4 Month Old Sleep Habits

I think around 3-4 months is really hard in this area. It was about this age where both my kids started sleeping better in their cribs. Up until this point I had allowed them to sleep whenever and wherever, often in the swing, but they both got fussier around 4 months and craved more of a sleep routine. I would say to just keep doing what you're doing. Choose specific nap times and stick to them as close as possible. It may fluctuate a bit but it should be about the same every day. Also, is she eating enough? It's hard to get much play time at this age, but maybe increase tummy time or go for a long walk to get some fresh air, that might help. I think sometimes if one of those things isn't happening it makes it harder for them to sleep too. At this age I was feeding my kids every 3 hours and that helped them to sleep through the night. I hope it gets better and I'm sure it will soon!!

I experienced a similar situation with my son when he was that age. I hate to say this because I hated hearing it but it was a phase.

Have you tried a swing during naps? At naps I would let him sleep anywhere he would sleep--he napped best in his swing and in his carseat. Sometimes I would put his carseat in his bed but most of the time I left it near me and he slept better with all the daily noise around him. Eventually he started napping better but he still isn't a great sleeper at night. We get up at least once still at 9months for a bottle. He does go to sleep on his own really well at about 7:30pm and sleeps pretty good until 1am then he tosses and turns.

A friend of mine gave me the title of a book that has helped me. I actually just got it out again the other night to re-read some situations that I think he maybe ready for now that he is older. The book is called "The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help your Baby Sleep through the Night" By Elizabeth Pantley.

I hope this helps! I know how hard it is juggling two and on very little sleep. This tough time too shall pass. Good Luck!

My daughter just turned six months old. Your description of naps was us a couple of months ago. My DD has always been a great night sleeper (thank goodness) but naps were horrible, never longer than 45 minutes. I will say about three/four weeks ago something changed in her sleeping and now she takes MUCH longer naps, 2-3 hours druing the day and 730 PM until 430 AM regularly. Up until 5 months she did a lot of sleeping in her swing druing the day. I got a lot of flack for that, but it worked for us. I wanted her to get good sleep, it didn't matter to me how she got it! She now naps in a pack n play in our room (also where she still sleeps at night.) I would say, in my experience, it must be something about that age and soon they will sleep longer/better!

I also really stated paying attention to how long she was awake, and would lay her down before she go too tired. She is only awake approx. 2 hours a lot of days, before she needs to sleep again, otherwise she gets over-tired and the entire process of napping/sleeping just seems to get harder. Just my two cents on that!

I'd suggest Baby Whisperer--she has a flexible routine you implement that sounds counterintuitive but worked wonderfully after some time with my DD. EASY (Eat, Activity, Sleep, You time). Yes, eating and sleeping are broken apart. I know many kids sleep fine right after eating--mine did not. She wanted to nap nurse on me for her entire naptime. She has different suggestions for different age groups. It is not a CIO method in that you do not leave her alone to cry. You are there to soothe her in a way so you don't become the sleep crutch for her. Made a world of difference. I just thought my child was not a good sleeper and didn't need much sleep but by 10-12 months she took 2 -1.5 hour naps and day and slept about 9-10 hours a night--huge difference compared to her scanty 45 min. naps and barely sleeping 9 hours a night. She and you need sleep! Give it a try!

Are you swaddling her? I swaddled all three of my kids up until at least 6 months. I used a tight wrap (Happiest-Baby-on-the-Block style) with a large, non-stretchy blanket and then put a secured wrap (such as Loving Baby from onestepahead.com or a Swaddle Me blanket) around that to keep them contained once they got strong enough to break out of the blanket alone. Swaddling added hours to sleep for all of my kids.

Also, my middle son was much like your daughter in terms of sleep when he was 4 months old. I would have to rock him for about an hour to get him to sleep soundly enough that I could put him down for a nap, and by that time I didn't have much of my older son's naptime left. I work part-time from home and counted on naptime to get work done, so I had to do something. I had used the cry-it-out method successfully with my older son, but not until he was about 7 months old (he was a great sleeper, anyway). I thought 4 months was probably too young, but I was desperate, so I tried. The first afternoon he cried on and off (while I went in to check on him every few minutes) for an hour. I felt like a terrible mom and was sure he had no idea what I was asking him to do. BUT, day two, he was asleep in 15 min. By the end of the week, he was napping on his own, with minimal fussing.

I didn't apply this method to nighttime until he was more than 1, by which time I was severely sleep deprived from the multiple middle-of-the-night feedings. At 4 months, babies still need night feedings, but I wish I'd done something about the frequent night feedings sooner than I did. For now, though, I'd just try swaddling your daughter at night if you're not doing that already.

I know a lot of people don't like cry-it-out, for various reasons. But I have used it with all three of my kids, who are now 5, 3, and 18 months, and all three of them are excellent sleepers now. Even the 5-year-old will still take a nap -- voluntarily. They do not wake us up in the middle of the night. They know how to put themselves back to sleep. I felt like a bad mom for a few days with each one, but three days out of a lifetime is not much, and now I've given them (and their parents) the gift of good sleep. I think it's worth it.

I'm wondering if she could have reflux? Sometimes reflux babies sleep ok when you're wearing them and they are upright, but when you put them down and they lay flat, the acid comes up and burns. My babies had reflux and were really fussy. They tended to sleep better in the swing or car seat, but needed medication for the acid- they slept much better after that. If you think that may be a possibility, talk to your pedi.
Good luck :)