How much acti vitytime for 4 month old

[SallyDom]

Hi everyone,
I have a 17 weeks old baby that sleeps a lot during the day and night and up until very recently was following a 3 hour EASY routine, with 2 of those hours being sleep time (if we were at home, he never sleeps as well if we out and about). In the last couple of weeks I have found it really hard to spot his sleep signs. Dominic used to yawn and I could take him up and put him in his cot and he could fall asleep on his own. Recently he doesn't seem to yawn so I have been taking him up when he starts to really whinge and isn't happy with anything we do, I suppose I feel like he should be staying awake longer now but when I do put him down he screams the minute he gets anywhere near his cot (actually screams a lot at nap times period) so I don't know if I am letting him get overtired but I don't want to take him to bed when he is still happy and playing.
Should I take him to bed the second he start to whinge?
What is the average awake time

[SallyDom]

Sorry pressed send by mistake!
So, how much is the average awake time for a 4 month old?
I suspect he is teething, and had german measles a couple of weeks ago so feeding and sleeping was totally disrupted. Do you think this could be the cause of not wanting to go to bed.
I actually managed to get him to fall asleep on his own without crying for the first time today, yay, felt like I'd managed to run a marathon. Isn't is sad what makes us so happy!!!
Any advice is much appreciated
Sal
x

[Erin M]

Hi Sal --
Sounds like you've got a couple of things going on there.  My guess would be that he needs longer A time right now, provided that he's recovered from the measles and the teething isn't interfering too much with his sleeping.  It would be really helpful if you could post his daily routine so we could see what his average day would look like.  In the meantime, I'm going to move this over to the EASY forum where you'll probably get some better advice once you post that routine.

[SallyDom]

Dom's usual routine:
Wake 8am
Eat - 8am (amount varies, 8oz if he due a full feed but sometimes sleeps until 6am and has a full feed so doesn't want a full one at 8am)

Activity - play mat, massage, tummy time, activity station (Up until very recently would yawn after an hour so I knew it was sleep time, now doesn't seem to yawn so I take him to bed when he gets whingy, about 1 hour 20 minutes)

Sleep -  9.30 - 11.30 (needs about 2 hours or wakes up whingy - just recently started waking up after an hour but if I go in and shush him he will often go back to sleep)

Eat - 11.30, 8oz

Activity -

Sleep - 13.00 - 15.00

Eat - 15.00, just started on a small amount baby rice and 6oz milk

Activity -

Sleep - 16.30 - 17.15

Activity - Play until 18.15, usually getting tired by this point and quite crabby but cheers up as soon as I take him up for his bedime routine

Bedtime routine: 18.15 - 18.40, nappy off for a good kick, bath, massage, dressed for bed
                        18.40 - 18.50, more milk usually around 6oz
                        18.50 - 19.00, cuddles and then into cot whilst awake. Either falls asleep on own or is shushed/patted if he needs it

During the night - usually has one feed, anytime between 3.30 and 6am, it's been getting later so hopefully will sleep through soon

Thanks for looking at this
Sal
x