More help with Naps (please!)

[Sarahlolly]

My DD (4 months next week) has a set routine which we sort of fell in to as I have an 11 year old daughter who needs to get to school, but I think it may be having some effect on her night time sleeping.

6am wake up (the whole house wakes up at this time)
8.15am - 9.30 (ish) Sleep (she falls to sleep in the buggy on the way to school!)
10.30 - 10.45am Sleep (again!)
12.00ish - 1pm - 1.30pm ish Sleep (again)
4.00pm - 4.30pm Sleep (falls asleep in the buggy again)
She may well have another 15 minutes before I start her bedtime routine at 6pm.

Without fail she is asleep between 6.45pm and 7.00pm and will sleep through until midnight when she has a df (she does walk up at this time if I don't feed her).
She will then sleep again until 4.00am when she has another feed until 6am.

While I'm really really lucky to get 5 hours out of her first sleep at night I would ideally like to try to extend this (as a younger baby she would sleep for a full 8 hours before needing a feed).

Any advice would be appreciated!  Thanks

Sarah x

[malialeanne]

Hi Sarah, welcome to the boards!

So it looks like your dd is napping for 1.25 hours, .25 hours, 1.5 hours, and .5 hours--is that correct? That's a bit lower than the recommended 4 - 4.5 hours for this age.

You're correct that poor daytime naps can affect nighttime sleep. In addition to the amount of daytime sleep, the timing of naps is important. Babies need to sleep at certain times. At 4 months, your dd's natural biorhythms are developing a pattern which calls for a midmorning nap about 2 hours after wake-up of 1.5 - 2 hours, another early afternoon nap around 1 p.m. of 1.5 - 2 hours, and an early evening catnap. Wacky nap schedules can throw off your dd's natural rhythms and lead to restless nighttime sleep.

It's normal for babies to need two night feeds at this age. Four months is a prime time for a growth spurt too. Do you feed at midnight when she wakes? My dd wakes at midnight sometimes but will usually resettle without a feed.

[Sarahlolly]

Hi

The early evening catnap and even the afternoon nap are okay.  I am worried about her morning napping though - no matter what I have tried so far she will always falls to sleep twice in the morning.  It might be a knock on from the night though.

DD wakes up hungry at midnight - have tried to settle her with water but to no avail!  However when she wakes at 4am she only has a little feed so perhaps that is due to habit rather than hunger...

[malialeanne]

Hi Sarah,

She may need a shorter A time in the morning (many babies do), most likely under 2 hours. She may be overtired from her first A time and not getting a restorative nap on the go, so she needs the little 15 minute nap at 10:30.

Motion sleep is not the most restorative sleep, and the a.m. nap is very important as it functions as an extension of night sleep.

If you can't change the timing of the nap and it has to be on the go, maybe you could try and delay her wake time by 15-30 minutes (easier said than done I know).

[Sarahlolly]

Hi have tried it this morning.

She went down for a "proper" nap from 11.15am and I can hear her just starting to stir now!

Will let you know if it has any knock on effect....

Sarah xx

[Sarahlolly]

Boy did it have a knock on effect!!!

DD went to bed at 6.30pm and she woke at 4.00am!!!  She had a good feed and then went back to sleep until 7.00am (when I woke her up!)

Her naps today have also been great. 1 x 45min at 9am and she is asleep now in her crib (since 1pm).  She fell to sleep in the car and happily let me transfer her into the house and into her crib!!

I think I rushed in at 4am though as I was so excited she had slept so long!!!

Sarah x

[Sarahlolly]

OMG she is still asleep (that is 2 hours!!)

Sarah x

[malialeanne]

Wow, great job! Congrats!!!!! 

I do that also when DD has a great night, I rush in in the a.m. because I've missed her!

Hoping your good naps/nights keep going!