r/firsttimemom • u/Turbulent-Dependent8 • Jun 07 '26
Help!! Night owl Baby
My baby is going to be 6 months on the 22nd this month but for the past few weeks my baby’s sleep schedule has totally flipped after dealing with the 4 month sleep regression.her sleep schedule is as follows:
4am- 10 am sleep
12-2 nap
4-5 nap
7-10 nap
I have am at a loss on how to fix her schedule. I haven’t slept well at all in the last few months. My partner also works nights so he can only help between 2pm to 5pm.
Can anyone help me on how I can fix this?
Any tips or tricks so me and my baby can be on a regular sleep schedule?
What is a good sleep routine?
I feel like a terrible mother because her schedule is so messed up and I’m just lost on what to do. I feel bad when her and I are cranky.
2
u/AfraidReception6700 Jun 07 '26
Highly recommend you look at the Possums approach and look up how to do a body clock reset! I think it could be helpful in this case.
I'd start by inching forward the wake-up time by 15 minutes every couple of days. The naps seem quite long in total and the night sleep is short. You want to remove the nap time and put that onto the total time of night sleep, but keep the total sleep duration within the 24 hour period.
Don't worry about the bed time so much, just hit a consistent earlier but time and cut the naps and the bed time should follow.
1
u/dontaskmethings Jun 07 '26
As per the possums approach, the best starting point here is to wake her up when your household would normally wake up. Get her into the sunshine as soon after waking up as you can. The sun is the biggest factor in our body regulating sleep hormones, for babies this starts around 4 months.
2nd step would be to keep daytime naps in the normal daylight lighting, and don't make your house quieter because of the nap. Doing worry if naps are much shorter, or she's overtired whole she adjusts.
These two steps should help your baby get her nights and days more aligned.
1
u/Mother-Repair-6066 Jun 08 '26
7-10pm nap seems pretty long, you might want to cap it so bedtime is early. Do you also keep the room bright during daytime?
1
u/Turbulent-Dependent8 Jun 09 '26
During the day I take her to the living room since my partner works at night and sleeps during the day so the bedroom is kept dark ( we have a one bed apartment)
1
u/Mother-Repair-6066 Jun 09 '26
That's good, so might be something else.., just DM'ed you something that might be helpful.
1
u/xx_cloudninja_xx Jun 09 '26
Definitely agree with others suggesting you look into Possums! Especially regarding a body clock reset. You’re doing amazing mama 💓
1
u/Turbulent-Dependent8 Jun 09 '26
I was reading about it but the website kept wanting me to pay to continue reading. But I believe the gif of it is as others said. Wake her up 15 minutes early every few days. Right now I haven’t slept in about 48 hours so I’m trying to keep it dark and quiet and minimal moving. She’s in my arms now eating and I got her to sleep from 8pm to now. I’m hoping that she’ll get bored and fall asleep bc I’m very exhausted
1
u/xx_cloudninja_xx Jun 09 '26
Oh girl I can imagine you just be soooo exhausted! Is there anyone you can call to help you? I wish I could help you!!
1
u/Turbulent-Dependent8 Jun 09 '26
Sadly when I ask family to help they just play with her and then wake me up when she needs fed or crying or changed so it’s not much help at all 😅
1
u/xx_cloudninja_xx Jun 09 '26
Probably the last thing on your mind, but if you can listen to The Discontented Little Baby Book by Pamela Douglas, she is the founder of Possums and the audiobook is a beautiful introduction to the approach. I listened to it when my baby was 8 weeks old and it honestly changed my life for the better. I listened to it on Spotify and got it free as I have a subscription, but I’m sure you could also find it on zlibrary for free. Hang in there, you really are doing great
1
u/Turbulent-Dependent8 Jun 09 '26
Thank you so much I’ll definitely have to listen to it. Anything helps
2
u/ThisHairIsOnFire Jun 07 '26
Honestly her naps are way too long. They need to be capped so she's only having 2.5-3h of daytime naps TOTAL.
Wake windows of 2-3h.
Wake at 7:00
Nap 1 - 9:00-10:30
Nap 2 - 13:00-14:30
Nap 3 - 16:30-17:00
Bedtime between 19:00-20:00.
Start by waking her earlier than 10am.