How long does your 4 month old nap for?

Kristen - posted on 01/25/2010

My daughter was born Sept 16th and she also takes very infrequent and short naps. On occation she will take a nice nap of 2 hours or so, but usually it's about half an hour. She also sleeps all night long so I haven't gotten too concerned about it.

Melanie - posted on 01/25/2010

Just wondering if you put your baby to bed awake? If your feeding or rocking your baby to sleep and they wake briefly inbetween cycles then they expect the breast/bottle to still be there or to still be rocking in your arms. As a result they need you to get back to sleep.

Alos, have you tried wrapping your bub in a muslin wrap? This gives them great security if they wake inbetween cycles. It's working well most the time for me and my bub. ALthough if she wakes after 30-45 mins and is happy i've figure she's had enough sleep. If she is upset i re-wrap & pat her gently in the cot. If this still doesn't work then i will rock her or try to burb her, check nappy etc and try to put her back to sleep. Usually this works. All the best!

Megan - posted on 01/25/2010

Hi Yun, he didn't but I never really tried either. He slept in his swing or vibrating seat until about a month ago...it was just easy. I just always soothed him by rocking or bouncing him. I have discovered that it is as if he has to fuss to go to sleep, he always does it. He doesn't really cry, just groans I guess is the best way to describe it.

Having a toddler and a 4month old is an adventure. As they get a little older and can play together it will be great but now it is exhausting. Isabella is and has been really good with the baby though, I was worried because she is very busy but she has been awesome since he was born. The lack of sleep is the hardest. They never nap at the same time so unlike when Isabella was born, I can't nap when he naps to catch up a little.

Stephanie - posted on 01/24/2010

i didnt read wat you wrote before i posted my other one but my daughter was born sept 11th also at 2 pm in the afternoon and she the same way like your daughter has to have someone

Stephanie - posted on 01/24/2010

my baby girl is 4 months old and she will wake up to eat when its feeding tme and stay up for an hour or 2 and then take a nap but for only like 20 mins but sometimes i get lucky and its about an hr

Kellie - posted on 01/24/2010

My son is like clockwork...he did it himself. He will wake up in the morning (because of his poop) at around 6:30-7am. I feed him his bottle and he'll go back to sleep for about an hour. He's usually up by 9am. He'll stay awake for 2 hours and go back to sleep for another hour around 11am. He then stays up until 1:30-2pm when he'll take a huge nap! He takes a 2-3 hour nap in the late afternoon, waking up at about 4pm. He's up for the rest of the night and goes to bed at 8pm. He definitely knows what he wants, when he wants it! Makes it easy for me, I guess :)

Rebel - posted on 01/24/2010

My son was doing the cat nap thing and taking like 10 naps a day still. So I started putting him upstairs in his room and now he will nap for 2 hours. he's a light sleeper so every little noise would wake him!

Shay - posted on 01/24/2010

My daughter was born September 25th and she's quite obscure with her sleep cycle. She'll sleep from about 11pm to 9am through the night, have a couple of 15 minute naps throughout the day and sometimes a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon if she hasn't slept well at night.

Yun - posted on 01/24/2010

Megan, was your son ever able to fall asleep on his own before you tried last week? I find that when I have tried to let her fall asleep, she cries and gets so upset. I really want to let go and let my daughter fall asleep on her own. I'm also reluctant to give her the time to fall asleep on her own because I'm afraid I'll miss her falling asleep window.

How are you finding having a baby and a toddler?

Megan - posted on 01/24/2010

Gio is doing the exact same thing so I understand your frustration. I am beginging to feel (or maybe hope) that it is just a phase. He doesn't fuss, he wakes up happy. I leave him in is crib for upwards of 30 mins most of the time after he wakes up before he just upset. I do play music (I have an 18 month old who is "spirited").

He does go to sleep on his own. I decided one day last week that I was just going to start putting him down when he got tired and he protested the first two times I did that, I would not say he cried but he fussed himself to sleep and now he is good. He is also still getting up twice at night. I read that at 5 months they don't physically need that anymore but since he was born on the 22nd, I figure I will give him until then before I start working on that.

Nakima - posted on 01/24/2010

Well, I think as long as she is sleeping well through the night, she is probably ok. I would mention it to your pediatrician though, just to be sure.

Yun - posted on 01/24/2010

I have a white noise machine that is pretty loud to drown out her two year old brother. Her room is really dark as well and I'm keeping her awake times around 1.5 hr or so. She's also never fussy when she's awake and she sleeps relatively well at night, maybe 1 or 2 wake ups between 7pm-6am.

Nakima - posted on 01/24/2010

Do you have music or some other noise-maker in her room? My son loves the sound of the fan blowing.

Jennifer - posted on 01/24/2010

My child takes 15-30 minute naps at a time but she's never fussy and sleeps through the night so I'm not complaining. She just started liking a binky and she will sleep a bit longer if she's sucking on one.

Yun - posted on 01/24/2010

I've tried lengthening her awake time by 15 min, but then she's so tired that it's a screamfest to get her to fall asleep for a nap.

Gotsome - posted on 01/24/2010

I've heard that each baby has their own nap needs, some might sleep 2-3 hrs & others like yours will only take cat naps of 30-40 mins. According to what I've heard, there's nothing that can be done to change this- but don't give up. You might consider trying to lengthen her awake time, by 15 mins & then 30 mins gradually to see if she's more tired & then sleeps longer. This worked with my son - I hope it works for your daughter!