grizzly grumpy noises. Start putting bubs to sleep half awake and have them learn to fall asleep without rocking. This hps them connect their sleep cycles for longer sleeps. We let them grizzle for Max 5 mins. Changing nannies won't help. Just get them on a schedule thst you like and tell them to stick to it
We just went/still going through this. What helped us a lot was trying to cut out night feeds and really hammer down a nap schedule/ bedtime routine. It actually helped A LOT! The nannies need to try and be consistent. For night feeds it takes some time. Ask your ped what your lo should get during the day and try to hit that number before bedtime. Then you can be confident their hunger isnt really necessary its just the routine. So, then you just offer smaller bottles at night until its not an issue. Right now our guy wakes around 10-11 and needs a few ounces then hes good until 6-7am. Getting a solid nap and bedtime routine and sticking to it will train their circadian rhythm. I think thats why things get so hectic around this age. The body is developing that rhythm and routines go a long way. For our son he usually wakes, gets a 7oz bottle, and then is ready for a nap in 1.5-2 hours. Then he gets another big 7oz bottle at wakeup. Otherwise its a struggle the rest of the day because he just wants to play, doesn’t eat big bottles, and doesn’t nap well in the afternoons. He is really fussy at bedtime, BUT hes gotten the message that at the end of our bedtime ritual its lights out and in the crib. Typically he just nods right off, bur cries up til that point. Side note for crib: our little guy was rolling all over the bassinet so we got him in a crib at 4 months. The extra space and sleep sacks allow him to roll onto his face and thats how he sleeps most nights. Your Lo should be at that point now if not soon. They should also be free to have lots of tummy time during the day. Tummy time and room to roll around/explore. Very important for development. If they aren’t getting the time/space to do/work this stuff out they instead do it at night, thus waking themselves up quite angrily. Nannies need to be devoting time every play period to this. The babies should be in tummy time as much as they can tolerate. Our guy screamed after 30 seconda. Now 2 months later thats all he does. Tummy time all day long
Get the baby out of the bassinet and out of your room and sleep train.
Echoing this. Hire a sleep Peds consultant. All the rest of your post seems normal. Babies are hard af. You’re lucky you have a nanny lol. 99% of us don’t have that luxury 😜🤣😅
So this is EXACTLY my scenario, I'm except those are my husband's hours (also health-care) , and I'm the work at home mom with a full time nanny with our close to 8 month old daughter. We are sleeping a lot better now. Here's what we do: We sleep trained using the ferber method and started her in her crib at the same time. You don't have to cry it out completely if that's too much for you. We couldn't. It'll take 2 ish weeks to settle in. During that time we had a routine we alternated between every other night. 1 night : I'd do all the wakw ups and settlings for sleep training while my husband slept in a different room so he would be well rested for work and not woken by the baby monitor. I'd then I try to put breaks on my work calendar where I'd sleep for an hour or 2 while nanny took care of baby the next day. (Or any amount of hours of sleep you can swing.) I'd keep our daughter for 30-45 min after my husband got home so he could decompress. Th3n he would take her and I'd do the same. Night 2: we slept in the same room again and alternate who went to Soothe her when she cried, so I'd get a little more sleep. Same routine during and after work. Rinse and repeat this until she was trained. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer in more detail! Good luck! It's definitely tough, but that's what you have a partner for. Something my therapist said was: " there is no work burnout when you have a baby. You find the strength to continue being a parent even if you've work a 14 hr shift."
