4 month old is so tired

[boymum4]

My 4 month old ds is so tired all the time!

He goes to bed between 5:30pm - 6:30pm and sleeps until 5-6am waking up once in the night for milk.

He will only nap in his pram or in the car so I spend my days walking marathons or driving for hours 😂 he is such an amazing sleeper at night but fights naps and will only sleep tops 1 hour at a time in the day and by about 4pm he is so upset until I take him upstairs for his bath and bedtime routine then he's all smiles!

When he does wake from a nap within 10 minutes he is upset and crying and doesn't want to play because he gets tired so quickly again! I don't know what to do 😩

Can anyone suggest anything?

Thank you x

Mine was a lot like that at 4 months, it's a difficult age and their brains are doing so much. It sounds like he's still tired after his nap and can't get into the next sleep cycle. Could you try and keep him down a bit longer and keep it dim and quiet?

I was told that actually the first nap is very soon after they wake up for the day, about an hour and half after waking up! So maybe try the first one earlier and it might set you up for the day. They can only do things in short bursts or get overwhelmed.

@Lelophants hi thank you for replying! Do you have any advice on how to try and keep him asleep longer for his naps? I feel like I've tried everything and when he wakes up too soon I try not to engage him too much and just put his dummy back in and shh him or stroke his head (which normally puts him to sleep) but it seems like once he's woken up he just can't get himself back to sleep again. I can't rock him as he doesn't like to sleep being held!

Definitely a hard age!

I tried everything with dd. Something that would very occasionally (maybe one in ten times) that worked was slightly rousing her about 5 mins before she would have normally woken. Not waking her fully, but just giving her a gentle rock, or moving her arm so she wriggled a bit. Seems counterintuitive but the internet swore by it and it did work a couple times (dd was a TERRIBLE sleeper until 15/16 months. Naps were no more than 45 mins as were her stretches of sleep at night).

See Instagram just chill mama

I would echo what previous poster said about try an earlier nap.. probably at 7.30am if he's woken at 5.30am. Sounds like he's too tired to sleep. Some babies are little and often sleepers in the day.

Have you tried a sling and walk or rock at home in a dark room rather than having to do marathons.

Like all baby things, it'll pass and move on.

[quote boymum4]@Lelophants hi thank you for replying! Do you have any advice on how to try and keep him asleep longer for his naps? I feel like I've tried everything and when he wakes up too soon I try not to engage him too much and just put his dummy back in and shh him or stroke his head (which normally puts him to sleep) but it seems like once he's woken up he just can't get himself back to sleep again. I can't rock him as he doesn't like to sleep being held!

Definitely a hard age! [/quote]
I tried similar to you and sometimes worked, sometimes didnt. At that age I was exhausted so would sleep on my bed next to him for naps at times. That would get him into the second cycle, but I can understand you might not want to do that.
I'd say first nap early in the day e.g. if he's up properly at 6am, start winding down again with quiet time just after 7am so he naps 7:30am. After 20-30 mins give up and move on. I started playing a particular lullaby with my phone or one of those sheep/own things so now whenever I play if he associates with sleep.