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Results:
3 Months: 9 votes (18%)
4 Months: 10 votes (20%)
4.5 Months: 6 votes (12%)
5 Months: 2 votes (4%)
6 Months or older: 7 votes (14%)
Not Yet!: 14 votes (29%)
Total of 48 votes
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Valerie, also known as The Babywise Mom, is the mother to four children. She has been blogging on Babywise and general parenting since 2007. She has a degree in technical writing and loves using those skills to help parents be the best parents they can be! Read her book, The Babywise Mom Nap Guide, to get help on sleep from birth through the preschool years. You can also find her writing at Babywise.life, Today Parenting, and Her View From Home. Read more about Valerie and her family on the About page. Follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for more tips and helps.
Hi! Thanks for making this site – it’s very helpful! My three month old baby girl is starting to not sleep well for all four naps in a day (it varies which one she won’t sleep through), so I am considering moving her from a 3 hour schedule to a 3.5 hour schedule. Her three hour schedule had been as follows:Eat at 6:45 am, 9:45am, 1:00pm, 4:00 pm, 6:30 pm and 9:00 pm.Her naps were an hour to an hour and a half in between each feeding (except the last one when we kept her awake the whole time).She is formula fed, and would eat 4 (occasionally 5) ounces at each feeding. She sleeps through the night (9pm – 6:30 am) maybe two out of the every three nights and wakes up once (varying times) the other nights. She would never do a “dream feed”. If I drop the fourth nap, and move to a 3.5 hour schedule, I will also be forced to drop a feeding. Do you think it’s too soon to do this?
You are welcome!By not sleeping well, is she waking early? Keep in mind that 3 months is a growth spurt age, so if she is waking early, that might be the reason.I personally wouldn’t drop a daytime feeding until she consistently sleeps well at night.If you have one interval where she could go longer, a combo schedule is just fine. That way you wouldn’t have to drop a feeding.
Thanks, that’s helpful. I agree (and so did our doctor) that only five daytime feedings isn’t enough at this point. So, we’re doing a combo schedule and if she wakes early from a nap and is fussy, I’ll feed her early and then stretch the next cycle to 3.5 hours. It’s working pretty well. Thanks again!
You are welcome! I am glad things are working out.
I have an almost 3 month old (12 weeks). I am having to wake him from most naps. Does this mean I need to move him to a 3.5 hour schedule?
Jolene, you can do some 3.5 hour intervals. Don't do it so you drop a day feeding if you still have the Dreamfeed. You want to drop the dreamfeed first.
This site is amazing!! It has been my lifesaver since Ezra was born. Ezra is 11 weeks old and for the last week has been sleeping 11 hours at night. He wasn't ever waking up for his dream feed so I dropped it. Before that he had been sleeping through the night after his dream feed for about two weeks. He's on a 3 hour schedule. I usually have to wake him from naps, except for the last nap of the day where he usually is cranky and won't sleep a lot. Should I just stay on the 3 hour schedule? Is it too soon to drop the fourth nap? Should I go on to a 3.5 schedule? Right now he has 5 feedings a day. Thanks!
Annie, I would wait until he is closer to 4 months old to drop the fourth nap. It is totally normal for baby to be cranky for that last nap, but it doesn't mean he doesn't need it at all. It is okay if it is a short, 30 minute catnap.
Hi- i have 4 month old twins [born at 37 weeks so no real adjustment in age]. currently we are on a 3 hour schedule of 7 am, 10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, and then 6:30 pm, down to bed by 7:30 pm and dreamfeed at 10 pm. we are phasing out the dreamfeed as they don't really seem to need it that much and sleep from 7:30 until 7 am. This started about 4 weeks ago. they take a great morning nap and usually an ok nap between 10 am and 1 pm but there last 2 naps are usually 45 minutes and they are cranky for the last nap. should i try to just drop the 4th nap and move bedtime to 7 pm? i have tried to move to a combo schedule but usually one won't make it sleepwise [which one won't make it varies]. thanks!
