4 Mo. Sleep routine during day?

[Mholmes1992]

My 4 Mo. Bf son is a great sleeper at night and has really gotten himself into a little routine with only occasionally rare disruptions when fussy etc.

He has no routine during the day and whenever he sleeps it is in my arms, which for getting things done is crap. The minute I put him down, boom. Wide awake. How many daily naps for this age is the norm?

Does anyone have any daytime nap routines? I do try to put him down when he looks sleepy and shows all the signs but he always ends up in my arms.

[cheeseandcrackers]

My DS is just 4 months. He won't sleep in the cot in the day but sleeps happily in a sling, or car seat or pram, or on me if I am prepared to just sit without moving for an hour. He usually has three naps a day, 45 mins about 2 hours after waking, 90 mins in the middle of the day and another 45 mins about 3:30 - 4. He doesn't have a strict routine as it depends on what we're doing. The two shorter naps fit in with the school run, but at the weekend, he sometimes has two 90 min naps instead. A sling is your answer to getting things done. Once DS is 6 months, I will try to get him having two longer naps a day and make sure one is in his cot but for the moment I prefer to have him with me anyway. Two minutes standing under the extractor fan gets him to sleep with no fuss.. Good luck!

[mrsb26]

OP, there is hope!

At 4 months my DD was terrible at napping during the day. She wouldn't last more than about an hour and a half awake and would almost always be asleep on me or in the car in her seat.

Now, at 9 months, I put her down awake in her cot for naps and she puts herself to sleep with few problems - so don't worry about creating negative sleep associations.

When I was in your shoes, I just did whatever worked, holding her if necessary to sleep (if this is an option for you) and still trying to put her down for at least one nap per day as a way of 'practising' if you like.

[Sparrowlegs248]

At that age we had crap naps and crap sleep! A sling was my saviour, certainly couldn't put him down! At 9.5months we finally have a two nap routine where I put him down asleep in his cot. The turning point for us was ds turning onto his front. He settles so much better on his front.

[ShinySarah]

At 14 weeks my LO was only able to stay awake for 1 and half hours max so I'd start her nap routine at 1hr 20mins and it took a while but she started napping for longer than the dreaded 45 mins...She's now 18 weeks (3 weeks prem) old and can only stay awake for 1hr and 40 mins max otherwise she's wayyyyy over tired...

[Tumtitum]

I was just about to start a similar thread, only mine would have been more desperate sounding!!! We're not quite 4 months yet, just 14 weeks. She co -sleeps with us as she won't even entertain sleeping alone. Occasionally I manage to jiggle her to sleep but recently the only way I can manage to get her to nap is in the sling... I'm very worried that I'm setting up not only bad sleep associations by using the sling but also negative associations with the sling as she spends her first few minutes in it screaming until she falls asleep!!! I spend all day vigilantly watching her for signs of sleepiness and pounce at the first one to try and get this magic "window" when she'll supposedly go down straight away without any fuss.... I always end up feeling like such a crap mum when she's crying with over tiredness yet again :( I keep telling myself that I need to count my blessings as she's generally a good sleeper at night (frantically touching all sorts of wood!!!). I shall be following this thread in the hope of some magical advice!

[minijoeyjojo]

I had the opposite problem, naps during the day were fine but at night not so much! At 4 months she'd sorted her own little routine out:

Wake 7am
Nap 9am
Nap 1pm
Nap 3:30/4pm
Sleep 7pm

She usually didn't manage longer than 2 hrs awake before needing some sleep so the routine just sort of formed itself.

By 6mo she was dropping the last afternoon nap so we shifted the morning nap later (10 ish) and the afternoon nap at 2ish.

I get her sleeping on her own by putting her down, I'd let her cry if it was just a moan, but I'd pick her up as soon as it became serious (I am not good at the cry it out method, so this seemed like a good option). I'd calm her, then put her down again. I always gave her a blanket to cuddle which really helped her to self sooth. The first few days I'd do this loads of times in a row but she'd eventually go to sleep on her own. Now she's usually happy to go to sleep at nap time.

Oh the other thing I do is I have a selection of soft toys in her cot. She plays with them until she falls asleep. She also plays with them when she wakes and it seems to help her transition between sleep and awake with minimal fuss.

[Thataintnoetchasketch]

My 4&1/2 month old is the same - only sleeps on me and usually on the boob. Even after swimming when I know he's shattered as soon as I put him down he wakes up.

Yesterday he slept for an hour in the morning around 90 minutes after getting up. Then another hour around 12 and same again at 4ish. He's up frequently at night but does go down in his cot without any fuss. Just won't entertain it through the day.