Babywise Sample Schedules: Four Months Old

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Babywise Sample Schedules for 4 month old babies. 18-22 week old Babywise sleep schedule. These are real schedules used by real Babywise moms.

Baby on tummy

This post gives sample Babywise schedules for the fifth month. The fifth month of baby’s life comprises weeks 18-22ish.

Your baby is four months old during the fifth month.

Months and weeks don’t line up exactly, so sometimes weeks can be in more than one month of life. Your baby is no longer a newborn and is simply a “baby.”

4 Month Old Overview

Here are some things to expect this month:

  • 4 Months: Often a rough age for sleep. This can be a rough month for sleep with a major Wonder Week going on. Read more in Baby’s 4 Month Sleep Regression: What To Do
  • You still want to have a sleep routine before each nap and a sleep routine before bedtime. The routine can be the same for naps and bed or they can be different.
  • Your range of hours of sleep in a 24-hour period is 13.5-19.5 hours. Daytime sleep will be 3.5 hours to 7.5 hours depending on baby’s sleep needs. That is quite a range!
  • Teething can start to impact sleep this month.

4 Month Old Baby Naps

  • 4 Months: Baby will drop the fourth nap this month.
  • 4 Months: Baby is usually at 3 daytime naps. If not, by 5 months baby should be at 3 naps in a day. There still should be a third nap each day with a 4 month old.
  • During this month, naps will ideally be 1.5-2..5 hours long. Baby nap time is pretty consistent from this age forward, but remember that 4 month old baby sleep can be very disrupted with the Wonder Week going on. Baby’s sleep patterns can be disrupted by Wonder Week 19. I know I have said this three times already, but people do freak out, so I want to assure you that this is normal.

4 Month Old Night Sleep

  • 4 Months: Baby might be ready for 10-12 hours of night sleep. Some will not be ready for this until 6 months, and the normal range is always 10-12, so some babies might just be 10 hour a night sleeper.
  • Nighttime sleep is typically a solid stretch in this age group. 4 month old sleep at night will usually be “sleeping through the night” if you have followed Babywise to this point.

4 Month Old Feedings

  • 4 Months: Baby will move to 4-6 feedings in a day. This is true weather you breast or bottle feed.
  • 4 Months: Baby’s feedings will be about 3-4 hours apart.
  • Your baby might be ready for solid food this month. Check with your baby’s doctor.

4 Month Old Playtime

  • 4 Months: Baby might be ready to start daily blanket time.
  • Your baby should continue with Independent Playtime each day (or start it if you haven’t yet! It isn’t too late). At this age, it will probably be 10-20 minutes 1-2 times a day.

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On Becoming Babywise Book 2
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Our Sample Schedules

Here are the schedules we used in this age range.

Week 18

5:30-6:00 AM–eat from one side
8:00 AM–wake and eat
8:50 AM–nap
11:00 AM–eat
12:00 AM–nap
2:00 PM–eat
3:00 PM–nap
4:30 PM–eat
5:45 PM–nap
7:00 PM–eat and straight to bed
10:00 PM–dreamfeed

7:30–feed
8:35–nap
11:30–feed
12:45–nap
2:30–feed
3:45–nap
5:00 or 5:30–feed
6:30–nap (80 minutes after waking)
7:30–feed, then bedtime
9:45–dreamfeed

Read More McKenna Baby Summary: Week 18 and Brinley Summary: Week 18

Babywise Sample Schedules: The Fifth Month | baby schedule | sample baby schedules | babywise | babywise schedules | #babywise

Week 19

5:00-6:00 AM–eat from one side
8:00 AM–wake and eat
8:55 AM–nap
11:00 AM–eat
12:05 AM–nap
2:00 PM–eat
3:30 PM–nap
5:00 PM–eat
6:30 PM–nap
7:00-7:00 PM–eat and straight to bed
10:00-10:30 PM–dreamfeed

7:30–feed
8:35–nap
11:30–feed
12:45–nap
2:30 or 3:00–feed
3:45–nap (75 minutes later)
5:00 or 5:30–feed
6:30–nap (80 minutes after waking)
7:30–feed, then bedtime
9:45–dreamfeed–until it was dropped

