Little Ones™ is all about empowering families to make positive changes to their child's sleep. Watch our RU-vid videos to learn some tips and tricks to use alongside the Sleep Programs in our Little Ones App and check out our website: www.littleones.co for more baby and toddler sleep advice!
Exclusively available in our Little Ones App: - Our complete newborn, baby, toddler and preschool sleep solutions (0-3 years) - Our toilet training guide - "Toilet Train in Under a Week" - Advice for twins & triplets - Evolving, daily, age-specific sleep & feed schedules with event notifications - Detailed troubleshooting for if things go awry - Comprehensive, scientifically-sourced sleep and wellness information - Ongoing support from Certified Sleep Consultants in the Little Ones Village - Stay on top of your little one’s daily habits with our baby tracker
We would love to help you and your little one achieve better sleep.
I purchased the little ones programs for all ages. And I'm using it for my little girl who is 4 months old. The methods are not working, however. I am sticking pretty strictly to the schedule of feedings and naps and wake windows. However, she's still waking up throughout the night and the self-settling methods are not working. She screams louder and louder until we pick her back up and rock or feed her back to sleep. We are not able to put her down drowsy but awake without her screaming. The room is quiet and dark and we are following the same sleep routine every time. The only thing different about the bedtime sleep routine is that we add a bath right before.
I forgot to mention that we've been doing this for about 3 weeks consistently. We are not seeing any improvement. She is still waking throughout the night and has to be settled back to sleep. The night. Wakings are about 3-4 every evening. We've attempted letting her cry for up to 30 minutes and it just makes it very difficult to put her to sleep after that. Please help
As a customer, please post your question in the ‘Village’ section of our app. Our consultants will provide in-depth assistance there. The Village is your primary resource for personalized 1:1 support with our programs.
Yeah keep us updated! It doesn’t sound like it, but could it be wind or reflux or anything like that? I know it’s probably not but maybe..? Haha Hope things get easier for you guys. We’re in the same boat currently
Hi. Thanks for this. I’ve read that ditching the dummy at 3 months is best before they reach 4 months and it becomes a deep rooted sleep association. He is 14 weeks and we have ditched the dummy for the past two nights and he scream/cries for sometime 35 minutes whilst we rub his tummy in his cot. Happened 3 times last night. We pick him up and cuddle him after 20 mins and he Instantly falls asleep in our arms...but we are wary of rocking him to sleep in our arms as that is developing another addictive sleep association that will be hard to get out of. He is the same for day time naps unless he is in the sling. Some people say it can take up to a week before things get easier. Is this true ? Is 35 minutes too long to let him cry even if our hands are on his body comforting him the whole time?
If you want to remove the dummy I would recommend settling your Little One right to sleep for the first couple of days, focus on getting them to sleep without the dummy first. Then work on the self settling. You could start by rocking your Little One, whilst patting and shhshhh at the same time. When drowsy continue patting and shhhshhh while you lay them in bed feet first, continue patting till asleep, or till drowsy then walk out, wait 6mins and repeat if not asleep.
Been looking for ideas to help my 3.5 year old. She still nurses to sleep. Doing some research so in a few weeks time once her older sibling finsihes his exams/school we can hopefully give it a go when everyone can sleep in a little if absolutely need be. My preschooler is very stubborn so really not sure this will work without a lot of upset but I keep talking to her about how she is getting bigger and we need to find another way to go to sleep. Hoping a combination of the two will help.
Not necessarily. This little one is only 7 months old. And her sister could do 30 signs by the time she was 15 months old but could only say a handful of words at the time.
