Napping Schedule at 4 months

How many naps does your DC take during the day and what is the duration?

My DD is like clockwork at night. She goes down to bed between 6 and 7, and wakes once around 3:30 for a bottle. Then goes back to sleep without a problem until about 7.

However, I can't seem to follow a pattern with her naps. For the last week or so, she seems to do one 3 hour nap at her sitter's house. On the weekend at home, she's up for about an hour and a half, down for a nap around 40 min, repeat.

The only thing I can think of is that I am very quick to put her down for a nap. If she scratches at her face or yawns, I lay her down right away. My sitter suggested waiting it out and then she thinks she'd sleep longer.

What do you think? I'm going to be home with her this summer and I'd like to get some sort of schedule going. TIA

Re: Napping Schedule at 4 months

My DD is 4 months, she's been pretty consistent with her napping since she was 2.5 months.

She goes down in her crib by 8:15-8:30 most nights.

Wakes around 6am, but doesn't cry looking for a bottle so we leave her in her crib. She's perfectly happy talking to her mobile. She's usually ready to eat around 7ish, sometimes 6:30am THEN goes back to sleep until 10-10:30.

Bottle, then we go out, run errands, or just go out for a bit. Home by 1:30-2:00, has bottle then goes down for a nap until around 5-5:30 (used to be 6:00-6:30). I won't let her sleep past 5:30 anymore.

Just watch your DD's cues. Mine gets cranky, and will start rubbing the back of her head and play with her ear. I can typically put her down wide awake (even though she's tired), and she'll be asleep within 10 minutes.

I know this is all going to change shortly though once I go back to work and she's in daycare.

Re: Napping Schedule at 4 months

According to the healthy sleep habits , happy baby book , babies up to 5 months should be napping after being awake every hour to hour and a half. He doesnt consider anything under 45 min a nap, however, he said that if they wake up after 30 min, they are not likely to fall asleep. If they wake up before the 30 min mark, leave her in there to see if she wull fall back alseep.

5 to 12 months their naps should look like this:

1st nap 2 hours after they wake up
2nd nap - 2 to 3 hours after DC wakes up from 1st nap
some babies (my DD) require a 3rd nap after being awake for another 2 - 3 hours


HTH - that will give you a guide to know when you should expect her to show those sleepy signs and go in the crib.

Re: Napping Schedule at 4 months

Sasha basically takes a 30 min nap, EXACTLY 30 mins basically 5 times a day. Usually b/t each feeding at some point.

Re: Napping Schedule at 4 months

Thanks for the responses. It's very helpful to see others' schedules. I think I'm going to get that Healthy Sleep Habits book. I've heard it mentioned here before.

Message edited 6/4/2009 8:47:02 PM.

Re: Napping Schedule at 4 months

Re: Napping Schedule at 4 months

Jake is semi-consistent napper. His nightime is usually more predictable.

Bedtime 9:30ish, wake around 8ish, bottle at 8:30.

He usually can't make it more than 2 hours being awake. His naps can range from 40 mins to 2 hours - depening upon the day....sometimes the morning nap is longer, and sometimes the afternoon nap is longer.

Re: Napping Schedule at 4 months

My DS is similar to your DD's schedule.

He goes to bed around 9:30, wakes up at 4 to feed, and then for the morning by 7-730.

He will stay up for about an hour and a half, and then go back down for a long nap (3 hours).

But then it gets inconsistent. He will generally nap every 1.5-2 hours, for about 1-2 hours each nap. But if we are out running errands or doing things, his naps are less frequesnt and shorter.

It's funny though, because no matter how little or how much he naps, his bedtime and waking up time overnight does not change.

My ped. said this schedule is normal..they still need 12-15 hours of sleep at this age. I also recommend that book..it is very informative