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View Full Version : Need advice for naps for 4 mo old, please :)



tmrbwilson1998
12-06-2005, 12:22 PM
Hi, everyone! Though I have been a member here for a while, I just found this board and thank goodness!

I have a LOUD, boisterous almost 3yo boy and a pretty easy-going 4mo baby girl. DD is having trouble with the naps, and the fact that we just moved from Germany to the States is not helping! We are staying with my folks until after New Year's then will be moving to our new home, though we will have to stay in a motel room for a month or more until there is housing for us, so as you can see, schedules are challenging right now!

DD is bf, so she eats every 3-4 hours, day and night. Some nights are more frequent wake-ups, though usually she wakes only to eat. During the day, she is napping 45 min to an hour each time. We try not to put her down right after feeding so that she is not relying on it to sleep. We have floor/tummy time, swing time, lap time, and bouncy seat time as much as possible right now between naps to try to get energy out and wear her out! She goes down on her own, but when I try to get her back down after an hour of napping, nothing works...picking her up, rocking, singing, touching while she is still in the crib, re-pacifying her, etc.

I would love any advice in helping to stretch naps out longer...we had a trying time with DS, and it looks like DD is taking after him!

TIA, and sorry so long!
Tina

jgriffin
12-16-2005, 09:15 AM
Our 4mo old is also nap resistant. He's in daycare fulltime; sometimes he'll take a 2 hour nap, sometimes he'll take 2 or 3 short (< 1 hour) naps. The DCP found that he is more comfortable sleeping on his stomach, so she will let him do that sometimes. On the weekends I rely on our swing for longer naps.

I find that when DS wants to take a short nap, nothing will put him back to sleep after he wakes up. So I don't fight it, I just try to get him back down after 2-3 hours. It makes it hard to get stuff done, but accepting it makes it much less frustrating.

Could it be that your DD is overstimulated between naps? She may not want to take a nap (or take a long one) because there is so much interesting stuff going on.

HTH!

Jen