length of awake periods?

[edinod]

Hi everyone,

I am struggling with the question of how long the awake periods are supposed to be.

Our baby is 4.5 months old and takes 3 naps during the day (around 9-10am for about 40 minutes, then ~12 for ~2 hours, then ~5 for ~40 minutes). The total length of sleep in 24 hours is about 13.5-14 hours which is quite enough according to most books. The "problem" is that the baby wants to be put to bed for naps every 2 hours exactly, and as far as I can tell, most books would suggest that at this age 2 hours of awake time is exactly right...

However, if that is the case, the baby should be having 4 naps, rather than 3! As a result of sleeping every 2 hours after waking, we are always left with a 3-4 hour awake window in the evening which, obviously, results in the baby being overtired for bed at night...

Am I missing something here? Any help would be most appreciated!

Thanks!
Michael

[wellyes]

It really can't hurt to put him down whenever he seems tired. Some babies, even at 4 months, are just more sleepy than others - I'd go by his cues and ignore the clock.

On the other hand I don't think it's at all unreasonable for a baby that age to be awake for 3-4 hour stretches. That sounds more typical to me than every 2 hours.

So if he really SEEMS overtired after being up that long I'd just add a nap. If you're just worried that he should seem overtired ---- don't be. Babies change a lot around that age, he's establishing his routine and being awake more than he was during the "4th trimester".

[edinod]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I agree that the clock is not key, but our little one seems to follow it closely - 2 hours and he's definitely ready for a nap (the cues are all there).

However, the problem with adding another nap is that following it we will either have too short of an awake period or it'll take us into his nighttime sleep period and mess with that - we've tried that...

Before, he used to have a much longer 2nd nap which would put his bed time right where it should be (when he's ready for it). But recently he's cut it back from 2.5-3 hours to 1.7-2 hours, but doesn't seem to have increased his waking time - this is what I don't get... :)

Thanks again.