Catnaps help

[F1nit0]

DS is 4 months old and always been a baby that needs his sleep. We are in the catnap stage. I know this is completely normal for his age but he gets so overtired and grumpy by the afternoon. So what do I do?
I've tried lengthening his naps but can't seem to. Do I put him down for a nap like every hour? I don't see him going for that though.
Help me experienced mumsnetters please!

Will he contact nap? That’s the only way to get my 4m old to take a good nap. I miss the days of going on a walk and he’s sleep for hours in the pram 🥺
it’s not ideal for you but I can easy get a 1.5 to 2 hour nap on me and I can binge watch some tv! 😂

Another vote for a contact nap! I would start my boy off in the cot and then at the inevitable 30/40 min wake, run up and do the rest in arms! Eventually he linked cycles and naps great in the cot now!

@Tangfastic91 ohh fab tip! We haven’t tried proper cot naps yet (he sleeps so well in at night but just not keen on the day yet!) so I’m going to start some very gentle cot nap training in the next few weeks. Good idea to grab him at the end of sleep cycle!

Ahh thank yo so much for the replies, the contact naps were working great until he would only sleep on me. Which meant I couldn't leave him at all or go out for the day whilst DH or parents have him. So I worked hard at getting him used to napping in his cot. Now he refuses to contact nap. I feel like I've broken him and absolutely done the wrong thing. I should have stuck with the contact naps as he would do a long 2 hr nap in the middle of the day. No he just screams in my arms. He's so tired by 1pm.he just cries the rest of the day which usually ends up in me crying by time DH gets home from work.

I'll give this a go. He's napping in his cot now so I'm laying next to him prepped for his inevitable wake up, I'll see if I can get him back off in my arms ❤️

Good luck! Fingers crossed for you. Just to say that there is no one size fits all and you absolutely have not broken him or done the wrong thing, these babies will do what they want to do 🙈

@Tangfastic91 @ecossegirl91 just wanted to pop on here and say thank you. I rescued DS from his next to me when he woke up and he went back to sleep in my arms. I don't know why I hadn't thought of doing it before. Seems to obvious now. I guess sleep deprivation has deleted some brain cells haha! he's also asleep on me now ( 45 mins in!!) hearing others do contact napping works made me stick with it.

Catnaps are VERY normal at 4 months. it's a flipping tough time!

My 3 all catnapped at this age. My boys got over it at 5months - they'd sleep in the cot, then at transitiom would start to a and if I wasn't there they'd wake up. But I i rocked them i could sneak them back into the cot and they'd then mostly sleep another 2 hours (sometimes with some more rocking at 1hr15). Many can't link sleep cycles without some assistance until a bit older (acerage is apparently about 9 months. Myboys were 10 months before it was reliable they wouldnt need help with transition, my DD was 15 months before she could get a long nap without motion/rocking/contact).

I reckon the best advice is to try and help a longer nap along to build up the nap habit, but don't stress if it doesn't happen, theyll get the hang of it when they are ready to and not before!

Ah brilliant, glad it worked this time. If nothing else it stops them getting too overtired later in the day, even if it does mean you're trapped. Make sure the snacks and remote are in arms reach :)