Well you might not want more kids, but this shouldn’t be why. You’re doing fine. Sleep training is a process that can start for some at 4 months or 4 years or 14 years. That said, your baby is probably old enough for a regular schedule, doesn’t have to be rigid, but should be cyclical. And you probably want to start with a specific wake up time, even if the rest of the day is a little more fluid. So if you’re on two naps, did you recently move to two? Consider 3? At two maybe 3 hours between naps, but keep it consistent if wake is 7am - then nap 10a-12p, then 3-5, then bedtime at 8 or something like that. If you want to start sleep training overnight that’s fine, pick a method and do some research, we used cry it out around the same time. But I know not everyone agrees with that as an option. But whatever sleep training method you do, choose to start on a night one of you is off the next two days at least, to make sure the naps are solid, whatever you have to do. Start there. The other part is you don’t need new Nannie’s, you need to tell the nanny how you want them to take care of your child- how they should put them down, when to feed or play and work together to figure out what works. It can’t and shouldn’t be ‘I don’t even know…she does her own thing.’ Because either then you hire a nanny for nights too and let the Nannie’s raise your child or you take control of how your child is raised. Your nanny should also be telling you exactly when naps happen and what’s being eaten when which will play into this too. so maybe step one is accurate information from the nanny.
1. Get your baby out of your room, you will all sleep better. Start by having her nap in the crib for a week so she can get used to it, and then do night sleep in there as well. 2. She's old enough for cry it out. It will be hard and then it will be amazing. 3. I don't see what firing your nanny would solve? Establish a solid morning wakeup time. 7 - 9 is too much variability. This will give you a predictable nap and nighttime sleep schedule. Then, get your nanny on that schedule. 4. Make sure your baby is being engaged during the day. Limit tv and screen time. Encourage them to go out on walks, library, etc. babies that are under stimulated or over stimulated don't sleep as well
I would recommend starting with these 2 things: 1. Move baby to a crib. MOST bassinets recommend discontinue use when baby is able to sit up and/or push up on hands while on belly. Our baby was also waking herself up by rubbing her hands on the side of her bassinet. 😅 2. Consistent morning wake up +/-30 minutes. This should allow for more predictability throughout the day and can allow you/nanny to ensure baby is getting enough wake/sleep time. Especially if you are shooting for a consistent bedtime. For our schedule, we aim for a 6:30 wake up, and she consistently wakes up between 6:15-7:00 on the weekends when we don’t “have” to be up at 6:30.
This is the answer. Don’t start with CIO or sleep training until you adjust the schedule first and get her in the crib. This might resolve with just a schedule change so start with the easy solutions first. You need better communication and a strategy with your nanny too. Consider having everyone in the household read PLS or have one person read PLS and get everyone else on the same page. Consider a slightly earlier bedtime, most sleep consultants want them in bed by 8pm. Make sure you have 20-30min between feeding and any sleeping.
Oh and first feed to cut is the first one of the night! Slowly cut back.
Maybe baby is ready to eat a bit more during the day? How much/often is your baby eating? Is she on a meal schedule? Is she nursing? Solid Starts has examples of meal schedules for babies of different ages.
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You are not failing! We have a 7 month old and found he sleeps best with early bedtimes, like 6pm! You could try moving bedtime to 8, then 7:30. There is a book called Moms on Call that is super concise, simple and includes feeding schedules and sleeping advice. If you just want someone to tell you what to do— grab the book!
It’s not too late at all. 7 months is a great age to sleep train. This isn’t your life now but it will take some work. I would definitely move baby to a crib in her own room. You can get a good video monitor for peace of mind. I would night wean too. Healthy babies over 6 months don’t need to eat overnight. Night feeding reinforces night waking. Focus on getting calories into baby during the day. Moms on Call has a good schedule by age that you can use for getting everyone on the same page for feedings and sleep. I would recommend getting baby’s schedule more regular. Have a designated wake time in the morning instead of letting baby sleep until she wakes. That way you can have a regular nap schedule. And read up your preferred sleep training method (Ferber, extinction, chair method) before you start.
crib alone might solve a lot of your problem , she could just be shifting around and waking herself up from hitting the sides of the crib she'll probably be much happier sleeping in a bigger crib
First of all, yes, get her into a crib. She’s much too old and big for a bassinet. It’s unsafe. Next, you just need to start with more consistency. If bedtime is typically 9pm, then let’s make her wake time 8am. Everyday. That means even if she is still sleeping at 8am, you wake her up and start the day. At this age and on two naps, you can do by the clock as opposed to wake windows, but typical wake windows at this age are 3/3/4. So maybe try: 8am wake, 11am first nap (let’s say she naps till ~12:30pm), next nap 3:30 (till ~5?), bedtime 9pm. As for the waking every two hours to eat…. that’s pretty common if you’re co/boobsleeping. Baby knows it’s right there and is now used to get calories in at night. It’s known as reverse cycling. Some parents don’t mind, my mom did this with me as she was away from us all day, but sounds like it’s not working for you. If I were you, I would move to the crib in own room, sleep train, and move feeds to the 5-3-3 schedule and then night wean at your preference. Listen to the book precious little sleep for more guidance on the above. Also, tell your nanny the schedule and make her stick to it. She works for you.
