"Power naps" or just won't sleep for long enough?!

[Racers]

Sorry if has been done before!
My four month old daughter won't sleep for more than 20/30 minutes at a time in the day. She has 3 naps usually, no strict times, just when she shows signs of tiredness. She sleeps well at night and has a bedtime of 7pm with a clear routine from 6ish. In the day I take her to her crib (unless we are out of course) and she usually doesn't have too much trouble settling down, it's just for such a short time I don't know if I could do more to get her sleeping longer or indeed whether I should! Once she's woken, she won't go back to sleep and is usually happy enough - although by the end of the day she can be quite grumpy and ready for bed so early that she doesn't feed too well, just falls asleep. During the night she's ok, sometimes has a BF as has only just started to go through the night without 2 or 3 feeds.
Do you think I should just go with the flow? This has tended to be my stance on most things!
Any advice for a poor old first-timer? TIA, Clare

my dt2 i jsut the same. I have to put him in the bedroom in the dark and quiet otherwise he wakes up after 20 mins and is grumpy and tired. He is 6 mnths now and can now do a couple of hours durign the day. You could try darkenign the room? Or hopefully she will sleep for longer once she is a bit older.

i even got my ds a top with powernapper on it from debenhams!

Yes, I must admit the room isn't dark, though it is quite dim as has blinds and a curtain and the sun (what sun?!) is round the side of the house or at the back during nap times. I've avoided blackout curtains though might consider for the nursery when she moves in there as it is a much lighter room. I wanted to try to get her used to sleeping in light conditions, so that she can do it elsewhere (ie where they don't have blackout curtains like at parents' houses etc) It's a good point though, it might help.

I might start putting her in her cot for naps - there's another topic - is it a good idea to do this or should we make the change over to cot day and night? In which case we're not ready to do that yet!

PS love the 'powernap' slogan - might have to get one of those

You could try the cot, I don't see what harm it will do. But if she is used to sleeping in her crib I would leave it at that for now, otherwise she isn't likely to sleep any longer. That is, unless she likes the extra space.

Space might start to be an issue but as she's ok in the night, I think it's okay for now. It's fairly roomy. I think you're right, I'll leave things for now as we've only just got improvements on the night time sleeping so I don't want her to feel messed about!
Thanks!

Racers, if she is not showing signs of tiredness after waking, then she probably doesn't need any more sleep than she is getting. Some babies just don't need/want that much sleep. I have a friend whose daughter never slept during the day - she would go into her cot quite happily but would just play by herself. She is now in the Gifted and Talented stream (it's often an indicator of high intelligence!). And although she is tired/grumpy and not feeding well at bedtime, the fact that she sleeps well at night indicates that it's not a major problem.

You have the right attitude - go with the flow!!

Thanks MTF that is reassuring! You hear so much about routines and strict timings you think there must be something in it, but as babies are all different, I prefer to be guided by her and am glad to hear of others who powernap or don't nap at all (OMG, I couldn't get anything done if she didn't have the odd nap!!!)
Cheers,
Clare.