12mo sleep help!
For context, we sleep trained using Ferber at 5 months (both naps and overnight) and it was successful. Around 8 months he transitioned to no overnight wakes and would sleep 7:30-7ish overnight with 2 naps capped at 1 hour each. But since then, we’ve became much more flexible with his sleep and feeding.
Our son just turned 1 (yesterday!) and for the last month and a half or so, we’ve been dealing with 5am wakes. He is still on 2 naps around 9:30 and 2/2:30. We used to bring him in our room to sleep with us at the 5am wake, since he would usually fall back asleep until 7am. And, we started doing more co-sleeping for naps about two months ago as I’m now 8.5 months pregnant and needing to sleep myself. He sleeps hard and long during these co-sleeping sessions.
When the early wakes started, we re-established sleep training again (~30 mins of intense crying before naps and bedtime) and got back to some more independent sleep over the course of 3 days but then all got a nasty cold. So for the past 3 weeks, we’ve done a lot of co-sleeping to ensure we all got enough sleep as well as some rocking to sleep so he wouldn’t cry and get stuffed up. He still has this lingering cold though dad and I have recovered. He sleeps through the night still but just has an early wake up, and he ALWAYS wakes crying (naps too).
Wake windows are 3/4-4.5/4.25ish. But he has done one nap a few times 4/7 and can make it but it’s not super easy (usually more success when he can play with other kids in the afternoon). I just don’t think he’s quite ready to transition to one because he seems happy with the 2 nap schedule and can usually sleep.
Bedtime routine is always the same. Bath right after dinner (messy boy), playtime if needed, bottle (phasing out in the next week or so), books, song, bed.
But with a newborn coming in 6 weeks, I’m feeling the pressure to get him sleeping more independently and with a later morning wake up. Also, so my parents and in laws can watch him overnight while I’m in the hospital.
Is this a scheduling issue that can resolve the sleep stuff? Do I need to sleep train him again even though he sleeps thru the night, so I know he can connect sleep cycles?