Nap every two hours

[sparks19]

Is this normal?

hannah is 4 months old...

She is formula fed now... and while it says formula fed babies eat every 3 1/2 to 4 hours... hannah eats every 2 1/2 hours... and then every two hours she HAS to take a nap or she gets cranky.

Sometimes she naps for 15 minutes... sometimes she naps for 45 minutes.  but it HAS to be every two hours from the time she wakes up.  At this age... is that normal for her to need to nap so much?

[deckchariot]

At 4 mos, most lo's can go 4 hrs between feeds, but 2 hrs of awake time is pretty normal.  Can you post what your routine looks like now, and we can take a look.  It may be possible to extend her feeds and sort out her naps.

michelle

[sparks19]

At 4 mos, most lo's can go 4 hrs between feeds, but 2 hrs of awake time is pretty normal.  Can you post what your routine looks like now, and we can take a look.  It may be possible to extend her feeds and sort out her naps.

michelle

Well depending what time she wakes up....

I feed her when she wakes up... she will only take 4 oz at each feeding... rarely she will take 6 oz but nost usually.  Then we have playtime... then after about two hours of being awake she gets really cranky and wants to sleep (say we get up at 8... i feed her and by 10 she is cranky and nodding off) she sleeps for about a half hour.  once she wakes up from her nap she just HAS to eat or she gets MAD lol.  I have tried holding her off but nothing will distract her... she wants to eat. but again she will only eat 4 oz at a time.  then we have play time again or just hang out on the couch together and then after about two hours she is cranky and nodding off again... and the cycle continues.

BUT she does sleep through the night no problem

[deckchariot]

My first guess on the 30 min naps is that she's overtired.  Was she premature by any chance?   Or does she have reflux?

 I would suggest a couple things:  1) post over on the bottlefeeding boards about typical amounts of formula for a 4 mos old, and explain that you can only get your lo to take 4 oz at a feed.  I bf, so I have no idea what's normal on that end.  But feeding definitely affects sleep.  2) try shortening her A time just by 10 or 15 min.  Aim to have her already in bed by the 2 hr mark.  Do you do any type of a wind down routine?  I would start your wind down after 1 hr 45 and see if that helps. 

I'm concerned that if she's not able to go longer between feeds, her naps will just continue to be short, so definitely post over on the bottlefeeding board.

HTH
michelle

[sparks19]

My first guess on the 30 min naps is that she's overtired.  Was she premature by any chance?   Or does she have reflux?

 I would suggest a couple things:  1) post over on the bottlefeeding boards about typical amounts of formula for a 4 mos old, and explain that you can only get your lo to take 4 oz at a feed.  I bf, so I have no idea what's normal on that end.  But feeding definitely affects sleep.  2) try shortening her A time just by 10 or 15 min.  Aim to have her already in bed by the 2 hr mark.  Do you do any type of a wind down routine?  I would start your wind down after 1 hr 45 and see if that helps. 

I'm concerned that if she's not able to go longer between feeds, her naps will just continue to be short, so definitely post over on the bottlefeeding board.

HTH
michelle

She was actually overdue... but she developed Pneumonia right after birth.

I will post on the bottle feeding forum about what she is eating... I used to breastfeed her but she wasn't gaining weight and got really fussy on the breast to the point where she just wouldn't eat from me at all... and with her not gaining weight I felt it was in her best interest to start formula... since then (a month and a half) she has gained over 4 lbs and has grown at least another inch.  She very active as well.  Doesn't have any trouble with reflux... I can probably count on one hand the amount of times she has ever spit up lol.

I don't really do a wind down routine with her... she just nods off for her naps.  Then she wakes up a little while later bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to do it all over again.

I can't really say it is affecting her negatively...s he sleeps well at night.  I just wondered if it was normal for her at this age to want to nap so frequently.

[deckchariot]

hmmmm......you've got me puzzled on this one.  Its not odd at all for her to want to nap every 2 hours, that's completely normal.  What's not so normal is that her naps are so short.  Most los at 4 months are getting 4-6 hrs of daytime sleep, and I'm guessing she's way short of that total.  Daytime and nighttime sleep are organized by different areas of the brain, and los figure out night sleep first (0-3 mos) and day sleep later (3-6 mos), so it may just be a developmental phase. 

I might try starting a wind down (after about 1 1/2 to 1 hr 45 min after waking), it doesn't need to be elaborate, just something to separate eating/activity and sleeping.  With our dd, we do a diaper change, close the blinds, (when she was little we swaddled her), sit in the rocking chair, read a story, cuddle a bit, sing a song then into bed.  When we were using pat/shh, we started pat/shh on our shoulder and then head to the crib.  Its possible if you just help her ease into naptime with a wind down and starting a bit earlier that she'll actually nap longer.

All that said, enjoy the nights!!!

[sparks19]

hmmmm......you've got me puzzled on this one.  Its not odd at all for her to want to nap every 2 hours, that's completely normal.  What's not so normal is that her naps are so short.  Most los at 4 months are getting 4-6 hrs of daytime sleep, and I'm guessing she's way short of that total.  Daytime and nighttime sleep are organized by different areas of the brain, and los figure out night sleep first (0-3 mos) and day sleep later (3-6 mos), so it may just be a developmental phase. 

I might try starting a wind down (after about 1 1/2 to 1 hr 45 min after waking), it doesn't need to be elaborate, just something to separate eating/activity and sleeping.  With our dd, we do a diaper change, close the blinds, (when she was little we swaddled her), sit in the rocking chair, read a story, cuddle a bit, sing a song then into bed.  When we were using pat/shh, we started pat/shh on our shoulder and then head to the crib.  Its possible if you just help her ease into naptime with a wind down and starting a bit earlier that she'll actually nap longer.

All that said, enjoy the nights!!!

Oh ... well I forgot to mention that after she gets up at 8 I feed her and we have a little playtime (not a full on playtime) but she is usually ready for a sleep with in an hour and a half... I take her to my bed and we nap together... that nap usually lasts 3 hours.

I guess that is why I was surprised that she still needed to sleep every two hours after such a long nap.