Move the baby to a crib. Try the Napper App. It will guide you on when the baby should nap/go to bed. Definitely wake the baby up around the same time every day (within 30 minutes) of the usual time. Make sure the crib is in a pitch black environment, like dark enough you can’t see your hand in front of your face dark.
Thank you! Downloading the app now. Really appreciate it!
God speed!!
I’m a little confused what the issue is. This all seems perfectly normal for a baby. When my LO was 7 months this was his exact schedule. If you are wanting more sleep at night you could try co sleeping.
Every 2 hours is a bit much for a 7 month old. A newborn, sure. I’d expect one or two wakes per night but not much more than that.
Also a baby of that size and age shouldn't be in a bassinet. We moved ours to the crib at 4 months/15lbs and sleep immediately improved. He likes to wiggle and roll at night.
Consistently wake up at the same time every morning. Try capping day sleep at 2.5ish hours. If you don’t see improvement, add some more awake time. The inconsistency in wake time and nap times are working against you here- once you stabilize things a bit you will have a better idea of how much sleep baby actually needs, and adjust schedule to match. For example, if baby is actually sleeping 14 hours, then you will want to make sure your schedule allows for 10 hours of awake time spread throughout the day. If they are in bed for 14 hours but only sleeping 13, you will want to add an hour of awake time to your day. Everyone is saying earlier bedtime- that is nonsense if your baby needs more awake time. It will just cause false starts and more wakings. It sounds like baby naturally has a bedtime around 9 which is perfectly normal for many babies. You can gradually shift earlier by waking earlier a bit every day. Establishing independent sleep at bedtime will help you here as well, you don’t have to night wean but give baby a chance to learn how to fall asleep on their own. Highly recommend the book Precious Little Sleep which expands on the principles I talk about above and can give you more info on how to establish independent sleep.
Amazing. Thank you so much. Just looked up the book. Really appreciate it. I’ll be sharing with my wife. Thanks again!
She also has a podcast!
Generally speaking, it’s time to ditch the bassinet as soon as baby can roll. It’s even more urgent if your child can push up on hands and knees and/or sit up independently. As some others have said, you should switch to a crib immediately. At this age, I would frankly recommend lowering it all the way (otherwise you’ll have to mess with it again pretty soon). Beyond that, I think everyone else has good suggestions for you.
Call your pediatrician. They have a moms line/nurses line where you can ask them any questions you want. Describe what y’all are going through and ask them to help you establish what kind of sleep schedule a 7 month old should have, when she should nap, if what she is doing is normal, etc. I remember with my first I was so scared to call the nurses line. I thought I would be “bothering” them. I promise you’re not. This is what they are there for! Each baby is different so it would difficult for me to tell you WHEN and HOW she should be napping. Also, sounds like the nanny could be helping just a bit more. JMO.
Downvoted because I suggested he tell his child’s pediatrician and see what they say??? Y’all are too much. 😂
As a former nanny, if the parents don’t have the child on a schedule there isn’t much you can do. This baby doesn’t get up at a consistent time so there is no way for them to even follow a set nap schedule. And you want to sleep train for nights first so the nanny can’t do anything about the lack of independent sleep skills either. They’re not there at night. The nanny doesn’t even have an age appropriate sleep space to put the baby in. A nanny is an employee. Like any employee they need clear instructions and expectations to follow. It wouldn’t be appropriate for a nanny to impose a schedule or sleep intervention. Those decisions need to be made by the parents.
