4 month old starts her day at 4-5 am :(

[Miriam_T]

It has been too long that I am struggling with my little girl's sleep!

The problem is she wakes up around 4-5 am for the day. All what I do until 7 am is putting the pacifier back in her mouth and turn on the white noise machine to help her sleep for a while, then she will wake up again!!

I know I am doing something wrong...either with her nap schedule or bed time, but I cannot figure it out.

Our day starts at 7 am. I am following the EASY schedule in terms of the awake time which is 1.5 h then I put her to nap. She falls sleep in 5-10 min max which means I am putting her to bed at the right time!!

After 45 minutes of napping she wakes up as she used to nap that much. Given I want to follow the EASY schedule, i put the pacifier back in her mouth then she goes back to sleep. Most of the time, I will be the one waking her up from the 1.5 h nap.

I am not very consistent when it comes to the cat nap...I feel that a bed time at 7:30-8 is too late. so sometimes i let her sleep for 20-30 minutes around 5 pm then put her to sleep around 6:30-7 pm.

She will wake up at 10-11pm for a feeding then again around 3 am. She will go to sleep until 4:30-5 am then the fun starts
This has been a problem since too long..maybe since she was one month old or so, so it has nothing to do with growth spurt or sleep regression at 4 month

What am I doing wrong?? She is 100% formula and will start cereal next week, so hopefully it will make her more full and sleep longer after the 3 am feeding

[becj86]

Hi, welcome to BW

At 4mo, average A time is 2hr and most babies do well with that - there's not a whole lot of variation at 4 months of age.

Waking frequently from 4-5am til 7am and the 45min naps all suggest she needs more A time. If you can increase to 2hr, that will help . You can do that in one jump and resettle any OT wakings at 30mins (reasonably easy usually) or do it in two increases of 15mins 3-4 days apart. Either option is fine. 

Most of the time, I will be the one waking her up from the 1.5 h nap.

I would caution against waking LO from naps unless they've been sleeping 2hr+. This can lead to LO being OT even if she's slept 1.5hr.

[Miriam_T]

Actually she will turn 4 months on March 11...does it make a difference?

1 - So you are saying that she needs more activity time for 2 hours vs. 1.5hours. However, when I put her to nap after 1.5 hours, she falls sleep within a few minutes...doesn't that mean I am putting her to sleep at the right time? I thought if I keep her awake for 2 hours, then she will be overtired.

2 -

You can do that in one jump and resettle any OT wakings at 30mins (reasonably easy usually)

I didnt get that what do you mean?

3- ok - so I shouldnt wake her up from her naps. then when she wakes up after 45 minutes crying and looking for her pacifier, do i take her out of the bassinet? and do the feeding if it is the time? or do i put the pacifier back in her mouth which means she will continue her nap?

Thank you!! really appreciate your help!! I had a feeling that there was something wrong with her naps!

[becj86]

Actually she will turn 4 months on March 11...does it make a difference?

Not really.

However, when I put her to nap after 1.5 hours, she falls sleep within a few minutes...doesn't that mean I am putting her to sleep at the right time?

No, it means she's tired at 1.5hr due to habit and/or she's not sleeping soundly for the last 2-3hr of the night so is tired. If you push that first A time particularly, she should sleep better through the early hours of the morning.

then when she wakes up after 45 minutes crying and looking for her pacifier, do i take her out of the bassinet?

If you're able to extend her nap, that's great - do that. What I'm saying is hat waking her isn't ideal unless its been more than 2hr.

[Miriam_T]

ok great thank you!!
what about her bed time? I was told that if I make it earlier, it will help her to wake up later

[becj86]

I was told that if I make it earlier, it will help her to wake up later

To an extent this is true, in that if you put LO down for the night when they're overtired, they often won't sleep as well during the night. However, a baby may only sleep a night of 11-12hr, so if you're putting down for bedtime at 6pm, you can't expect LO to sleep all the way til 7am and a 5am wake up for the day would be perfectly reasonable.

[Miriam_T]

makes sense!! thank you so much for the help