Naps

[Lauren31]

My 4 month old baby used to be such a good napper and now all of a sudden she is not. She fights when I try to put her down, has to be nursed completely to sleep and then I have to sneak away or she wakes up screaming. Her naps last about 20 minutes most days. She doesn't seem overly fussy during the day so could it be that she is just not tired and I am trying to get her to sleep mroe then she really needs??? She goes down about 8 at night and will wake up a few times, nursing etc until about 8am. (We cosleep). Should I just not fight her during the day and let her stay awake?

[Snapdragon]

I don't know anything other than figuring it out as I go along- but with my baby, the more sleep he gets in the day the happier and calmer he is.
Have you tried a swing?
My thought is to try whatever ways you can to get her to sleep more in the day! Good luck. I know when my ds doesn't get enough sleep he gets way more fussy. Just re read your post and realizd you said your dd Doesn't seem oerly fussy- I had mis read it as she does! sorry!
So now I don't know!

[memz]

My DD is like that since she was about two and a half months. She has to be nursed completly to sleep and even then she can wake up because she wants to comfort nurse. She sleeps about 30 minutes at a time sometimes longer.... She usually goes to sleep every two hours, so wake up, play, nurse, sleep. So for now she takes naps on me or we go in bed if I want to nap also.

So I'm pretty sure your LO is tired but that a cat nap is all he needs several times a day. It's tiring for us but good enough for them I guess...

[RiverandJulie]

We did what I called "nap boot camp" with my 5 mo. I would wait until he was sleepy, rock him, feed him, etc. When his eyes started to close, I would lay him down in our bed and lay with him. I would stay with him while he slept (yes, it was great for me too!). When he would start to wake up, I would pat him put his pacifier in his mouth, often he would go back to sleep and sleep for another hour or so.
Admitidly, I would only do this for about one nap a day, but after a few days, he started to have better naps.

Now, most days, we get one long nap a day.....and lots of catnaps.

[YayJennie]

Babies definitely need naps during the day, so I would not give up on naps. Around 4 months is when my son started having similar problems, and I ended up holding him for all his naps until he was about 11 months old and could nap on his own again. Try to figure out what he needs in order to nap during the day, whether it's a swing or maybe nap in the car or hold him. Good luck.

[ShwarmaQueen]

Hi Lauren!!!

My take- if you have the time and energy to 'try' to get her to nap, then go for it. I don't count on DS's naps being longer than 20 min, because that's how DD napped too. I think power-napping is pretty normal for some babies.

Personally, with having DD in sports and other activities, DS only sleeps when he's really tired and honestly it's been such a relief! But sometimes I do feel bad though, he probably sleeps in slings, strollers, car seats, etc. more than he sleeps in our bed... He also doesn't have the luxury of nursing for hours like she did either...but he's doing ok.

[sunshadow]

Sounds like my 4 month old. If you think the average amount of sleep is going to be 14 hours and she is getting nearly 12 and night, well then she just isn't needing as much sleep during the day. I don't put my son down for naps per say. When he starts acting tired then I put him down and he usually naps about 20 mins. He takes his longer naps when I am wearing him going for a long walk. I am just happy he is sleeping good at night!

[HappiLeigh]

My DS isn't doing that (yet?), but my DD did for sure. She was a poor napper for a while, mostly during all the learning-to-crawl, learning-to-walk stuff, then got better about it. I'd still let her catnap, since she definitely still needed those. She always slept well at night. At some point around her first birthday she really settled into a good nap pattern, with one or two long ones, and she actually still naps most afternoons now at age 4.

[Knitting Mama]

4 months is such a common age for sleep regressions, and it sounds like yours are taking place in the form of naps!

Can you wear her after you nurse her to sleep? My Cecilia wouldn't nap anywhere but on me for the first month to month and a half of her life (she's 9.5 weeks now and will consent to one nap a day in the swing ). I solved that issue by wearing her in the wrap or the Mei Tai so that I could still do stuff around the house.

[jillmamma]

Originally Posted by ShwarmaQueen

Personally, with having DD in sports and other activities, DS only sleeps when he's really tired and honestly it's been such a relief! But sometimes I do feel bad though, he probably sleeps in slings, strollers, car seats, etc. more than he sleeps in our bed... He also doesn't have the luxury of nursing for hours like she did either...but he's doing ok.

Sounds like what my 4.5 month old does because of her older brother and sister's activities. I think you do what you need to do to make it work for your family...if you and your LO are okay with catnaps, great! If not, change something.