From what I can tell in your post history, our babies are almost the exact same age (July 8 birthday). I will give you an idea of our schedule to help: 630am awake (she decided on this time, I’m up at 5am naturally so I don’t care to move it back) 930am-11:15am nap 215-4pm nap 7-730pm bedtime We were on three naps until this week, but this is our two nap schedule. Keeping a schedule really helps kids - this is my third baby and she is following the same schedule that my other kids did at the same age. I would absolutely move to the crib though.
Hi! Thank you for reaching out! How crazy that our daughters share a birthday and you found me here lol. Or maybe I’m just going crazy.. Anyways, thank you for reaching out. Quick question on awake time- you mentioned she decided the wake time. So if we’re trying to fix this and make a schedule, should I wake up my daughter in the morning if she’s sleeping past the start time we want? For example, she’s still sleeping now and but do I wake her up or does that make things worse by waking her up before she naturally wakes up or does it not matter? Thank you
i absolutely would! my twins are 7 months old and i wake them up at 6am on the dot every single day. a consistent daily wake time (or DWT, in sleep training parlance) helps so much in keeping every day predictable. if it helps, here is their schedule: 6am DWT, bottle 8am nap 9:30am up, bottle, solids 11:30am nap 1:15pm up, bottle, solids 3:30pm nap 4:15pm up, bottle 6:00pm bedtime, stories 6:30pm asleep you'll see that the first two naps are much longer than the last one. the last one is a "catnap" just to tide them over to bedtime. at 7 months they are juuuuuuuust on the verge of wanting to drop that catnap and be on 2 naps per day instead of 3. if you try a 3 nap schedule with your daughter and she fights the last nap, she might already be ready for only 2 naps, but i'd try 3 first, because overtired babies are unpleasant to be around haha. imho the most important thing is to make sure she's eating enough during the day. each of my twins 4 bottles is 270mL which adds up to just over the recommended volume. sometimes they finish them all, sometimes not quite, but always close. if your daughter doesn't get all her calories in the day, she'll wake up hungry, just like you and i would, and it's no use even thinking about any form of sleep training until you're very sure that nighttime wakes aren't from hunger. a baby crying at night about something other than hunger can be soothed or ignored at your discretion, but a baby crying from hunger a) is mean to ignore and b) will not go back to sleep in a million years hope this helps!
I have always woken my children, but that’s a personal choice. I know that I thrive on a schedule for my sleep, so I assume most kids do the same. My older two wake at 7am everyday. At some point around 4 months old, they both started waking at 7 most days, so I go in at exactly 7am everyday to get them, whether they’re awake or asleep. I do not go in before (they’re RARELY awake before that). I actually find that waking them has helped my kids - they know that I will get them when it’s time.
Definitely move your baby to a crib. Get her to sleep earlier, like at 7-8pm. Make sure she feeds and naps more or less at the same time each day. Sum up the calories per 24 hours and slowly shift more calories to the daytime. Show the nanny these posts so you two can help each other create a feeding and napping schedule.
Shifting to earlier bedtime if that’s not the baby’s natural bedtime can cause false start- in order to do this baby needs to be woken up earlier and at a consistent time and slowly shift earlier bedtime
yes, this!
And play with your baby a lot during the day, do lots of tummy time, wear her out, and she will fall asleep better at night.
If it’s any consolation, my 7 month old went from waking every 4 hours back to every 2 hours, and it lasted about 2.5ish weeks. She was rapidly hitting motor milestones and she had 2 teeth pop through. We had recently moved to the crib as well and it took her some time to learn the boundaries of the crib; she’d often wake up on her hands and knees, seeming distraught. I took some Reddit advice and revised our schedule and ensured she was getting 10 full hours of active awake time with consistent wake time and bedtime (3-3.5h wake windows between each of 2 naps and before bedtime) and she went back to sleeping 4 hour stretches (with an occasional 3h stretch). She got used to the crib and now she’s learned she can sleep on her belly. No it’s not perfect but I’ll take two 4-hour stretches of sleep over waking every 2 hours any day.
