Hi! I need some advice about my 4 month old napping. Let me first start by saying that she goes to bed at night perfectly - sleeps from 7pm to about 7am and has been doing this from the time she was 8 weeks old. She sometimes wakes early in the morning and puts herself back to sleep.
Her naps have gotten progressively shorter though and I am curious to see if anyone has any thoughts on this. She used to only sleep in the swing (I know bad habit), car or stroller. However, she started not wanting to nap in the swing recently and I took that as a sign to start to transition her to nap in the crib. Even after sleeping twelve hours a night she seems to get tired within an hour and half of waking - sometimes two - and she will nap now for 20-30 minutes in the crib. I try to pay attention to the sleep signals - yawning, rubbing eyes, etc. After that nap she will get sleepy and tired every two hours but unless I go out to do errands she will fight taking a nap - crying and screaming. I have tried making it a pleasant experience, read a book to her, rock her a bit, lots of hugs and kisses, soft music, etc. She becomes so exhausted in the afternoon that she gets very cranky and will fall asleep for the night quite early. I don't know what else to do. I am hoping that you moms can help!
Hi! The only thing i can think of is she's getting older now and doesnt need that much nap time as if she was just born.I know she's only 4 months, but thats how my kids were. Just my opioion. Good Luck!
Hi A.,
My son is 17 months old only takes 1 nap it could be from 20 min to 2 hours. And wakes up every 3 hours during the night. If she sleep 7pm to 7am that is a good amount of sleep 12 hours. I would not worry to much for the long naps. She may get to much sleep, and the naps may change her good sleeping schedule at night.
A.,
I know it is easy for all of the moms to say good for you and be happy about the night sleeping, but I know it can get tough during the day. My first child (now 3yo) was alot like your daughter, great sleeper at night (7p-7a), but 30-min catnapper during the day and it did get better around the 1 year mark. What I did find , once he started napping better, was that 1 nap a day was best for him, usually from noon until two (sometimes, but rarely 2:30). My 5 month old, she is totally different. She started sleeping though the night sooner (at about 12 weeks) and does require more sleep then my son, but her naps range anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours, 2 times a day. She was in her swing for night and nap sleeping until about 4 months and we have spent the last 4 weeks getting her into the crib. She is doing well although she has one bad night every week where she just won't sleep no matter what and wakes really early (but that is something I will post about). Watching cues, putting her down after being up for about 1.5-2 hours, trying to get out of the house for a short 10-15 minute walk right after she eats (for fresh air) may help. Also I am not sure if you are still swaddling or using a pacifier, but that may help increase that nap time length. Also, the experts say the easy nap is usually shorter in duration and the afternoon nap is usually longer. I can't say that has been true with either of mine (my son was always 30 minutes no matter what, with my daughter sometimes the morning is better, but mostly the afternoon is. Good luck and if you get any good tips, let me know.
Dear A.,
Wow sleeping thought the night like that is great you are lucky. As far as naps try to put her down every two hours, before she starts yawning and rubbing her eyes. At that point she may be getting overtired. If you try to put her down every two hours put some music on and maybe she will learn to sleep on her own. There is nothing wrong with letting her fuss a little sometimes they need to do that to let their voice be heard. I am not suggesting letting her cry it out she is way to young for that. However learning to put herself to sleep is a wonderful thing. I think as she gets more active her naps will increase, but it is an individual thing. My son slept from 7 to 7 with one 3 hour nap during the day. My daughter slept from 9 - 7:30 with three half your naps throughout the day. She was never cranky she just didn't require as much sleep as my son. Babies are all different and I don't think they really have a true sleep schedule until around a year old. Be prepared teething, colds, it may change things so for now enjoy the 12 hours at night and she will let you know how much sleep she needs. Good luck on your baby girl!!
my son who is 4 months is doing the same thing. However you are very lucky to have her sleep through the night. My husband and I are still up every 3 hours. I will be looking forard to seeing your responses.
It's hard to say, because everyone is different, but i remember my daughter used to get tired for a nap within an hour of waking too. Eventually I decided to just push her naps back in the day. We moved it back little by little.... 10:00 for a while, then 11:00, then everntually we kept her up past lunch. Now she is an afternoon napper only and sleeps 2-3 hours at 1:00. She is already 17 months old now, but when she was that young, we did better with an 11:00 and a 3:00 then when we put her to nap earlier.....
maybe try white noise, pacifiers, swaddling. her schedule sounds great, getting tired after 2 hours, totally normal. she just would do better sleeping at least 45 mins in one session, thats long enough to go thru a sleep cycle fully. try to figure out how to keep her asleep, although it may be trial and error. some abies are fine with 30 mins, but you inicator is crankiness, if they are cranky, they need more sleep. have you tried the bouncy seat to see if its just the vibration?
My now 6 month old is the same way...never a great napper, but sleeps through the night. I just go by his cues-he usually wants to nap 1 1/2-2hrs after first getting up in the morning too, often only for a 1/2 hour or so. When he is really tired, he naps longer. He's in a pretty good routine now, your daughter will find her's too! I don't force the naps, as long as he sleeps all night I've learned not to worry so much about the sleep during the day!
