How to get 4 month old to nap?

[neeleymartin]

She's great for the a.m. up at about 6a.m. and then around 8:30 we start a quiet nursing, reading and she goes down for the a.m.... but the afternoon is terrible.

could she be overtired from getting to nap too late in the am? i know that both my boys would go back to sleep only 1.5 hours after wake up time. that would make your time 7:30am. maybe by the afternoon she is just too tuckered out to sleep.

also is she taking 3 naps or 2? not sure when they drop the 3rd nap (the middle one). but our guy sleeps from 730-9 then 1030-1130 and then finally from 1-3. then off to bed at 530pm until 6am. these are all approximate times. the evenings are definitely sooo hard for our guy. i swear he would go down for the night at 5pm if i let him.

not sure any of this helps. i have read much on sleep and still feel like such a novice. the most valuable advice was weissbluth, "sleep begets sleep". in other words the more they sleep, the more they will sleep. we have found this to be true with both of our boys.

[alexmommy]

I'm there too. My DS will be 4 months next week and doesn't nap well. The nights are fabulous--a 12 hour stretch with 1 or 2 feedings, but he doesn't do daytime naps well. The only thing that seems to help is nursing him to sleep (I know, not supposed to, but it works--sometimes).

On a typical day he'll wake up at 9AM, have a 30 min-1hr nap around 10:30, then fall asleep after eating at 1PM (but wake up when I put him in his crib), fall asleep after eating at 4PM (and probably wake up when in crib), and then asleep by 8PM, eat at 5AM, go back to sleep, eat at 9AM, repeat. Next week I may try CIO. Yesterday I tried for 30 min to help him get an afternoon nap, to no avail.

Fwiw, my mom says I was not a good napper either. I wonder if his nighttime sleep is enough for him, but everything I've read says he should have 2-3 naps. (If only he could read!)

Sorry to sound ignorant, but other than fussiness and yawning, are there other tired signs I should watch for? Any advice would be welcome. TIA

[Piglet]

Sorry to sound ignorant, but other than fussiness and yawning, are there other tired signs I should watch for? Any advice would be welcome. TIA

I remember the BabyWhisperer saying that babies give you 3 yawns. Try to catch that 1st yawn. By the 2nd you are in a bit of trouble. By 3 they are over-tired. Sounds a bit crazy but I always used to watch for the 1st yawn and then "do not pass go" run to the baby's room to start the wind down (a quick one). If we were really in the right place and the right time, I even started the wind down before the 1st yawn and then it was great!