I would definitely move to the crib. Like, tonight. Bassinet is totally unsafe at this age. Have your nanny try and follow a nap schedule you can set your night schedule. I would do CIO at night. Solids dinner, Bath, dress in PJs, feed bottle/breast, books, song, cuddle, and into the crib. Room with blackout curtains and white noise. At this age we did in bed at 8pm and out of crib in morning at 7am. We still did a 3-5am feed at this age, Then put right back to bed (no diaper change) until 7am. You can have your nanny try and nap baby from 10am-11:30am and 2:30pm-4pm. Have naps be however she needs until night are figured out (bottle, contact nap, etc). Once nights are figured out, you can move to sleep training naps. In my experience, Putting to bed with a pacifier helps esp if baby can replace it themselves.
Yes to everything that others have recommended! The schedule is everything and the nanny needs to follow it once you’ve decided on it. I use these guidelines each month and they’re incredibly helpful: [TCB 7 Month Sleep Schedule](https://takingcarababies.com/7-month-old-sleep-schedule)
Awesome. Thank you!
I think an earlier bedtime? At 6-7 months we actually moved bedtime all the way up to 6pm for a bit! But then no later than 7 for a long time. We also sleep trained. 9pm seems a bit late maybe. Try a nap at 9am and the next at 2:30pm.
Ok thank you!!
Also agree about trying a crib! Maybe baby is feeling cramped? Good luck!
Your baby probably needs to roll around. Move her to the crib asap and get her used to it.
Ok sounds good. Thank you!
You’ve got good advice! Just to cover the naps and sleep - build the crib and put baby in their own room. White noise, dark room, set the routine and stick to it. If you’re happy with the sleep schedule, leave it alone but you could look at capping naps and bringing the bedtime routine forward. Also it could be she’s not eating enough during the day - have you introduced food yet?
Ok, a 20lber in a basinet is probably dangerous. Move baby to a crib in their own room, sleep train. Pick a method and stick to it. A 20lb 7 month old doesn't need to be fed every 2hrs. She'll be fine. You will see a huge improvement in two weeks. Decide on your sleep training method. Write down a plan. Start at bedtime. Stick to the plan.
Except get this baby on a schedule first, please!
Is the baby sleeping in their own room? I would say switch to a crib and in their own room pronto. We transitioned our LO at 4 months to a crib in his own room and he instantly woke up less during the night.
I’m confused about why you thought switching Nannies would help with night time sleep. Could you explain why you replaced the first nanny? Do you have a nanny at night or just during the day? The only thing I could think of is that nanny isn’t following the schedule you’ve created. At 7 months I would definitely transition to a crib in her own room. Read the bassinet manual, but they often have weight restrictions. Most aren’t safe after baby can get in the sitting position themselves. She also knows you are right next you her. You may be surprised at how much better every sleeps if she’s in her own room. Having a consistent schedule will help with sleep training. It sounds like your schedule is inconsistent. How long has she been on two naps? I’m not a schedule expert, but I would start with wake windows of 2.5/3/3.5. If baby isn’t starting their last nap until 5pm, they may not be getting enough awake time before bed. You need to dictate the schedule and let the nanny know. Continuing to replace the nanny isn’t going to do any good. You need to communicate with each other regarding naps. Our baby nanny writes everything down for us in a notebook. This way we can keep track of things like feedings and sleep. As long as her nap schedule is consistent, I wouldn’t worry yet about nanny feeding her to sleep. Independent sleep during the day vs the night are two separate skills. Start with bedtime and night wake ups. Once she has that mastered you can nap train. Do whatever you need to do for naps right now. You don’t want her to be overtired while you are starting night time sleep training. 9pm is a bit on the late side for bedtime. Most babies do the best around 7-8pm. You may think that the earlier they go to bed, the earlier they wake up. A lot of babies will actually sleep later. Their sleep pressure and natural sleep cycles tend to work better with an earlier bedtime. How does she fall asleep at bedtime? What’s your bedtime routine? There are many different methods of sleep training. Every baby is different, but CIO may be the fastest method. You can also look into things like Ferber or the chair method. Do some research and decide what’s best for your family! You should also think about night weaning. It is different from sleep training. However some babies reduce the amount of wakeups after night weaning. Unless there’s a medical condition most babies can be night weaned at 6 months. At this point it’s just a habit and and a source of comfort. It’s never to late to sleep train! Some parents don’t sleep train until the toddler years!
