Sleeping 4-month-old: Would you let your baby sleep 'til 10am?

[CiderLogan]

Clara (almost 4 mos.) sleeps wonderfully all night - I thank my lucky stars. But it's 9:15am here and she's still asleep! She has done this a few times in the past few weeks, and I let her sleep till she wakes up (usually around 10am). She doesn't seem extraordinarily hungry when she wakes up (even though it has been 14 hours since her last feeding) and has done it often enough now that I don't worry that she's sick or anything. But I wonder if I should wake her up at a set time anyway? I don't want to throw off her naps for the day or anything. What would you do? One side of me thinks I should let her be: she obviously needs/wants the sleep. But the other side says it would be better to give her regular sleep and wakeup times to help her get into a more regular routine (also so she won't have to change her schedule drastically on the days I have to wake her up because we have to be somewhere).

(In case it matters, she's in the somewhat regular pattern of a morning nap, an afternoon nap, and a short dinnertime nap. She loves to nap but does sometimes have problems settling herself down to sleep and does not want to be rocked/held to sleep - she wants to do it herself, in her crib, with her thumb. She does not like to sleep in the stoller/carseat if she can manage not to.)

Thanks!!
Jenny
Julia, 8/03
Clara, 5/06

[rprav8r]

Have you tried moving up her bedtime and eliminating the dinnertime nap? Weissbluth (Health Sleep Habits, Happy Child) recommends waking not later than 7 am, and bedtime between 6 and 8 pm. This has worked for us, but as always, YMMV.

-Ry,
mom to Emma, stillborn 11/04/04
and Max, 01/05/06

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[Rachels]

Lemme get this straight: she sleeps 14 hours straight, naps regularly, and prefers to put herself to sleep? It's not broken. Don't fix it. :)

-Rachel
Mama to Abigail Rose
5/18/02
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Nursed for three years!

and Ethan James
10/19/05
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"When you know better, you do better."
Maya

[SpaceGal]

I say let her sleep...maybe she's just one of those babies that regulate themselves and their sleep so well.

[Wife_and_mommy]

I did Weissbluth with DD and she was always up at 7 so as not to throw the day off. As she's gotten older, I've not worried about it as much because I get to sleep later. :P She's usually up around 8-8:30. When things are off she'll sleep until 9 or so.

If you're home, I wouldn't worry about it. Having a second DC has taught me not to worry so much about scheduling.

goota go but hth



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[momofmany]

She's a fabulous sleeper - she's everything you'd EVER want in a sleeping baby. I'd thank my lucky stars and let her sleep.

FWIW, I also have a daughter who was like this - she could easily sleep 14+ hours and still nap, etc. She's now nine and is my best sleeper.

Just enjoy it and relax!

[KrisM]

That's what I think, too!

[JBaxter]

Ditto!

[egoldber]

My DD was like this too. She naturally fell into a routine of sleeping from 8 or 9 PM until 9 or 9:30 am. AND she took 2 naps, until she 2 years old. It was bliss. However, now that she is older, she's up at 6:30 or 7 am, so it may not last forever, LOL! Enjoy it while you can. :)

[brittone2]

I'm also in the "if it isn't broke, don't fix it" camp. My primary concern with my own DS has always been...is he rested? Healthy? Able to have energy to play without being terribly crabby? The actual time on the clock that sleeping happened was less important to me than whether the total amount of sleep was adequate.

He's *always* been a child that did well with a later bedtime and he sleeps in late. He was like this from maybe 6 or 8 months of age (would go to bed at 9ish, and would sleep until 8 or 9 am). He's 2.5, and what tends to work best for him is going to bed anywhere from 10-11 and he sleeps until 9:30. He takes a 2 hour nap from 2-4 or so. I've tried tweaking, moving things around, etc. but that's what seems to work for him and his body. The total number of hours is great although sometimes it would be nice to have a kid in bed at 8pm like most people ;) He's such a late riser that sometimes it is hard for us to make things like morning playgroups, etc.

I would not be inclined to mess with it too much since she's well rested. If she wasn't it would be a different story. My own DS has taught me that people have their own rythms, and sometimes it is important to just go with them rather than fight them.