My baby just turned 8 months old. She’s 17 pounds but keeps waking up at night 😭😭 she wakes up 6 times and drinks 3 times out of the 6. She won’t go back to sleep unless she gets a bottle. If I give her 2 ounces she’ll wake up 30 mins later wanting a bottle 😅 I’ll definitely try this 😭
Hi Nikki, my 3.5 month old girl has been a cat napper since 3 weeks old. I’ve given myself anxiety thinking there is something wrong with her. The only way we could get her to sleep longer than 30 minutes is to hold her, so for 2 naps a day, we held her for 2 hours each. In your experience, will she ever learn to link her sleep cycles? She was ok at night but now she is in the 4 month regression, things are getting hard 😢
She will wake and rely on you to get her back to sleep. When working on self settling we usually say to initially work on just the start of naps and bedtimes until they've got that nailed and are self settling 80-90% of the time, and while that's happening continue to resettle during naps and overnight as you were previously... Once they've got the hang of the start of sleeps move onto working on the resettles. When you are settling, try rocking till drowsy and make sure you pat their bottom/side and shush (if you don't have the shhh track) loudly at the same time. Once drowsy continue patting and shushing whilst laying them in their bed feet first, continue patting until asleep. The first goal is getting them to fall asleep in their own bed first. Once you have done that for a day or two start gradually reducing the patting so you’re just patting them in bed until drowsy, stop patting and then just shhhhhh till asleep. Next time pat and shhh till drowsy then walk out, wait 6 mins and if they are 'crying up' go in and repeat. If at any time it gets to 30 mins past nap time then do whatever you can to get them to sleep and try again next nap. Persistence and consistency is key. Head to their room 10 mins before nap time to wind down and get ready for bed, start settling 5 mins before, this is when they are perfectly ready for bed. Settling them in a dark room with the shhh noise playing will also really help with the settling and staying asleep. Aim on 2 hours + 10 mins of awake time between naps and 2 hours before bed.
Going through the 4 month regression and a strong feed to sleep association. Nothing else works really. Waking 4-5x a night. What I’m finding hard is that when baby wakes at night and I’m trying to reduce the feed to drowsy, is that time frame is so short. He literally suckles a few times and is drowsy/falling asleep. So it’s such a short space of time that I’m struggling to achieve being put into the bassinet drowsy, as he is often asleep already?! What do you think I should try?
When working on self settling we usually say to initially work on just the start of naps and bedtimes until they've got that nailed and are self settling 80-90% of the time, and while that's happening continue to resettle during naps and overnight as you were previously... Once they've got the hang of the start of sleeps move onto working on the resettles. When you are settling, try rocking till drowsy and make sure you pat their bottom/side and shush (if you don't have the shhh track) loudly at the same time. Once drowsy continue patting and shushing whilst laying them in their bed feet first, continue patting until asleep. The first goal is getting them to fall asleep in their own bed first. Once you have done that for a day or two start gradually reducing the patting so you’re just patting them in bed until drowsy, stop patting and then just shhhhhh till asleep. Next time pat and shhh till drowsy then walk out, wait 6 mins and if they are 'crying up' go in and repeat. If at any time it gets to 30 mins past nap time then do whatever you can to get them to sleep and try again next nap. Persistence and consistency is key. Head to their room 10 mins before nap time to wind down and get ready for bed, start settling 5 mins before, this is when they are perfectly ready for bed. Settling them in a dark room with the shhh noise playing will also really help with the settling and staying asleep. Aim on 2 hours + 15 mins of awake time between naps and 2 hours before bed.
Our daughter is a year and 8 months old. She STRUGGLES with sleep...bad and unfortunately, she gets it honest. Even as a baby myself, I struggled sleeping hardly at all and suffered bad night terrors as a toddler, something she began showing symptoms of at around 7 months old. Even now, at 30, I rarely sleep more than 4 hours and suffer horrific nightmares and she seems to be walking down that same path. She wakes consistently every hour or 2 either screaming and crying or crying and only stops if one of us soothes her back to sleep with back rubs, hair brushies, "shhhh"'s, or physically picking her up and waking her from sleep so she doesn't bop her head on the crib rails when squirming erratically (usually once shes able to open and adjust her eyes, she calms down rather quickly). Alot of times getting her back to sleep takes an additional 30 mins-an hour, which exacerbates the problem further. She only sleeps between 1 and 2 hours a day for naps and her sleep quality is deteriorating fast. I don't want her to be in a position like me, whos typing this at 3:50am. And I'm worried shes experiencing nightmares now as a result of her sleep quality. We've tried all the various different types of solutions that typically work for children and have tried them each during 3-6 month trial periods, but her being 2 months preemie, under the 1 percentile, and sharing unfortunate genetics with me seems to be amplifying the issues and symptoms. She never eats junk food since we dont really buy it in our home, she does the bedtime/naptime routine daily, shes always dry before bed and we give her a warm bottle about an hour prior to sleep since milk increases the production of melatonin in our bodies (as do bananas, peanut butter, and a few other foods she regularly enjoys), and we even make sure her nose is cleared out and sprayed before bed to ensure zero issues breathing (her pedia's recommendation), she has a soft lovey to snuggle with to sooth her to sleep, zero lights except the dim stars on her ceiling, soft and monotone sounds from a shusher that lasts 20 mins and her "lullaby" that plays at night (just a non-melodic soft almost music hum vs actual music thats used as white noise), and her door is always shut so the dogs dont bother her with their click clacking nails on the hardwood. The temp is set comfortably at a constant temperature for a baby/toddler as well to prevent overheating or getting cold. We even tried smaller doses of actual baby melatonin at her pedia's recommendation and it hardly changed anything, so we decided to stop and use milk instead since the outcome was the same without the risks involved. We even made sure she wasnt experiencing constipation or impaction, disorders known to affect sleep in babies and children, and have ruled that out recently as well. Her brain scans show no abnormalities and despite her eye issue (one pupil doesnt constrict) and her lack of a startle reflex (things her doctors said couldnt be verified as causes until shes much older, but likely have nothing to do with her sleep quality), the only other things i can think of are her being born extremely preemature and spending a week shy of 2 months in NICU, her being around 6 months behind physically and developmentally, or her just having some genetic issue causing the sleep problems, I'm not exactly sure what else to think except nightmares and have run out of options to try and resolve the problem. Im at my witts end and being pregnant again, due in June, I am horrified the new baby will make the issue 10x's worse as she faces the new change and as the new baby cries and wakes her or as she cries and wakes the new baby. I need help and im running out of options and as of now, time.