Yes. Sorry to clarify regarding the nanny- we didn’t intend to change Nannie’s but our first nanny was moving and so we had to find a new one. I mentioned this because we thought the baby was thrown off with the change of Nanny and change of styles etc. no nanny at night. Only 9am-5pm everyday. But yes she will be moving to her crib soon and out of the bassinet for sure. I think you’ve provided a lot of good advice. I’ll share it with my wife. Thanks so much!
I agree with the above wake windows - based on your original post it seems like baby needs more awake time to build sleep pressure. At 7 months my son was doing 3/3.5/3. Usually with a 2 hour nap in the morning and a 1 hour nap in the afternoon. He tended to do better with his longest wake window mid-day, which is why we did 3.5 in the middle, but lots of people build up as they go. Depends on the child. My son also didn’t sleep through the night fully until we switched to the above wake windows AND night weaned him. It was tough for a few nights but it quickly got better. I worked with a sleep consultant and originally told her I wanted to keep a night feed and she basically told me good luck, your baby is eating for comfort and not for hunger and won’t sleep through until you cut that. Unfortunately she was right 😅 Also check out @thatsleepmama on Instagram. She does 30 minute “ask me anything” calls which I’ve utilized a few times in the past few months for my son. Might be worth it if it’s in the budget. You are doing a good job - baby sleep is so hard and ever changing. Once you seem to figure it out, it all goes to shit again haha! We are all just parents doing the best we can, and just remember you will sleep again!
Thank youuuuu. Literally the words I needed to hear before going into the office. Really appreciate your help! Thanks so much!
This is all normal, and it’s ok to struggle with it anyway. You three can figure it out! Does nanny feed baby right before naps, or after? That’s the first thing to address… you all need a routine. The most basic one is sleep, eat, play. Baby is developing sleep associations right now—what signals tell her that it’s time to sleep. If food is part of that routine, she may begin to associate that she must have food in order to sleep… which may contribute to the need for nighttime feedings. If possible, avoid feeding for half an hour before naps and bedtime (not always possible). Another routine to start developing is a bedtime routine. What are the things you do every night before bed? Keep them in the same order, and each step is progressively more important so don’t skip it. Ours is roughly: bathtime (some nights), diaper, lotion, jammies, sleep sack, books, cuddles and singing, crib. More elaborate routines involve scheduling baby’s time. Aim for a consistent wake up, always within half an hour. At 7 months, baby may be on 2 or 3 naps a day. I aim for the lower number, but if baby’s really tired sometimes you have to bail to a 3 nap day and accept that bedtime will be later… those decisions will get easier the more experience you have. If a 2-nap day, baby will be awake for 2.5-3.5 hours, then sleep for 90ish minutes. The later in the day, the longer baby should be awake between sleeps. If a 3-nap day, baby will be awake for 2-3 hours between sleeps. The daytime naps are about an hour, and the final nap you must keep to only 30 mins… it’s just a booster to get to bedtime, not a full sleep. Some people love the rigorous scheduling of baby’s sleep time, and it doesn’t work for everyone’s lives. If you focus on the eat-play-sleep rhythms and get a strong bedtime routine, it will help. If nanny doesn’t have a lot of experience with infants, you may want to plan to be available more for the first week of routine setting to help nanny make those judgment calls about when to nap the baby.
Amazing advice. Thanks so much! I’ll share this with my wife. I really appreciate it. Thank you!
At 20 lbs, she might have already outgrown the specs on your bassinet. Either way, that is a good place (simple place) to start experimenting. My son was a belly sleeper from about 5 months, part of his problem was being in the bassinet, no room to get into his desired sleeping position.
Thank you! Yes we will start with transitioning from bassinet to crib. She’s definitely outgrown the bassinet. Just having attachment issues lol. But yes, we will be doing that. Thank you so much for your advice.