Lauren, I always drop the fourth nap about four months, so yes, that is what I would do 🙂
I've been reading your blog for a while, but never commented until now! I'm hoping you can help!My daughter is 3 months old and she started sleeping through the night 11-12 hours on her own 2 weeks ago. Right now, this is her schedule:7:30am – wake up & nurse1.5 hours waketimenap 1.5 hours10:30am – nurse1.5 hours waketimenap (was 1.5 hours before STTN, now is only 30-60 minutes)1:30pm – nurse1.5 hours waketimenap (was 1.5 hours before STTN, now is only 30-60 minutes)4:30pm – nurse1.75-2 hours waketimenap (30 minutes)7:00pm – nurse, bath, bed around 7:30 – 8:00pm(she then sleeps until we wake her up at 7:30am)We do a bath right after her last feeding & then do her bedtime routine because this works best for her. We tried to move her bath to earlier in the day or before her last feeding and those totally messed up nighttime. The problem I'm having is since she started doing this, her naps have gotten shorter – obviously because she's getting so much sleep at night that she doesn't seem to need as much during the day. Her wake times have gotten longer, too. Before she STTN, she would have 1.5 hours of wake time, then a nap for 1.5 hours, then a feeding. Now, she will have 1.5 hours of wake time before the first nap and she will sleep until I wake her up. Then she will have 1.5-2 hours of wake time before the next 2 naps, but will only sleep about 30 minutes. So then when she wakes up, it's been 2.5 hours since she ate and she never eats a full feeding if I go ahead and try to feed her then. So our eat/wake/sleep cycle gets messed up.I'm also thinking it's time to drop the short 4th nap. It was always about 30 minutes, even with the longer other 3 naps. But she always would go 2 hours after her 4th feeding before falling asleep for the 4th nap. I'm nervous to switch to a 3.5 hour schedule because she's sleeping so long at night and I want to keep her at 5 feedings each day. She doesn't do well if we put her to bed earlier than 7 or later than 8. It messes up her nighttime. Any suggestions? I'm not sure if that even really all makes sense. I'm so happy about sleeping through the night, but now I just don't know what to do with naps, eat/wake/sleep cycle, the 4th nap or stretching feedings. I was thinking about maybe doing this – 7:30am – wake up & nurse*nap11:00am – nurse*nap2:00pm – nurse*nap5:00pm – nurse*no nap7:00pm – nurse, bath, bedbut that will only work if she actually sleeps for the last nap right up to 5:00pm because otherwise, she's going way longer than 2.5 hours of waketime at the end of the day. I think she can do 2.5 hours because she always did 2. I don't think she can do 3.I just don't know what to do. She ends up being awake for an hour sometimes before I feed her again and then she'll fall asleep when I'm nursing her! Then the whole rest of the day gets messed up.
Cameron,One thing to consider is growth spurt. 3 months old is a common growth spurt age.Another is that maybe she wasn't ready for a longer waketime yet. I would go back to 1.5 hours after her first nap to see if that fixes it.By now, you can drop that fourth nap as you had the idea if needed. But also be aware of a developmental leap that often messes things up at that age. See "wonder weeks" for more on this.
My daughter has thrown me for a loop. She is 4 months + 1 week. She has never STTN, the longest she has ever gone is 7 hours between her DF and an 3-4 a.m. feeding (obviously she is waking herself for this, I'm not). She is on a three hour schedule during the day, and eating within 15 minutes of her scheduled time. Her OWT is only one hour, and in the morning I think it is as soon as 45 minutes. Even when I am pretty sure she has gone down at the right time for a nap, she may wake up even an hour early (though this is not common). When that happens I let her stay up and feed her at her scheduled time, unless of course she shows me that she is hungry before then. I don't know if this is best for her though, so if you would do something different, I'm up for advice.Just in the last week she has been showing me signs that she is ready for her 4th nap to drop. So typically I keep her up until her 7 pm feeding, though I realized last night that I should move the feeding to 6:30 and bedtime to about 7. The last few nights I've allowed her to cat nap during that normal 4th nap time, and it seems like it might make her nights worse when I do. Is it your's, or anyone else's experience, that if your baby needs more WT during the day that they will make up for it during the night? When she does wake between 3-4 I have been letting her be awake, fussing or complaining, a little longer each night. When I do tend to her, I wait until she is really crying for at least a few minutes, if not 10, and then I have been nursing her only to the point where she is no longer really sucking, when she is just at that 'hanging out' sort of sucking. I have to get both sides or she will cry when I put her down. When she is all finished and I put her back down (she is still swaddled, btw), she tends to stay awake for like another hour, and the other night it was two. This isn't always a problem, but sometimes after those two hours pass she becomes overly tired and cries. I am posting this all here because I am wondering if it is likely that the reason she is giving herself a WT during the night is linked to her taking a cat nap during that normal 4th nap time? Anyone else experience this to be true? Last night, after she had been in bed for an hour (after her bedtime feeding), she woke up with a sudden, loud, top of her lungs, painful cry. Hubby and I quickly rushed in, unclothed her, and she seemed to still be asleep, but calmed down after a few minutes in my arms. Since we weren't sure what that was all about (going to talk to the ped this morning), I kept her in the bed with me, and allowed her to nurse herself to sleep as she wanted (it was SUCH a scary cry). At about 4:45 she woke up, just all on her own, obviously not hungry, and was talking and blowing raspberries. When I offered her food she didn't take it. She was happy and playful (though I didn't play back). About an hour or so later she decided to nurse again, but continued to just stay sort of awake for the next hour. Soooo is she needing to be made to stay awake during that entire 4th nap, you think? Today, even if she is very tired, I will try to keep her awake the whole time to see if it makes a difference. I'm just wanting some validation, direction, or both. BW was not as successful with my first, because I wasn't consistent. I've tried to really crack down on myself this time around, making sure baby girl is eating at the right times, getting her naps in and at the right times, and giving her a consistent bedtime, so why is she still waking at night? And now why is she creating for herself a WT at 4 in the morning? I'm trying to think of any other details that may be helpful. Basically I am just laying this all out to say: what would you do different, what would you do the same: what is your advice and encouragement? Thank you in advance! I am hoping that by the third child, Lord willing we have a third, I'll be an expert in all things baby and all things BW 🙂
After revisiting the book, and reading some of your other posts, I'm slowly figuring out what the cause of some of my problems are. If I could, I would have just gone ahead and deleted my previous post, but since I can't I thought I'd add this addendum :)Thank you so much for your blog! Seriously I am SO grateful!