Morning Routine Cards
Ultimate Back to School Planner
Overcoming the Mental Load of Motherhood
Chronicles of a Babywise Mom Book of Logs
The Babywise Mom Nap Guide
Morning Routine Cards
Ultimate Back to School Planner
Overcoming the Mental Load of Motherhood
Chronicles of a Babywise Mom Book of Logs
The Babywise Mom Nap Guide
Morning Routine Cards
Ultimate Back to School Planner
Overcoming the Mental Load of Motherhood
Chronicles of a Babywise Mom Book of Logs
The Babywise Mom Nap Guide

MCKENNA
The first couple of week of 4 months old were a bit unpredictable due to early morning feeds. Once she hit 19 weeks, though, things smoothed out.
7:00–nurse
7:50–nap
10:30–nurse and cereal
11:30–nap
1:30–nurse
3:00–nap
4:30–nurse and sweet potatoes toward the end of the month
6:00–nap
6:30–she would wake, or I would wake her. Some days, she didn’t take this nap
7:00–nurse then straight to bed
10:30ish–dreamfeed

Read More McKenna Baby Summary: Week 19 and Brinley Summary: Week 19

Week 20

Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn’s schedule didn’t change much, but she did drop a nap. We also started solids at 4 months, so solid feeding times are listed as they were once we had all three.
7:30–nurse + solids
8:30–nap
10:30–nurse
11:30–nap
1:30–nurse + solids
2:30–nap
4:30–nurse
6:30–nurse + solids then bed
9:45–nurse the bed (dreamfeed). I was starting to move it back in preparation for dropping it.

6:30-7:00 AM–nurse
55 minutes later–nap
10:00 AM–nurse (if she ate closer to 7, she will often go until 10:30)
60-65 minutes later–nap
1:00-1:30–nurse
60-90 minutes later–nap (I try to watch for cues for this nap
4:30–nurse
6:00–usually a nap
7:00–nurse then bed
10-10:30–dreamfeed

7:30–feed
8:35–nap
11:30–feed
12:45–nap
3:00–feed
4:15–nap
5:00 or 5:30–feed
6:30–nap (80 minutes after waking) until it was dropped
7:30–feed, then bedtime

Read More McKenna Baby Summary: Week 20 and Brinley Summary: Week 20

Week 21

7:15 AM–wake and nurse
8:10 AM–nap
10:30 AM–nurse and rice
11:30 AM–nap
1:30-2:00 PM–nurse
2:40-3:10 (70-90 minutes later) PM–nap
4:40-5:00 PM–nurse and sweet potatoes
7:00-7:20 PM–nurse then straight to bed
10:30 PM–dreamfeed

7:30–feed with solids
8:45–nap
11:30–feed with solids
1:00–nap
3:30–feed
5:00–nap
5:30–feed with solids
7:30–feed, then bedtime (no dreamfeed)

Read More McKenna Baby Summary: Week 21 and Brinley Baby Summary: Week 21

WEEK 22

McKenna
7:30 AM–wake, nurse, solids (1 T rice. I will add 1 T peaches this next week)
8:30 AM–nap
11:00 OR 11:30 AM–nurse, solids (at least 4 T bananas)
12:00 OR 12:30 PM–nap
2:00 OR 2:30 PM–nurse
3:15-3:45 (75-90 minutes later) PM–nap
4:30 OR 5:00 PM–nurse and solids (2-4 T sweet potatoes)
7:00 PM–nurse and straight to bed

Sometimes she eats after only two hours in the evening since she is extending her day out right now. This is a temporary situation and it is fine with me for now. I know it won’t last too long. I find that preferable to having a fourth nap and eating at a 3 hour interval, and thus having a later bedtime. I want bedtime consistent.

