Baby suddenly sleeping far more than usual - so worried

[worriedftm11]

My baby daughter has just turned 4 months old and is generally a good sleeper, with three naps a day then one wake-up during the night between 7.30pm-5/6am.

Today though she's suddenly sleeping a lot more than usual and I'm worried because it's so out of character!

She went to bed at 7.30pm last night and woke at 6am this morning, with no wake-up during the night. She then slept from 7.45am-10.45am (3 hours), 12.50pm-3.20pm (2.5 hours) and went to sleep again at 5.50pm. She's still asleep now.

That means she's had just over 13.5 hours of sleep today and counting! Her average total sleep is normally just over 14 hours out of 24.

When she's awake she's been fine and playing with her toys - but normally she'd stay up after waking at 3.20pm until proper bedtime at 7. Today there was no way she could manage it - she was clearly tired and wanting to sleep by 5.30pm.

Should I be worried at this sudden change in behaviour?

As long as you have checked all the usual things (eating, nappies, temp, rashes, etc) then I wouldn’t worry

Babies are so changeable at this age - honestly there is no point counting sleep hours because, as you are discovering, they vary so much!!

I find that rather than focusing on time spent asleep, baby is much happier and rested when I focus on wake windows. Regardless of if he naps for 30 mins or 3 hours, he has two hours of awake time before the next nap.

He takes three naps a day (I don’t bother counting how long!) and sleeps 12-14 hours at night without wake ups :)

I would say that 3.20 to 7 seems a very long time for a baby that age to be awake - I know there would be tears from my son if he did that and he’s 6 months! IM not surprised she wanted to sleep at 5.30 - I would call that a normal wake window :)

Hi op. How often has she fed and had wet nappies? Same as normal?
Also have you checked her temperature?

If all these are OK then just keep an eye on her. It may be she is catching up on it all with a growth spurt.

Swap you for a nap refusing 2yo who wants to discuss the finer points of Peppa Pig at 1am, 3am and 5am?

Providing she's feeding ok, you're getting wet & dirty nappies and she seems happy enough, I wouldn't worry. Could be a growth spurt, a leap or could just be a tired day. Patterns change all the time - we used to have a great night/day of sleep and then the next one I'd be up 4 times in the night!

Thanks for the replies. She's only had 600ml of formula today in three feeds - she hasn't been awake enough to do more! She normally has between 750-950ml per day.

Wet nappies have been normal and she doesn't have any rashes. I haven't checked her temperature, but she didn't feel hot to the touch.

It's just the change in behaviour that has worried me

Hmm OK maybe keep an eye on her. If it were me I'd wake her up after a few more hours just to check she's OK and offer another feed. She's not too hot is she?

She's not too hot is she?

She doesn't seem to be? It's a lot cooler here today so she's been in a sleepsuit all day (as opposed to the vests she's been wearing recently), but seemed comfortable and happy.

I'm loathe to wake her as I'm worried she badly needs the restorative sleep or something - but on the other hand I'm nervous something's wrong!

I'd say it's probably a growth spurt. My DD did this, she would suddenly go from eating like a horse to being asleep almost constantly for 2 or 3 days. Then go back to normal again, except none of her clothes would fit anymore!

Thanks. She was smiley and happy during her awake times today and didn't seem out of sorts.

We had a very busy day yesterday (we went on a day trip and were out of the house all day). I'm wondering if she could be recovering from that - although she did nap in her pram and the sling while we were out.

She sounds fine if she was wide awake and happy when she was awake.
Sick babies won't properly wake up. She sounds like she wanted a duvet day. Bet she wakes at 2am starving.

Thanks @pandafunfactory - I really hope so

I wouldn’t worry too much, both mine have had the odd days like this, as long as she’s happy when awake and temp etc is all good.

I wouldn’t be able to stop myself periodically checking through the night though.

I don’t know where you live, but if you’ve just had the really hot weather, maybe now it’s cooler, she is making up for lost sleep. I had 2 sons, one only slept for 30 minutes every 3 hours, but slept through the night by 6 weeks. My second son slept all afternoon and had to be woken up, but didn’t sleep through the night till 10 months old.

My boy is doing the same the last 2 days. He’s only 11 weeks but has slept for 3-4 hour blocks during the days. He usually only sleeps 45 mins to 1 hour and then wakes up hungry.

I’ve been worried and considered waking him to feed but just assume he is growing and needs to rest? As long as they are not underweight or have a temperature / feel floppy when they’re awake I think it’s ok?

Well, now she's gone the other way and is refusing to nap at all today so far. I guess I should have enjoyed it while it lasted!

Ha, yes that was predictable.