Hi,
My 4 month old has just started to really protest at his day sleeps (often only sleeping 1/2 an hour to 45 mins instead of the 2 hours he used to sleep). He has been sleeping through the night (10pm - 7am ish) since 12 weeks old and there has been no change to the night sleep routine. Am thinking that he might be needing more up time and less sleep time during the day. At the moment we have been doing a 2 hours up and 2 hours down routine through the day and then last feed around 9pm.
Any ideas for day routines for a 4 month old?
Thanks
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hi, cant remember exactly whend we went to 3 naps, might have been around 4 months - we did Gina Ford routine and love it. Here is what it was:
up 7 am
9-10 am nap (up to 1 hour no more)
12.30-2.30 - up to 2 hours nap
4-5 pm - half hour to hour nap
7 pm - bed
10.30-11pm dream feed without waking them up
The bub should not need more sleep than that during the day I dont think... We never did 2 up 2 down tho, so cant comment on that, sorry!
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Thanks ldsllvn. That is very helpful.
I will have a look at the Gina Ford book. I didn't like her approach as a newborn (too regimented for me) but might be better now that he is a bit bigger.
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NZgirl - GF book is great, but you do have to relax it a bit - we stuck to her feeding and sleeping routine - but none of this "8 am, you must have toast and tea" rubbish of course. But the sleeping and eating routine really makes sense - do try it! Dont despair if it does not work - it does take a while - give it a month or two and the baby will just fall into it I promisse! More than that, kids love routine - mine surely do, they are quite happy when they know what's coming and when! Good luck!
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The most important thing to say about sleep routines is that there should be a routine of some sort. Children under one need a good 14-16 hours a day at least.
"My 4 month old has just started to really protest at his day sleeps (often only sleeping 1/2 an hour to 45 mins instead of the 2 hours he used to sleep)."
Sounds like it is time to shorten the sleeps a bit. This seems to be necessary every now and then. It's not a smooth progression. Every now and then baby just needs less all of sudden.
Start by shortening the morning sleep, perhaps to 60 minutes. Make sure you wake him up so that he is properly tired in time for the afternoon nap. The afternoon sleep will probably go on until at least the age of 3 (preferably until 4 or 5) so you want to shorten the morning in order to ensure he keeps sleeping in the afternoon.
You will also want to lengthen the night sleep slowly but surely. 10-7 is not very long at all. 11-13 hours is better, with perhaps an interruption for a poopy diaper sometimes.
Our current:
#1, 2½ years old:
Nap: 13:30-15:00
Night: 20:00-07:00
#2, 15 months old:
Nap: 13:00-15:00
Night:19:00-07:00
Our #2 stopped her morning nap around 13-14 months. By that time it was only 20-30 minutes.
When they were around 4 months they would do 12 hours at night, plus 2x 2 hours during the day.
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Thanks both of you - very helpful. I thought we were doing pretty well with the night sleep from 10pm to 7am (loving not having to get up in the night especially now I am back at work) but would like to bring it forward a bit - eventually to 7pm. He is very sleepy when we get him up at 9pm from his 7pm - 9pm sleep but not keen to leave him from 7pm for the night as I don't think he'd make it through to 7am. Should give it a try sometime on the weekend I guess to see if he wakes at 4am hungry.
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you are doing VERY WELL going through 10pm-7pm! ours did not do till much much later! put him down at 7pm and give him a dream-feed (basically dont wake him up, pick him up and stick the bottle in) sometime around 10.30 or 11 pm. If that works, gradually start moving the dream feed by 30 min backwards until you hit your 7 pm feed - just maybe every 30 min a week - say wk 1 - 10 pm, wk 2 - 9.30 etc
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"He is very sleepy when we get him up at 9pm from his 7pm - 9pm sleep but not keen to leave him from 7pm for the night as I don't think he'd make it through to 7a"
As Idsllvn says, you are doing very well. Putting him down earlier will indeed mean that you may have to get up in the morning sometimes (often) for a while. But in the long run it is better. Our #1 now sleeps all night most nights, except when she gets up to pee (and wakes us up to help). But that isn't a problem when baby is still in diapers. There is a trade-off between giving a good night meal with enough calories to tide baby over until the morning, and not so much liquid that it fills the diaper completely. ;)
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Thanks guys. Trying something new tonight. Moved the bathtime to earlier (630pm instead of 9pm) and then got him up at 930pm for the dream feed without waking him. Very sleepy but still took 140mls from bottle which is pretty good for him. We normally bath him at 9pm so that he wakes enough to feed well but tonight he fed well sleepy so that was a good lesson learned.
Axptguy - know what you mean re diaper capacity! We are using reuseable/washable nappies (our small part for the environment) and they hold a lot but different to disposables.
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"Axptguy - know what you mean re diaper capacity! We are using reuseable/washable nappies (our small part for the environment) and they hold a lot but different to disposables."
The best diaper that we have found for night time is Huggies "Overnites". Superior to anything else for long sleeps. Unfortunately I have been unable to locate them in HK. :(
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PDNS
18 yrs ago
have seen the huggies overnite at Taste, Tung Chung. Cost i think 57$ for 15 or 20 pieces.
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great job! what you are eventually going for is - bath at 6.30 pm, last milk and bed at 7 pm. or if you prefer a bit later - 7 pm bath and 7.30 milk... next milk 6-7 am, whenever the baby wakes up...
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"have seen the huggies overnite at Taste, Tung Chung. Cost i think 57$ for 15 or 20 pieces."
Thanks. A bit far for me but might be worth an expedition. In any case now I know to look at other Taste stores. The one in Stanley does not carry them.
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what size are those huggies overnights? are they the pull up ones? my kid REFUSES to lie down to have his nappy changed and will scream bloody murder any time anyone tries to make him lie still. joy. :)
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same!! all of a sudden mine decided they dont want to lay down to be changed anymore - what's that all about?
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yeah well i have mastered the art of putting his nappy on while he's standing, walking, even running! pull-ups would just be much easier for everyone. but i have a feeling they are for big kids.
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Sashimi Girl, they are size (US) 3 and 4, so fine for 10-12 months up to end of nappies. They are not pull up but I have found that even non-pull-up can be put on while standing.
Note also they are called "Overnites".
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