So here is the deal, I woke my babies at 8 this morning and they have not napped since then. I have put them in their beds 2x and both times they just layed in bed until I came to get them an hour later. They are SOOOOOOOOO grumpy. They have been protesting naps like this for several weeks now and rarely do they nap at all. I feel blessed that they sleep 11 hours each night from 9pm until 8am, but should they not nap at some point during the day? HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh ya and at 8am I HAVE to wake them.
Do you have to wake them because you need to go somewhere or is that just the time you are starting the day? They do need naps. 11 hours is not enough for a 4 month old. When they sleep they heal and grow, plus it makes them more pleasant to be around. Have you tried moving up their bedtime? I've found that a well rested baby sleeps better and longer. I would watch for their sleepy signs (fussy, rubbing eyes, blinking, glassy stare) and put them down right away. They may want to go to bed at 7 or even 6 pm. Once they catch up on their sleep they will nap well, at least 2 naps a day. They honestly sound extremely overtired to me!
Generally they are very happy babies. Lots of smiles and very active. Meeting milestones like crazy and growing well. I want to put them to bed earlier but cannot figure out how to still get 4 bottles in for them. They will not eat more often than every 4 hours no matter what I do. They have eaten every 4 hours for over 2 months now at 8-12-4-8. I wake them as 11 hours in bed seems like a long enough time and I want to get 4 feedings in. They do not cry in bed or anything, they just happily amuse themselves until I go get them after an hour! Right now they are in there again and they are still wide awke. They were getting VERY grumpy (which is not like them) so I put them down. Sleeping is just not something they want to do during the day.
IMO, if they're happily in there after an hour....leave them in there! See what happens after another hour. They may sleep. I agree, they need naps....and you need their naps too!
I so need them to nap. Even though they sleep well at night, they are exhausting me. Even though they do not crawl they are VERY mobile. They are all over the place. Also with the reflux, I am contstantly redressing and cleaning babies. I need a break to at least relax for 30 minutes!
They DEFINITELY need at least 2 daytime naps, if not 3 or 4! You can't make them sleep, you can only create good conditions for sleep. If they stay awake just playing, at least it's some downtime for them. How soon after waking up in the morning do you put them down for naps? One thing that works for a lot of people is putting them down 1-1.5 hrs after their morning wakeup. Seems weird, but they're really ready to nap that early.
Yeah, my guys woke at 7-ish and were back down by 9 at 4 mths. They get tired a lot earlier than you think they would. At 4 months our schedule was eat-sleep-eat-sleep-eat-play for 30 minutes-sleep-eat-sleep etc...
Is it too light or too cold in their room? I agree, try putting them to bed earlier - I wonder if they will wake earlier then. Mine were such sleepyheads at that age...sorry! Do they sleep in the stroller? I put them in their graco snugrides and pulled up the canopies on both sides (duoglider stroller) to make it dark and they invariably napped. Try moving bedtime back 45 mins to 1 hour at a time, otherwise they will likely rebel - that is what we always did when we returned from trips and had to get through the timezones...
We put them down at 9:30 each morning for a nap. 1.5 hours after they wake up. Tonight we put them down an hour early although they did not take full feeds because it was an hour early so we shall see what happens in the morning.
Mine have always gone to bed between 6:30-7. When they were younger I would sneak in before I went to bed around 10 and give them another bottle. They wouldn't even wake up but sure would polish off those bottles! So maybe the last bottle will have to be after they are asleep?? Do they wake at all to eat in the night still?? At that age mine were getting at least 2 naps a day, sometimes 3.
I'd like to say I have advice . . . but we don't have a regular schedule. My boys are eating about every 4 or 4 1/2 hours during the day. I get in one last feeding usually around 10 or 11 pm. Sometimes they sleep for 4 or 5 hours and sometimes for 6 or 7 at night. During the day, they nap irratically. One day they'll seem very sleepy and will doze frequently all day long. Some days they are very awake and alert and will only take a few 20-30 minute naps with sometimes a longer one in the late afternoon. They are great babies and I'm excited to be on a somewhat regular feeding schedule, but I let them sleep when they want it--usually in their bouncy seats. They are still on apnea monitors so going upstairs to the nursery several times a day is way too much of a hassle! I can tell when they are overly tired because they both get fussy and try to fight off sleep.
QUOTE(tickled_pink @ Nov 13 2007, 09:41 PM) [snapback]494730[/snapback] Mine have always gone to bed between 6:30-7. When they were younger I would sneak in before I went to bed around 10 and give them another bottle. They wouldn't even wake up but sure would polish off those bottles! So maybe the last bottle will have to be after they are asleep?? Do they wake at all to eat in the night still?? At that age mine were getting at least 2 naps a day, sometimes 3. No bottles in the night at all. Even when they were 5 weeks old and we would wake one when the other woke it was impossible to feed them when they were sleeping.
Well they slept until 8 so that means they got 12 hours last night without waking......... hopefully they NAP today!
So today we went in for our 4 month well-baby visit and the doctor was discussing the babies' reflux with us and without any mention of naps he mentioned reflux babies usually will not nap and at the end of the day they will be exhausted and will sleep 12-14 hours at night. They are sleeping right now though...... those shots knock them out! They were sleeping before we left the Doctor's Office!