Brinley
Our schedule typically looks like this:
7:30–feed with solids–half of a banana and 2 T of oatmeal mixed in
8:45–nap
11:30–feed with solids–4 T of pears and 2 T of oatmeal mixed in
1:00–nap
3:30–feed
5:00–nap
5:30–feed with solids–half a banana mixed with 2 T oatmeal and sweet potatoes (1-2 T)
7:30–feed, then bedtime

Read More McKenna Baby Summary: Week 22 and Brinley Baby Summary: Week 22

Sample Baby Schedules fifth month pinnable image

Your Sample Schedules

Here are your baby sleep schedules that you have shared over the years.

4 Month Old

4 Months girl
7:20 – wake up/eat (55 minute wake time)
8:15 – nap (2 hour nap)
10:15 – eat (60 minute wake time)
11:15 – nap (2 hour nap with help of swing ½ way through)
1:15 – eat (65 minute wake time)
2:20 – nap (2 hour nap with help of swing ½ way through)
4:20 – eat (65 minute wake time)
5:25 – nap (65 minute nap)
6:30 – wake (1 hour, 30 minute wake time before bed)
7:00 – eat
8:00 – bed
10:00 – dream feed/10:30 bed

4 month old boy
6.30-7am wake & nurse
8am nap
10am wake & nurse
11.30am nap
1.30pm wake & nurse
3pm nap
4.30pm wake & nurse
6pm catnap
6.45pm wake (7pm nurse)
8pm sleep

We dropped the dreamfeed 2 weeks ago and he’s slept through the night ever since (would love to have a morning waketime of 7-8am, but maybe in a few weeks?).

We’re also thinking about dropping the last nap to get him to sleep longer in the morning, but we haven’t quite figured that out without dropping a feeding.

4 month old boy
6:45- wake, nurse, play
7:45- 1st nap (usually 1.5 hr)
10:00- nurse, play
10:40- 2nd nap (if he woke early from 1st nap, if not i’ll put him down around 11)
1:00-nurse, play
2:00-3rd nap
4:00-nurse, play
5:15-catnap
6:45-bath, nurse, bedtime
I’m exclusively breastfeeding so I pump around 9:30 to keep my supply up and I have extra bm in the freezer in case I need it!

4 months
7:00 WEP
8:15 nap1
10:30 WEP
12:00 nap 2
1:30 WEP
3:00 nap 3
4:30 WEP
6:45 eat
7:00 bedtime
Usually wakes between 6:30 and 7:00am, but stays in crib until close to 7:00. He’s EBF, no solids.

4 months old
Our schedule varies by a half hour or so right now since our son is going through a Wonder Week AND teething, but here you go:
7:00 Wake, feed (5-6 oz formula at each feed)
7:30 Play
8:15 Nap
10:30 Wake, feed
11:00 Play
11:45 Nap
1:30 Wake, feed
2:00 Play
2:45 Nap
4:30 Wake, feed
5:00 Play
6:00ish Cat nap
6:45ish Wake, play, some nights bath
7:30 Feed, bedtime
10:30 or 11 Dreamfeed

4 Month Old Baby Girl
7/730 – wake, reflux meds, dressed for day, BF
830/9 – nap
1030/11 – wake & BF
1230/1 – nap
230/3 – wake & BF
430 – nap (sometimes)
5/530- BF (5 if she didn’t take a nap prior to, 530 if she did)
630 – reflux meds, bath and baby lotion massage (this starts our night-night routine)
7 – BF, read book after, if awake enough
730 – bedtime
10 – dreamfeed and STTN
Her naps are the most inconsitent right now because 1) 4 month sleep regression and 2) teething. Her wake time typically lasts 1.5 hours though sometimes it’s more or less. I am a SAHM and watch her for her sleep cues. There are times she will wake in the middle of a nap, chat/lightly fuss for a few minutes (sometimes as long as 15) then go back to sleep. I personally do not check on her unless she’s crying or the fussing is different than a “transition cry” because it makes it worse and she will not go back to sleep. If she doesn’t take her naps, I do my best to keep feeding times the same and fit in several cat naps (hopefully 6 – 30 min naps). Bedtime is almost never later; she doesn’t make it later – she winds up screaming at us for even trying OR falls asleep 🙂 Also, I change up what activity she does during her wake time. She is a VERY particular baby and will not always go for the same exact wake time routine. As such I just switch up activities and/or toys to help keep her content.

