Tips for keeping baby awake after 6pm

[Northernmama123]

My 4 month old has a fairly rigid nap schedule during the day but the little tinker has started trying to squeeze in another nap at around 6pm.
We normally bath her at 7 and she has a nurse and then is in her cot btw 8-8.30 which means we've had to wake her up and she gets really grumpy. She already has 3 naps during the day

I'm not really sure what to do. Let her keep having these little cat naps? Keep her awake? Put her to bed if she falls asleep after 6pm?

I know she's still finding her sleep pattern but any tips or ideas welcome :)

Is she sleeping through the night?

At that age, DS was sleeping around 6 til 6.
He was very grumpy if I tried to keep him up later so I just let him sleep.

Yes she normally sleeps 8pm-5.30am, has a feed and then goes back to sleep until around 8am

If you want to keep her awake then you need to use heavy distraction. Going outside in to the fresh air and getting a change of scenery normally works well.

You could trial letting her have a 6pm catnap but sleeping 12 hours overnight with one early morning feed is really good for a 4 month old so I'd be slow to mess with a schedule that's working so well!

i would think at that age your baby would be ready for an earlier bedtime, seems like they are putting themselves into a routine

both mine at that age were doing 6:30/7pm-6/7am.

At that age our ds went to bed at 6 and slept through until 6 so I would see how it went bringing the bath forward a bit and then just put them to bed for the night.

At 4 months they should be sleeping wherever you are. Let her cat nap, she will more than likely hit the 4 month regression soon so enjoy it while it lasts.

Bring bath and bed earlier and see how that goes but otherwise asides from being abit grumpy she's doing well.
If you don't want to do that you'll have to do heavy distraction and let her be grumpy for an hour.

Your baby’s sleep pattern will change so much over the coming weeks and months, just when you feel
they’ve found a reliable pattern it changes again, I’d really be led by your baby.

My 4m year old has a bath at 6pm and is in bed by 6:30pm. I wouldn't be trying to keep them awake I would just start the night time routine when they are showing you they want to be going to bed

I'm surprised at how well all your 4 months old slept/are sleeping! Mine still wakes 2-3 times a night. How long is she awake for until bed time? My 4.5 month old generally is awake 2 hours between sleeps so sounds like she is awake for quite a while before bedtime? I'd bring it all forward.

My DD is 4m and sleep is still a work in progress don't worry!
If she co-sleeps then she wakes 1-2 for a feed but we are working on her cot and it can be as often as every 30-60mins

I’d do an earlier bedtime around 6.30pm or do a cat nap at 6pm and do a later bedtime at 8.30-9pm personally.

Another vote for earlier bed time. I can't imagine trying to keep my two awake past 7pm at that age. My son especially struggled to reach even 6pm sometimes but still slept to gone 7am. I used to think sleep begot sleep at night so put them down as early as they liked. Enjoy an adult dinner and evening!

I would bring her bedtime forward.
Put her in bath at 6pm. Lots of splashing, singing. play with bubbles to keep her awake.
Then feed and bed 6.45-7pm

Their sleep patterns do change. they are people, not robots. They sleep when they need, as do we. We need to respond to their needs, not try to make them fit into ours.

Earlier bed time. Mine did (and still do) 7-7 for overnight.

Agree - 7pm bedtime

Both of mine needed a 7pm bedtime (as in, in bed and asleep at 7) at that age.... and both still do at 1yr and 6yrs!

Such a young baby should sleep where and when they need to sleep. I wouldn’t try and manipulate her sleep at all. Just let her do what she naturally needs to do, at the time that she needs to do it.

I have a 3 month old and he sleeps on us, whenever he needs to. Sometimes short cat naps, sometimes longer sleeps, depending on growth spurts etc

Thanks for all the helpful advice and support (not so much thanks to the judgemental comments though 🙄)

I think an earlier bedtime is worth a try. We are , ultimately, always led by her needs, of course 😉