My 4 Month Old Baby Skips Naps: What To Do

Does your baby take really short catnaps, or skip naps completely? Then you might be wondering if you should keep trying to get him to sleep, or try again later.

Baby sleep consultant Jilly Blankenship answers all your baby nap questions here. Find out how often your 4 month old baby should be napping, and for how long. Plus get some great tips to get your baby taking longer naps!

Find out about the 4 month sleep regression here: [ Ссылка ]

And 8 reasons why your 4 month old isn't sleeping well: [ Ссылка ]

Learn how to get your 5-23 month old sleeping all night in the crib here: [ Ссылка ]

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TRANSCRIPTION:

Hi! I’m Jilly from Baby Sleep Made Simple.

In this video you’re about to watch, I’m answering a question sent in by a tired mom on our Facebook Live Q&A Call. I hope you enjoy it!

“My 4 month old baby keeps skipping naps and having really short naps. What should I do?”

Awake times for a 4 month old are about 1.5-2.5 hours. What that means is that your 4 and a half month old should be sleeping every 1.5-2.5 hours! That’s what they’re developmentally able to do. They’re only able to stay awake for a very short period of time before they need to sleep again. They need to recharge their battery.

So if you’re following these recommended awake times but your little one only naps for 20-30 minutes, then do you still wait 1.5 to 2.5 hours to get him back down for a nap? Typically, the answer is no.

If your baby skips a nap, or if your baby has a short nap, then go for a shorter awake time. It may even be as short as an hour – especially if he skips a nap. Then I would be expecting him to be really tired and ready for his next nap about an hour later.

If he has a really short nap, like 20 minutes, then you may want to go at the short end of the range, like an hour and a half.

You’ve got the right method. For a 4 month old, it’s really hard to get them on a predictable, by-the-clock nap schedule. So you just want to keep an eye on the recommended awake times and sleepy signs, like you said.

I would try not to get too strict about it. Because you could end up watching the clock all day – and not having any fun! I would just loosely follow the awake times of 1.5-2.5 hours. If he skips a nap or has a short nap, then just shorten up those awake times.

If you see he’s super sleepy and he’s ready for a nap, but it’s only been 45 minutes, that’s OK! It’s best to follow his sleepy signs, which is going to help him nap well and sleep better overnight.

I hope that helps! If you have any more questions I'd be happy to help.

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