4-month-old boy
8:00 am wake up, 8 oz bottle, cereal and a fruit
9:30 am nap
11:30 am wake, 8 oz bottle fruit and vegetable
1:00 pm nap
3:30 wake, 8 oz bottle, cereal and a fruit
5:00 nap
5:45 wake, bath, get ready for bed
6:45 bottle and bed
typical flexible routine, it varies by 20 or 30 minutes sometimes

Nap Schedules for Combo Ages

4-6 month old girl
typical flexible routine, it varies by 20 or 30 minutes sometimes
6:45 wake, eat (6 oz. breastmilk)
7:30 long nap every day
10:30 eat (6 oz. breastmilk)
11:45 nap some days
2:15 eat (6 oz. breastmilk)
3:45 nap some days
6:00 eat (nurse)
7:00 nap most days
8:30 bath and bedtime routine
9:00 eat (6 oz. breastmilk)
9:15 bed, sleeps through the night
I find that her nap routine is the least consistent since I work part-time and different family members keep her on those days. Her bedtime, morning waketime, and feeding time is very consistent. I would like for her naptimes and activity times to be more consistent. After charting everything for several days as suggested by the Baby Whisperer, her naptimes really depend on who keeps her that day.

4-6 Months
Since 4 months (he will be 6 months this week) we have been working on transitioning to 3.5-hour schedule. After a few days of the longer schedule, he wakes up early from naps and we end up doing the 3-hour schedule above, so for the last little while we’ve just done the longer schedule 2-3 days a week which allows me to decide which days rather than him. Hopefully we’ll do this all the time soon!
6am Nurse, then some playtime
7:15 Nap
9:30 Nurse, tummy time, playtime
11:00 Nap
1:00pm Nurse, tummy time, playtime (or errands)
2:30 Nap
4:30 Nurse, play time, family time
6:00 (sometimes a little later) Nap
(Sometimes he doesn’t take the 4th nap, but most of the time he needs it.)
7:30 Nurse
Bedtime routine
Bed by 8:15

4-8 Months
8:00 wake, nurse
9:30 nap
11:30 wake, nurse
12:00 independent play time
1:30 nap
3:30 wake, nurse
5:30 nap
6:30 wake, nurse
8:00 nurse, bed

Babywise Schedules for the First Year

This is a compilation of sample schedules for baby's entire first year!

Babywise Sample Schedules: The First Month

Sample Babywise Schedules for your baby’s first month. Babywise newborn schedules to help you get baby sleeping and eating well. Starting early creates a great routine for your newborn.

Sample Babywise Schedules: One Month Old

Sample Babywise Schedules for 5-9 week old baby. Newborn sample schedules to get baby sleeping well and on a consistent routine.

Sample Babywise Schedules: Two Months Old

Sample Babywise schedules for the third month. Babywise schedules used for baby’s third month of life. Baby 2 month schedules.

Sample Babywise Schedules: Three Months Old

Sample Babywise Schedules. Babywise schedule for the fourth month. You are looking at weeks 14-18. See what schedule other Babywise babies followed.

Babywise Sample Schedules: Five Months Old

Babywise Sample Schedules: The Sixth Month. 6 month old Babywise sleep schedules. Babywise schedules used by real Babywise babies.

Babywise Sample Schedules: Six Months Old

This post gives sample schedule Babywise schedules for the seventh month. The seventh month of baby’s life comprises weeks 27-31. Baby is six months old moving to 7 months old. These are Babywise 6 and 7 Month Old Sample Schedules.

Babywise Sample Schedules: Seven Months Old

Sample schedules for a 7-8 month old using the Babywise method. This is the 8th month of life. Baby schedules for 31-35 weeks old.

Babywise Sample Schedules: Eight Months Old

Sample schedules for an 8 month old using the Babywise method. This is the 9th month of life. Baby schedules for 35-39 weeks old.

Babywise Sample Schedules: Nine Months Old

Sample schedules for an 9 month old using the Babywise method. This is the 10th month of life. Baby schedules for 39-44 weeks old.

