4 Month Old Baby - Nap Tips
Is your baby resisting naps? Or maybe your baby is taking ages to settle or waking after just a short nap? Could it be the 4 month sleep regression?
Find out why your 4 month old baby isn't napping well, plus tips to get your baby sleeping well at night and taking beautiful long naps every day.
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Transcription:
Nap Tips for your 4 Month Old Baby
The unfortunate truth about naps is that for babies that are younger than 6 months, short and unpredictable napping can be common. That’s the last thing tired parents want to hear, but it’s often the truth.
I don’t encourage formal nap training until at least 6 months for that reason.
The way I approach helping babies to sleep well is to first work on bedtime. Then we fix extra night wakings.
And then, we work on naps.
How is Night Sleep?
I would ask you how your 4 month old is sleeping at night. Has she gone through the 4 month sleep regression? Is she in the sleep regression now? How is her night sleep?
If she’s still waking up throughout the night, can be hard to settle, and doesn’t go down so easily at bedtime on her own, then it’s certainly something I would encourage you to work on first. Naps can often just get better because of better night sleep. So that’s fantastic – you don’t have to work so hard on it! Naps can often be the hardest part of baby sleep to fix.
Do Whatever is Necessary to Get Her Napping
What I do – my approach is a bit unconventional. I think if your baby is under 6 months and is a serial crap napper, I encourage you to help her nap in any way possible.
Use Motion Naps
Especially if she has silent reflux and is 4 months old, I think it’s perfectly acceptable to nap in the swing. Because it’s more upright so the reflux won’t bother her so much. Also, the motion will often help your baby nap longer.
If she’s in the swing, you want to supervise her naps. Even if she’s in her dark bedroom, you want to be popping in there. You want to have the video monitor on her to make sure she’s OK, because we don’t really want unsupervised naps in the swing.
No Mom Guilt!
I would say, it’s perfectly acceptable to utilize motion naps – no mom guilt! Use the baby carrier, the stroller, the swing, the vibrating chair. Do this until she’s about 6 months. Hopefully she will have outgrown her reflux and then we can really work on getting her napping on her own, independently.
Night Sleep
Also, depending on how her night sleep is going, there are certainly steps you can take to help her with her night sleep.
A good first place to start is with my Exhausted Mom’s Starter Kit. That will help walk you through bedtime and how you set up a Peaceful Nightly Ritual for your baby, and an Ideal Bedtime.
Once she’s 5 months or a bit older, then we can really work on helping her sleep longer stretches at night. Often, just doing the Exhausted Mom’s Starter Kit will help babies sleep better. Usually, at least one of the night wakings disappears, or the baby sleeps longer stretches.
Get the Exhausted Mom's Starter Kit here: [ Ссылка ]
But for a lot of babies we still have to fine-tune some things, so that’s when parents join me in 21 Days to Peace and Quiet: [ Ссылка ]
Awake Times
At 4 months, you really want to stick to awake times of 1.5-2 hours throughout the day. So make sure she’s not going too long – she’s not going over 2.5 hours between naps.
In the morning, that first awake time can be as short as 1.5 hours. Babies are often ready for a nap after that shorter amount of time.
But do whatever it takes for now. And if she’s in the 4 months regression, do whatever it takes for you to get some downtime. For her to get the rest that she needs. Good luck!
Remember, if you’ve got a question about your baby, toddler, or preschooler sleep, post it in the comments below! I’ll be sure to answer it on next Tuesday’s Facebook Live!
Make sure you follow my Facebook page, Baby Sleep Made Simple, so you can stay updated on everything baby, toddler and pre-schoolers sleep. Take care!
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