Sleep Pattern at 4 Months

I never set a nap pattern for my babies, but found that they fell into one around 6 months. They then pretty consistently look 3, then around 8 months went to 2 (although lots of kids go to 2 naps before that) then around a 1 dropped to one middle of the day nap. But at 4 months they were just too inconsistent to try anything. Good luck!

I agree with Jane. The babies at 4 months are usually too young and need lots of sleep. They will come around to more of a pattern as they mature.

If you're a stay at home mom, you have the luxury of being flexible and waiting it out.

Good luck.

Hi R.. Usually around five months is when they are able to really establish a regular schedule, but he's the perfect age to start sleep training. With my 7, I found the book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," by Dr. Marc Weissbluth was a lifesaver for training and for any and all sleep issues I have ever had with my kids. He really walks you through the whole process and I have found myself referring back to it over and over. It was well worth the $10 or so I spent on it. I've seen it on both Ebay and Amazon, and probably most bookstores could get it for you if they didn't already carry it. Good luck.

Hi R.,

I think that at 4 months old, sporadic naps are common. I would put my son down whenever he gave me the signs that he was tired.

Trust your motherly instincts on this one, you'll know when your child is tired. Good luck. :)

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I started to track my son's naps at an early age and the only thing that was consistent were the times in between his naps (about 1.5-2 hours). This is still true today, now that he is almost 6 months. He use to take about 5 naps a day. Now, he is awake for no more than an hour during the night/early morning, if at all - and takes 2 to 3 naps during the day. I am just now having some succes with blending that last nap into bed-time. I still feel slightly caged in by his naps; however, knowing that I have a 2 hour window for running errands gives me a little breathing room.

R.,

There are 2 ways of getting on a nap schedule. One set times that the baby will sleep -ie. 9am, 1pm and 4pm or the way I did it and it worked out great for me was to put my daughter down 2 hours after she woke up from her previous nap. So if she was tired at 8:30am this morning I put her in. Whenever she woke up I would count 2 hours later and put her in again and so on. The next day she might not be ready for a nap til 9am. This helped me because it allowed me to push and pull her schedule a little to make appts and go to baby activities with her. Closer to 6 months we switched to 3 hours between our naps. You may find the baby goes down for the night earlier but maybe not. This will also get into 3 naps a day. Then 2 naps when we went to 3 hours between the naps but again that depends on whether the baby goes to bed for the night earlier than 9pm or not.

Good luck,
L. M

HI, I found that around 6 months a pattern emerges-it seems to coincide with meals. My children would wake up, nurse, have a meal, play and then be ready for a nap after about a total of about 3 awake hours. They'd nap, wake up, nurse, eat lunch, play, and nap again-after about 3 awake hours. Wake up, nurse, play, eat dinner, bedtime routine. The exact timing varied depending on first morning wake up. There were times when the first nap was at 8:30 am due to a 5:30 am wake up. WHile each child is different most of my friends found that once solids start at 6 months, the day becomes a bit more predictable. Enjoy your baby!

My daughter just turned 4 mo last week and she is on a regular nap schedule. I didn't think she was, but I started charting her sleep for about a week, and a pattern started to emerge. The problem with waitiang until your child appears to be sleepy is that at that point, they are already overtired and they don't nap as well. Try charting your son's sleep and wake times for a few days and see what you find. With my daughter, I put her down 1.5 - 2 hours after she last woke up, except for the evening, when she has her long awake period from 4 - 7 pm. Good luck!

I know this post is old but the pattern my daughter had at 4 months was to nap every 1.5-2 hrs, just like one of the other posts said. So it wasn't a "schedule" at al as it depended on what time she woke up just like another post said. But once she was up, you could watch her and see that she was sleepy within 1.5 - 2 hrs, and then that pattern would repeat itself. her naps would vary in length but you could count on a bunch of them throughout the day.

I agree with the suggestion to keep a journal (document her naps, feeding, how much and what she ate etc) - we did and it was helpful to see her patterns, also helped me know about her days when I went back to work I didn't want to miss anything.

Her last nap would be a "cat nap" in the late evening to rest of for bedtime : ) . Then we'd feed her as much as possible before putting her down, and I would dreamfeed before going to bed (feed without waking) so that I could get as much sleep as possible.

Eventually, she morphed into three solid naps until she was over a year old, then to two nape sometime around a year and a half.

congrats and good luck