I truly empathise with the challenges you are facing with your daughter's sleep, and I appreciate you reaching out to us for assistance. It sounds like you've been through a lot in trying to address her sleep difficulties, and I can understand the concern you must be feeling, especially with another baby on the way. Given the complexity of the situation and the thorough efforts you've already made, it might be beneficial to explore more specialised assistance. Our sleep program is designed to provide in-depth support for families dealing with persistent sleep issues, and I believe it could offer valuable insights and guidance tailored to your daughter's unique circumstances. Our sleep program takes a comprehensive approach, considering factors such as sleep environment, routine, and potential underlying causes. We work closely with parents to develop personalised strategies that address specific challenges. www.littleones.co/pages/our-app
My lo will be 8 month now , whatever is awake time ,2 hrs or 3 hrs ,she naps for 30 mins only. She was sleeping for 2 hrs till 4 month age. Please help.tried almost everything
This could be linked to the 8 month regression. The 8 month regression is all mostly to do with their physical development, so it isn't just when they are 8 months, this is usually around when it starts. But any developments that are new or that they are practicing can cause a regression in their sleep, they can resist settling and self settling can go out the window. Keeping your daytime routine and your sleep expectations consistent is the best way through this tricky phase. Try and use voice/touch to soothe to help you settle if needed to avoid introducing new associations. We would be aiming on 2.5 hours approx. of day sleep across 2 naps. Aim on 2 hours + 30 mins of awake time between naps and 4 hours + 10 mins hours before bed. Settling them in a dark room with white noise playing will also really help with the settling and staying asleep.
Well as a new father of 3.5month 9kg 64cm unit of happy baby boy. I think the regression has hit us. Like nights are lets say managed but naps are freaking haaaaard. Its like someone gave my baby a can of redbull. I cant see any old sleep ques and he looks really up and about but he gets frustrated and a deluxe level of fussy! Ive considered to let him cry it out, of course fresh, fed, changed and aafe etc. ButI really dont know please help!😅
They need to be perfectly ready for bed to settle easier. They may start resisting settling, not settling in their bed, night waking wanting to party, early waking and/or cat napping if their awake periods aren't long enough as they start needing more awake time between naps than they have previously been doing. This builds up enough sleep pressure to encourage them to sleep longer. We would be aiming on 3hrs + 10mins approx. of day sleep across 3 naps. Aim on 2 hours + 15 mins of awake time between naps and 2 hours before bed. Settling them in a dark room with white noise playing will also really help with the settling and staying asleep. Self settling will also be key. If they are needing help to get to sleep (from you or the use of a dummy) they will wake each sleep cycle needing the same help to go back to sleep.
My little one slept through the night at 6 weeks old. He had sickness at 6 months where I slept with him in the rocker up right three nights so that he could breathe. He slowly stopped sleeping through the night after that; he would wake two nights a week, then four nights a week, then pretty much every night. He rarely sleeps through the night now. He wakes every 6 hours and seems hungry. He is quite big though, he is 10 months old and already wearing 18 month clothing and is quite chubby. He is breastfed. We do 3 solid meals a day with a substantial protein and veggies at two meals and old fashioned oats and berries for the other meal. I home make all his food. Two naps a day. Longer morning nap and shorter afternoon.
If he is needing you to get him back to sleep, he will wake relying on this. You could try gradually reducing those overnight feeds by 30mls every 2-3 days. So it is a very gradual decrease and he will start to make up those calories during the day.