Babywise Sample Schedules: Ten Months Old

Sample schedules for a 10 month old using the Babywise method. This is the 11th month of life. Baby schedules for 43-48 weeks old.

Babywise Sample Schedules: Eleven Months Old

Sample schedules for an 11 month old using the Babywise method. This is the 12th month of life. Baby schedules for 48-52 weeks old.

Babywise Sample Schedules: 12-15 Months Old

Sample schedules for 12-15 month old pretoddlers using the Babywise method. Know what milestones to expect and how to shift the schedule for your young toddler.

This post originally appeared on this blog January 2018

Baby Schedule routine tips

18 thoughts on “Babywise Sample Schedules: Four Months Old”

  1. Hi there,
    I am interested in starting the baby wise schedule for my 5 month old. However, I live far away from town, usually takes about 30-45 min to get to desired location. I have a hard time staying inside all day and get cabin fever so not sure how this would fit into my lifestyle. Any suggestions?

    Reply

  2. My baby will be 4 months on Saturday. We are on a really good schedule,
    730/8 eat
    Between 9/930 down for nap
    11 eat
    Between 12/1230 down for nap
    2 eat
    Between 3/330 down for nap
    5 eat
    Catnap/lay happily in crib around 615
    7/715 bath
    730 eat/bed

    I’m wondering how I start to stretch some feedings to 4 hours while still keeping wakeup time and bedtime the same. Sometimes I have to wake him up from naps when it is time to eat. I also know that if it’s anything less than 2.5 hours between feedings he won’t eat well. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

    Reply

    • You can’t really lengthen the time between feedings without changing something else. You either need to shorten time between other feedings or just drop a feeding all together.

      Reply

  3. Hi! I read On Becoming Babywise – in fact it was the only baby book my husband and I read. Our son has been a Babywise baby from day 1. However, he just turned five months old and I think we need to adjust his schedule. I’m scared to adjust anything as he is sleeping 9-9.5 hours a night! Here is is current schedule:
    DWT 7am feeding 5 oz
    830 nap
    10am feeding 4.5oz
    1130 nap
    1pm feeding 4.5 oz
    230 nap
    4pm feeding 4.5 oz
    530 cat nap
    630 feeding 4 oz
    8 bed/cat nap
    9 feeding 6.5oz

    Help a first time mom out!

    Reply

  4. Hi There, we have come to babywise late with a 4.5 month old. We are following the “eat, wake, sleep” routine as much as possible, however, at the moment our baby boy does not want to sleep longer than 35mins at a time. He has four naps a day. We put him to bed at 7, he wakes erratically, averaging three times a night, and rarely wakes at 7, often at 6 or just after, some times half 6 or 6 40. I therefore find it hard to keep the days consistent. Also due to lack of nap time he is also quite sleepy on the breast when feeding after a nap.

    I am just wondering if you have any advice about how to improve his nap times/ lengths? I believe he has the ability to self soothe as he is able to put him self to sleep when I put him down for nap/ night. However, it seems to be keeping him asleep that is the issue! Also is there a reason why he might be having such erratic sleep at night? Past three nights the first wake ups were: 2am, 12am, 10pm.

    Thanks

    Reply

  5. My daughter is 5 months old and only doing 1-hour week windows still. Is it okay to have a 60 minute wake window at this age?

    Reply

    • Most babies this age are a minimum of 1 hour 20 minutes. BUT that doesn’t mean one hour doesn’t work for her. If she is sleeping well at night and naps AND she is alert and interactive during her awake time, then you are fine. Always go for what works for your baby. This waketime would be perfect for the baby who needs a two hour nap and is eating every three hours. If she seems lethargic during wake time, I would talk to her doctor about it. If she doesn’t nap well or wakes in the night, I would look at changing wake time length.