Thanks for updating! I am glad you are figuring it out–it will a great skill for you to be able to have!
Hello!! We've been doing babywise since day 1. My DS is 21 wo, and has been attending daycare since she was 12 wo. Here's our current schedule:7:30am-feed8:30-bring to daycare, she will fall asleep around 8:45, sometimes as late as 9:15, and sleep until 10 or 10:30. 10:30-feed (she's exclusively breastfed, and will do a 6 oz bottle)Nap from 11:30/11:45-1:00/1:30Feed at 1:30Afternoon naps are 'if-y' so anywhere from 2:30-3pm. Sometimes she won't sleep after 3pm.They will feed her at 4:15, and then I pick her up at 4:30. OR I will get her early somedays and feed her at home at 4:30.Her best nap of the day is usually the nap after the 4:30 feeding. More often than not we have to wake her up at 7:30/7:45pm to eat. Bedtime is at 8:15/8:30.What do you think we should be doing at this point? Keep that 4th nap, since it's the best of the day? I don't have any control over the amount of time she sleeps while at daycare. They're doing everything they can, and totally respect my wishes when it comes to routine and when to lay her down. They know if she wakes early from the previous nap, to lay her down earlier for the next nap. She's STTN and we dropped the dreamfeed around 14-15weeks. Suggestions on where to go from here? Thanks for your help!
I'm sure this just got lost in the shuffle…but would love to know your thoughts 🙂 Thanks so much! A few updates since I last posted this are included…Hello!! We've been doing babywise since day 1. My DD is 23 wo, and has been attending daycare since she was 12 wo. Here's our current schedule:7:30am-feed8:30-bring to daycare, she will fall asleep around 8:45, sometimes as late as 9:15, and sleep until 10 or 10:30. 11-feed (she's exclusively breastfed, and will do a 7 oz bottle)Nap from 11:30/11:45-1:00/1:30Feed at 2Afternoon naps are 'if-y' so anywhere from 2:30-3pm. Sometimes she won't sleep after 3pm.I pick her up at 4:30, and feed at home at 5pm.Her best nap of the day is usually the nap after the 5 feeding. More often than not we have to wake her up at 7:30/7:45pm to eat. Bedtime is at 8:15/8:30.What do you think we should be doing at this point? Keep that 4th nap, since it's the best of the day? I don't have any control over the amount of time she sleeps while at daycare. They're doing everything they can, and totally respect my wishes when it comes to routine and when to lay her down. They know if she wakes early from the previous nap, to lay her down earlier for the next nap. She's STTN and we dropped the dreamfeed around 14-15weeks. We are starting solids this week, and maybe that will help her sleep better. Suggestions on where to go from here? Thanks for your help!
I would probably keep the fourth nap since it is her best nap. I think considering the circumstance, she is doing well. Hopefully she will learn to sleep better in the daycare environment.
My son is almost 12 weeks and 2 weeks ago I went from a 3 hour schedule to a 4 hour schedule but I am finding he gets hungry after 3 hours. 7am feed845-9 Nap till 10:30-10451045am feed11:45am nap till 2:453pm feed5pm 20-45 minute nap 645p feed8pm bed11pm dream feedhe'd wake up at various times. I thinkI jumped the gun by switching the schedule. I am going back to a 3 hour schedule and hoping to stretch some to 3.5. If I do this should I be waking him from his naps every time to keep him on schedule?
Hi. my girl is 18weeks old and still having her fourth nap really solidly. i have to wake her most night for it and usually put her straight to bed after. Her morning nap can occasionally be a 45min one as we go out with the toddler then and she's used to a bit of routine fiddling then.My question is should i try to give her more awake time in the evening and push her to stay asleep in the morning? She doesn't seem ready to drop the nap at all as she only is awake for 1:15 at a time.Thanks saskia
Hi thereI'm hoping you can help! I am having trouble figuring out how and when to drop the 4th nap. My daughter is almost 6 months old and some days she naturally has no 4th nap and goes to bed earlier, but on those occasions she doesn't sleep well at night and wakes up before midnight and also between 5-6am. She sleeps much better on the nights where she has a 4th nap (sometimes the nap is as late as 6pm but only 30 mins long) but it pushes bedtime back to 8-830pm. She only ever sleeps 45 mins
Hi thereI'm hoping you can help! I am having trouble figuring out how and when to drop the 4th nap. My daughter is almost 6 months old and some days she naturally has no 4th nap and goes to bed earlier, but on those occasions she doesn't sleep well at night and wakes up before midnight and also between 5-6am. She sleeps much better on the nights where she has a 4th nap (sometimes the nap is as late as 6pm but only 30 mins long) but it pushes bedtime back to 8-830pm. She only ever sleeps 45 mins