Thanks for this video, but I really need someone’s help. I can’t make my daughter to take naps during the day 😞 I learn to walk with her and rocking to make her sleep and when I put her in her crib she wakes up 😢 or she “sleep” for 5, 10 or 30 minutes max. At night she can sleep better. For example from 10 pm to 5 am most of the days. I’ve heard from a pediatrician that we need to put her in her crib and just talk to her until she falls asleep and if she starts to cry, we just have to talk 🤷🏻♀️ or if she’s crying for 10 minutes we can calm her down and star over again. But my heart breaks seeing her crying for seconds💔 What can I do? I’m desperate here 😭 Oh by the way I’ve been trying to do what you teach us in this video and still it’s not working 😢
Mine doesn't nap during the day and trying to get her down in proper wake windows is a nightmare when she only naps for 20-30 minutes with a 3 hour screaming match
Hello, thank you for your videos. I have one question: my 4 month old falls asleep with music (lullaby played by phone), when she falls asleep I turn it off. Is this considered self settling? What would you recomend to teach her fall asleep without it? Thank you.😊
We recommend using white noise until they are 12 months old. Self settling is where they go to sleep with no help from you to get them to drowsy or asleep. This would be via rocking, feeding, the use of a dummy.
Yep. And in fact this little one is now 10 years old and asked the other day if we can help her create her own RU-vid channel, which her and her sister have filmed and edited themselves, and with our help have posted it.
Is it productive to do a dream feed at 10-11 and then another parent led feeding at 4 AM if it’s more convenient? I have 4 month old who frequently wakes up once during night and is almost always awake around 5-6 and doesn’t go back to sleep.
Wow, this was very useful information! I put my 5 week old to sleep earlier today, and she just wouldn't fall asleep, for over an hour... Now I understand why :-)
I feel like theres so many reasons why my 3 year old is suddenly waking up at night. Shes just started nursery without her older sister and constantly says she misses everyone. Her sleep environment has slightly changed at home (room has changed slightly) she naps 2.5 hours a day, sometimes wakes up 3-3.30. She seems to be becoming more aware of everything and as a result is scared more often. My first go to is to reduce or stop the day time naps. But im worried about how to help her with the changes of school, her room and the normal developmental leap she's going trough. How am I meant to help her feel less sad when she misses me or her sister, or make her feel less scared?? Its all so much to tackle, all at the same time 😢
They need to be perfectly ready for bed to settle easier. Around 8 weeks they go through a sleep regression where their Newborn sleepiness is starting to wear off and they start to ‘wake up’. They may start resisting settling, not settling in their bed, night waking wanting to party, early waking and/or cat napping if their awake periods aren't long enough as they start needing more awake time between naps than they have previously been doing. This builds up enough sleep pressure to encourage them to sleep longer. We would recommend 4hrs 15mins - 4hrs 35mins approx. of day sleep across 3 naps and the awake time between naps would be around 1 hr 45/50mins. Having the shhh noise playing can really help calm them for sleep. Make sure your little one is swaddled. Settling them in a dark room with the shhh noise playing will also really help with the settling and staying asleep.
This was helpful! However I have trouble burping my baby during night feeds, she falls asleep while eating at night. I usually feed her lying down at night to make it as easy and comfortable as possible and then lift her to her babynest. Do you have any suggestions on how to burp her at night? If I wake her up after feeding to burp I’m afraid she’ll want to eat again.. and waking her is nearly impossible, it would require me to go up and into a light cold room or something similar.
Often it isn't as essential to wind overnight. They are so sleepy and don't take in as much wind as daytime feeding. Try just lifting her up onto your shoulder for a few mins and if nothing comes up, place back down x
Thank you so much. I really enjoyed this podcast. I enjoyed the topic of crying so much and you are absolutely right. I’m learning this with my 14 week old. He just put himself to sleep for the morning nap after 2 minutes of protest. We are already passed the 45 minute mark so fingers crossed 😅! I’m hoping this will make his catnaps longer. Thank you for all of your support and your videos are great. ❤❤❤
This video is so helpful. I’m a first time mom and my little one often grunts and is a very noisy sleeper. Not only do we lose sleep, worrying that they are OK I often find myself not knowing how to fix the problem or if there even is a problem. I look forward to trying your tips out. Appreciate the advice.
Love this podcast, I have a question. My 3 month old 13 weeks** still has acid reflux after breast feeding. I have to hold her 15-20 post feed to make sure she doesn’t wake up with reflux pain. How do I go about self soothing her with that? Also she has a older sibling who’s almost 3 and very loud how do I keep trying to self soothing if the baby has older toddler siblings?