      Reply

  6. Hello,

    my now 4 month old son started the scheduling method around 6-7 weeks ago. He now has more or less good routine with here and there adjustments:
    between 6:45-7:00 eat wake play
    between 8:00-8:15 nap
    10:00 eat wake play
    between 11:00-11:30 nap
    12:45 eat wake play
    between 13:30-14:00 nap
    15:15 eat wake play
    between 16:15-16:45 nap
    17:45 eat wake play, getting ready for bed
    between 18:30-19:00 bed
    between 21:15-21:45 dreamfeed
    between 3:45-5:00 eat, sleep

    I don’t know how to get rid of this night breastfeed at 3:45-5:00. I tried some late night feeding at 23:30, but there weren’t any changes in the waking time. He also eats both sides totally empty at this time, what he normally doesn’t (most of the time one side and a half or so, exept for the dreamfeed he eats also both sides), so I think he is really hungry.
    Do you have any suggestions for me? Any tips are welcome :).

    Reply

  7. Hello!
    Thanks again for all you do.

    My little girl just turned 5 months old. During the end of her 4th month I thought she was ready for a 4 hr schedule I was having to wake her often and she was waking around 4-5 am. The change really messed her up, so now I’m struggling back to a 3/3.5 hr schedule. Right now, she can only stay awake about 1 hr 15 min. How do I move her to 3 naps if she wakes at 5-5:30 am? She won’t get to bedtime without 4. She’s somewhat content to lay in the crib with lights on till 6 am when I feed her and she takes her first nap around 7:15-7:30 am. Bedtime is around 7:15 pm and catnaps are very, very difficult to achieve lately.
    Thanks!

    Reply

    • If she can’t make it to bedtime without 4 naps, you will still need to have 4 naps. Also, your sleep might have been messed up because of the big Wonder Week 19 that happens in that month.

      Reply

  8. Hi!
    I am trying to figure my daughters sleep schedule and having a hard time with daytime schedule. She is doing 12 hours at nighttime, with 2 dreamfeeds which is great! But I am having trouble figuring her days! She is 16 weeks old. She has her last feed at 6pm, bedtime routine and in bed by 6:40 for the night. I wake her at 8:30pm for a dreamfeed, and she wakes once in the night for a feeding. We then start our day at 7am. Would you be able to help with a suggested schedule for daytime routine/naps given the amount she sleeps at night?
    Thank you!
    Kaitlin

    Reply

    • Hello!

      So one thing to think about is your bedtime. You can’t hope for her to go more than 12 hours between feedings, so with a 7 AM start time, you want bedtime between 7-8 PM. You would have your last feeding at 7.

      7 — wake and eat
      8– nap
      10 — wake and eat
      11 — nap
      1 — wake and eat
      2– nap
      4– wake and eat
      5 — nap (or later)
      7 — wake and eat. Maybe wake a little earlier
      7:30 — bedtime

      Then you would need your dreamfeed a little later. 9 or later.

      Some babies this age can go longer between feedings. Wake time lengths is approximate. I would start with one hour and experiment from there to see what is best for your baby. Good luck!

      Reply

  9. Hi, my oldest daughter followed a babywise schedule as early as 2 months old and she is a rockstar sleeper (now 2.5 years old)! My 2nd daughter is 4 months old and we have not implemented babywise yet because of her significantly slow weight gain, reflux and allergies; she was very on demand with everything to get her on any sort of curve. She is currently on her own eat, play, sleep cycle but I feel everything is based off on when she wakes up in the morning and I would like to get a more set schedule. She takes about 6-7 ounces every 3-4 hours and has about 2 hour wake windows. She consistently goes to bed around 7:00pm/7:30pm and sleeps through the night (not needing a feeding) waking up around 5:30am/6:00am. She takes reflux meds in the am and pm, so she takes her meds then gets a bottle 30 minutes later. I am struggling with how to start a babywise schedule with her already being 4.5 months old. Will she actually fall asleep if I shorter her wake windows, will her naps be longer (currently they range from 30 min – 1.5 hours). I am a teacher so home in the summer and would love to get her onto a good set schedule before I go back to work and she goes to daycare. Everything is currently based off of when she wakes up, gets her first bottle and then the 2 hour wake window goes from there, so it varies all the time.

    Any and all tips welcomed. Thank you!!

    Reply

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