I am going to go crazy! 4 month old regression? Short naps.

[mama04]

Please help! My daughter used to sleep very well. She'd stay up 1.5 hours and then sleep for 2 hours. Up for another 1.5hrs and then sleep for 1.5 hours. One more cycle of that a day then a cat nap before bed time. Dream feed at 10pm and then she will wake around 2am to nurse and then up 3 to 4 hours later.

About 2 weeks ago this all went down hill. She turned 4 months old today. Weight is 11 pounds. (She was 5.6 lbs at birth due to IUGR). Exclusively bf. Dr and LC are very happy with her weight. I figured she was off due to growth spurt but it's lasted too long.

She fights the swaddle so I have tried to swaddle her with one arm out.

Since things have changed her naps have been horrible and I'm at my wits end. Her first nap sometimes will still be 2 hours (sometimes I have to wake her). Or she will wake at to to 45 min mark. Every other nap is 40 to 45 min. She doesn't Wake screaming. If she has her arm out she will suckle at her hand for about 5 to 10 min and then start to cry. She doesn't settle to sleep.

When I put her down to nap the room is dark, she is swaddled, has so other.  I sing a song in the rocking chair and she is usually falling asleep and I put her down.

I've tried staying in the room for when I know she will stir to place my hand on her but she is up happy and kicking her legs like crazy.

Please please how do I get my awesome sleeper back?!

[Scottishmummy]

Hi!

My SIL once said to me, "the trouble with baby routines is you just find one that works, then they go & change" And 4 mo is a really common time for changes.

Waking happy and not resettling after 40-45mins is often a sign of UT. Have you tried increasing her A time? 1.5 hrs to low end of average at 4mo Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!

She may be ready to start moving towards a 4hr EASY, at least for naps. Time to Transition - 3hr, 3.5hr or 4hr EASY

Looking at how she goes down for naps, at this age, she may also need to learn to do more self settling in the cot to sleep longer. I would try putting her in the cot before she is falling asleep so she learns to settle herself I.e. When she is calm and getting drowsy but still awake.  That way she starts to learn to settle herself.

HTH, come back if you want to chat anything through .

[mama04]

Thanks for getting back to me. The past week I have been trying to increase her awake time from 1.5 hours to 1.75 hours. Getting her to that is a stretch especially for her first nap. I am going to try for 2 hours after her first nap with 1.75 hours.

So this morning she was up at 6am. Did a EAEAS. And put her down at 745. She was sleepy but awake. One arm swaddled and soother.  She woke after 40 min. Tried to pat and shh, she would fall asleep if held but not in bed. She was kicking and waving arms and being wide awake.  With a little bit of crying.

So because she will now be UT, do I go 2 hours from when she woke at 740? Or do I shorten that time?

When she wakes at 40 min should I replace her soother  to just get her to fall back asleep?

She rolled for the first time yesterday so I'm figuring all these issues are mixed into one.

I have a 4 year old home with me so it's difficult to spend the time upstairs with her to try and get her back to sleep when he is alone down stairs.

[Scottishmummy]

Hi again!

Sounds like 1.75 hrs was about right A time for that first nap for now if she settled herself quite easily and showed some signs of going back to sleep (even if it was only when held) I would stick with that for a couple more days before trying another increase to see of that helps get a longer nap.
Waking after 40 mins sounds like she's not learnt to transition to the next sleep cycle. Have you tried going in to her before she wakes and holding her in the cot to try to ease her into next sleep cycle without her waking? You might need to replace soother at that point too.

Could I ask why you are looking at 1.75 A time for first nap and 2hrs for next one? It's not necessarily wrong- some LOs do have A times which increase throughout the day, but some have consistent A times.

If you get a short nap, I wouldn't go for an A time longer than 1.75, and she may need a slightly shorter one.  Some babies need shorter A times after short naps, some cope with the same A time but usually not a longer one.

I understand the trouble with resettling when you have another older child around.  I used to have to just accept short naps from DD at this age & adjust rest of day around them, if she hadn't resettled with 10 mins or so...or by the time my toddler came into the room, bathed it in light and started talking and singing to the baby!

[Sorbai]

Following....my 4.5 month old has a great forst 2 hr awake time and 2 hr nap and only does 45 min naps the rest of the day only falling asleep nursing or lots of rocking.  Tried doing longer awake time since she wakes after 45 min happy smiley kicking I tought UT but totally didn't help. Losing my mind. Dont want to rock her anymore! Don't understand why her first nap is so good today she slept thru without needing resettling help. What is wrong w the rest of the day?

[Scottishmummy]

Hi Sorbai!

At this age short naps can either be developmental or due to difficulty transitioning through sleep cycles.  If you're rocking or feeding to sleep, I'd suggest trying some sleep training for her naps.

I'm not sure why the first nap is longer.  What is her night sleep like? Sometimes a better first nap is a catch up for poor night sleep. On other hand, sometimes the first nap is the one they learn to self settle for and transition through first and the others follow.

If you'd like more support with this, please start a new thread, either here or in general sleep.