u/Fantastic-Work-2297

My almost 8 month old is seriously addicted to his pacifier. We sleep trained around 4-5 months old without it and that went well, but have since given it back to him for sleep and have no issues. He uses it to self soothe occasionally in the night and we have zero problems with this.
He’s a fussy baby. Like seriously whines or cries consistently all day (yes, I’m losing my mind). I’m doing anything and everything I can to figure out how to get this kid to be happier. We had one week the day he turned 7 months old where he was so incredibly content all week and I felt like I was living a different life. It was amazing. But we’re back in fussiness hell and my mental health is taking a serious toll. That being said, the pacifier has become a MAJOR crutch for us because it seems to be the only thing that soothes him a lot of the time or gives us any peace and quiet without him crying. My question is, have any of you taken away daytime pacifier use and seen a reduction in fussiness with your LO? I’m starting to wonder if the paci is contributing to the whinyness.

Hello all! Looking for some advice on what those of you with sleepy babies did when switching from 3-2 naps. My guy has been sleep trained and sleeps through the night (most times) since about 6 months. He’s currently just over 7.5 months. He used to chronically only nap 30 minutes but lo and behold, age fixed this lol. He now naps great, sleeps however much he needs each nap. He has thrived on the 3 nap schedule for the last few months and we’re currently at about 2.25ish/2.5/2.5/2.5 give or take a little each ww based on tired cues. He naps between 2.25-3 hours per day (2.5 most of the time I’d say) and sleeps 11-12 hours per night consistently. This has been great until recently. He has started waking up a bit earlier than normal (6:30 vs 7) which is making it difficult for us to do a 2 nap schedule without bedtime being insanely early. So we’re stuck in a loop because the problem is that he realllllyyy struggles to tolerate longer wake windows.

Our starting goal for the 2 nap schedule is 3/3/3 and go up from there. Yes I know this reduces overall wake time to start. I’m part of an evidence based Facebook group and this is what’s recommended and I’ve really liked their processes and my LO has taken to them really great so far. This might require too much sleep for some babies, but I think it’ll work fine for him once he can tolerate the longer ww’s.

My question is, How did y’all get your sleepy babies to stretch that first wake window to fit the 2 nap schedule?? It’s hard to get him to be up even 2.5 hours first thing, let alone 3 hours. Should I try a 2.5/3/3.5 to start? And did you just have a fussy baby for a few days until they adjust? We really aren’t having terrible sleep issues, but he’s showing some signs of being ready and age wise I know he’s ready. The earlier mornings are totally fine and I’m sure him adjusting his sleep needs as he is overall requiring less, but I can’t figure out how to break the cycle of waking up early, early first nap, and then having to go down early. The early first nap is making it impossible to have just 2 naps and stretch the day until 7-8pm.