I have read several sleep books and it is funny how the contradict each other. I found for my child at that age that if she slept that long at night that I had a hard time getting her to take good naps during the day. At 4 months your child should be taking three naps a day. First nap should start between 9-10am the second nap starts between 12-2pm, the third nap 3-5pm. She shouldnt be awake for more than 2 hours at this age or you will get fussyness. I found if i worked with this time frame it helped me to get my daughter down for naps. I think at that age my daughter slept for 10 hours at night and about 4 and a half hours durring the day. It was hard to establish a real nap schedual until she was 5 months old. and as she got older I was always adjusting it to fufull her needs.
About getting her to sleep for you durring the day without fighting the naps well I have a few thoughts. Try shortening her night sleep a little. I found giving a bottle before naps or nursing really helped. Try a white sound machine. And make sure the room you are putting he to be in is really dark. My daughter when she was really young needed a VERY dark room to fall asleep in. When she wakes up after a short period of time see if you can help her go back to sleep. My daughter at the 45 minute mark of her nap would cry out and move around. I use to think she was ready to get up and she would always seem so tired. then I realized that if i didnt go to her she would move around and fuss a little and go right back to sleep.
I only have one daughter but I really believe that if you can help your daughter to establish good sleep habits now it will make things on you soooo much easier later. If your daughter doesnt get good day sleep she might start keeping you up at night too. Helping her to learn how to self-soothe and fall asleep on her own durring the day is really important. You will hear quite a bit of crying to acheive that but its work it. And I am not talking about letting her cry it out. Be there for her. hold her when she crys put her back down in her crib when she stops. A pacifier, soft fleece blanket, teach her how to suck her thumb. My daughter use to suck on my pinkie to be able to fall asleep until she found her thumb at 10 weeks.
good luck,
E.
Wow, does this sound familiar! My son was a horrible napper around at that age, and didn't get much better until he started really moving a lot. But there are some things you can do to help your little girl now, even if she's not a star napper yet.
First of all, listen to your instincts. You are a great observer, and all those signs that she's giving you about being sleepy at 1.5-2 hrs are key! Put her down right then. My son, who is now almost 11 months, still sometimes wants to nap after an hour and half. Usually it's around the 2 hour mark, but hey- if he's tired, he's tired! And most kids will get super cranky and wired after 2 hours, especially at your daughter's age. It's hard to stay home and be a slave to her nap schedule, but I think it's totally worth it at this point. Put her down earlier, rather than later. You'll avoid a lot of the screaming. And keep trying the crib, if that's where she sleeps at night. Make the room really dark, and keep the house nice and quiet. Not the time to vacuum or watch TV.
It's a fact- my son naps longer and better if I rest at the same time! And it's not just an excuse to skip the housework. :)
Also, your daughter probably still needs 3 naps at this point. So don't forget to offer her a late afternoon nap. It won't prevent her from sleeping at night, if she's anything like my son.
Finally, give her a chance to go back to sleep during her naps. If she wakes up after 30 minutes and is chatty or a little fussy, but isn't really crying hard, then give her a few minutes before going in to get her. She may just be complaining, and then fall back asleep for another long stretch. Just like she does for you in the early morning!
Good luck, and just you wait until she's crawling. Lots of kids start napping great at that point! My son does multiple 1.5-2 hour naps each day now!
My daughter is almost one and has never been much of a napper. She has always caught sleep here and there for about 20-30 minutes. She sleeps all night which to me is greater than the naps. I have come to the conclusion that when she is mighty tired she will nap over an hour (which happens every so often). Some babies just aren't nappers. Good luck and keep trying though. I did try over and over but this is where I am at now.
I'm with Jennifer! Our four month old twins still get up every three hours during the night. I am very happy for you! During the day, our little girl, we call her catnapper, takes quick naps several times a day. Our little boy, takes a few 1/2 hour naps throughout the day and one 1 to 1 1/2 hour nap in the early afternoon.
Four our boy I place him in the bassinet when he appears tired. He seems to find it a comfortable place and winds down in it. He didn't always like it in there, but I kept putting him in it for consistency and now he does well in it.
Our girl falls asleep fast and hard. She will be in her exersaucer one moment playing and squealing, then sound asleep in it the next moment. She used to like the swing but now feels constrained by it. We usually put her on the playard if she isn't there already and let her sleep there. If we try to move her too far, she wakes!
When the weather is cooperative, I take them for walks in the stroller in the afternoon and that helps them get a decent nap.
I think these sleeping patterns are normal because they are so much more engaged with us and stimulated by objects, toys, and exploration. And, as I have learned with twins, every baby is different and has different approaches to life.
Hope this helps and good luck.
I have the same problem. My baby Allie will go to sleep easily in car, stroller, swing and screams when put down in crib during day. Prob my fault as I'm out a lot. Anyway what I started doing is ill give her 15 minutes to cry and get herself to sleep. She often screams and fights sleep so then I take her out and put her in swing or push stroller in our apt. When she does cry herself to sleep in crib she will only sleep a half hour bu then I will take her out and put her in swing or stroller. I think its important to teach them to sleep in crib. Also try putting your daughter to bed every hour and a half before she gets over tired after 2 hrs up she is more likely to fight sleep