We do recommend that feeds are spaced away from nap times. In our program we schedule feeds upon them waking from a nap and then a top up feed around 30mins prior to their longer sleep. So that would help with the being upright factor for your little one. It can be hard with a toddler at home but what can help is a box of things that they can play with while you are putting your baby down :)
@@littleonesbabysleep That is the most helpful advice I have received! She just hit 3 months old, would you recommend the “newborn” class or the 3-12 months course.
😭😭 I wanted so badly for this video to be helpful. My baby is only 2 months old and fights naps/overnight sleep every single time I go to put her down. Even within her appropriate wake windows and when she finally does nap, it's 30 minutes at a time and then another two hours trying to get her back to sleep. 😭😭😭
That can be quite common at this age. They need to be perfectly ready for bed to settle easier. They may start resisting settling, not settling in their bed, night waking wanting to party, early waking and/or cat napping if their awake periods aren't long enough as they start needing more awake time between naps than they have previously been doing. This builds up enough sleep pressure to encourage them to sleep longer. We would be aiming on 4hrs approx. of day sleep across 3 naps and the awake time between naps would be around 2 hours. Make sure your little one is swaddled. Settling them in a dark room with the shhh noise playing will also really help with the settling and staying asleep.
At this age, they don't nutritionally need that milk overnight. We have a very gradual and hands on method to help wean those milk feeds, in our program :) www.littleones.co/our-app
My granddaughter is 17 mos. old. In the mornings she's at play school from 8:30 - 12:30 and then I bring her to my house in the afternoon. She falls asleep immediately for the 20 minute drive to my house, but as soon as we get home, she wakes up. I try and encourage another 40 minutes of nap at Grammy's house (soften the lights, play background noise, give her a bottle) but she won't fall asleep. She'll buy in for about 15 minutes of rest time while I rock her but then she's ready to get up and play. Do you think that is enough rest for a 17 mos. old?
That 20min nap will be enough to reset her and she will be unlikely to sleep again past that. Ideally we would recommend a 2 hour nap at this age. Maybe there the option for her to have a nap at daycare before coming home to you.
Hi! My LO is 19 months old and has to be up for the day at 7 am to go to daycare. Daycare naps are at 2-3:30 which is not ideal but we cannot change it, we have asked. We are struggling with EMW. Can you help? Any advice?
Often it can be just because of the time we are trying to settle them in bed. They need to be perfectly ready for bed to settle easier. They may start resisting settling, not settling in their bed, night waking wanting to party, early waking and/or cat napping if their awake periods aren't long enough as they start needing more awake time between naps than they have previously been doing. This builds up enough sleep pressure to encourage them to sleep longer. We would be aiming on 2hrs + 50mins approx. of day sleep across 3 naps. Aim on 2 hours + 25 mins of awake time between naps and 2 hours before bed. Settling them in a dark room with white noise playing will also really help with the settling and staying asleep.
Hi, our baby is 2 months atm. We have serious problems with the naps during the daytime. If we put him down in his bassinet (or any other sort of bedding) he will keep looking around for hours. If we try to cover the crib by closing the curtains or using a veil, he'll start crying. And our baby cries really hard (blue/purple with breath holding moments)... The only way he'll sleep is by using a baby carrier and walking the stairs for 10-20 times. When he's finally asleep, we can't stand still, sit down or lay down most of the time. So we'll walking/dancing most of his nap time. This of course is enormously tolling for our physical (and mental) health. The nights were mostly the same, but have fortunately changed. About two weeks ago he started to sleep between us in the bed for 4-6 hours. All advice is welcome! Thanks :)
Often it can be just because of the time you are settling them in bed. They need to be perfectly ready for bed to settle easier. Around 8 weeks they go through a sleep regression where their Newborn sleepiness is starting to wear off and they start to ‘wake up’. They may start resisting settling, not settling in their bed, night waking wanting to party, early waking and/or cat napping if their awake periods aren't long enough as they start needing more awake time between naps than they have previously been doing. This builds up enough sleep pressure to encourage them to sleep longer. We would be aiming on 4hrs 15mins - 4hrs 35mins approx. of day sleep across 3 naps and the awake time between naps would be around 1 hr 45/50mins. Having the shhh noise playing can really help calm them for sleep. Make sure your little one is swaddled. Settling them in a dark room with the shhh noise playing will also really help with the settling and staying asleep.
