Sleep Training

Here I am again...sleeping stuff so hard!!!!

My DD...4 mos. next week is starting to sleep 7-8 hr stretches at nights (and will often fall asleep awake but drowsy in her crib) but naps are still an issue......the day starts off good (first early morning nap anywhere from 1-2 hours....then a good early afternoon nap..also 1-21/2 hrs.) BUT the rest of the day it is downhill....my methods for her getting down for the early naps don't work after 3pm...the only thing that works is the stroller and even then she only snoozes for 30-45 minutes (with winter approaching  I may not be able to use this trick all of the time?).  The bad day (every other) ..the first nap lasts 45 minutes....the second nap lasts 1 hour then the afternoon is pretty herendous so by the time bedtime starts approaching..5-6..she is often times out of her mind tired...and we go from 5pm feeding.....calming things like reading..bath..still no sleeping..then start the last feed by 630 when she is so tired that she does easily end up asleep for the night by 730-8. THe end of the day is so exhausting for her..and us because it's basically 3-4 hours of on/off trying to sooth her screaming. I once tried to put her in the crib in afternoon...let her scream for 10 minutes..she's still wide awake? NOt sure why the end of the day is so much harder....should I be only allowing an hour of awake time (rather than 1 1/2) before trying to start a nap?

can you post what her general day is like ie when she usually wakes for the day, when her 1st, 2nd, 3rd naps usually are, bedtime... that will help provide more answers/advice/suggestions.

naps at 4mos are still developing so it's quite normal to have crappy naps at that age. some babies are natural sleepers; others are more challenging and 45min naps are quite common until their brains begin to organize day sleep - this generally happens around 5-6mos but all babies are different - some do and some don't.

my suggestions without knowing your baby's general day is don't go beyond 2hrs wake time. if she is showing you drowsy signs before 2hrs, then she is getting tired and start your nap routine the second you see her drowsy signs (activity levels slowing down, glazed eyes, yawing etc). if you begin nap routine when she's fussy and crying or rubbing eyes etc, then she is entering the overtired state and will most likely give you a short nap.

the 3rd nap is usually just a catnap that lasts 30-45mins just to get them to bedtime. if she's not napping well during the day (ie. catnapping all day), put her to bed early for the night.

please post her general schedule so we can add more specifics

HTH

Also..could daytime feeding amounts/frequency be causing shorter naps???

Now that she goes 10-11 hours overnight with no food I assume I should be trying to get the same amount in during the day...making sure she eats every 3 hours on the dot (she take 5 oz. each feed)???  I was letting her go 4 hours in between meals sometimes because there are days were she is on pace to eat more than 32 oz. of formula which is the limit my pediatrician says due to the risk of Iron overload??? She's a hungry little girl (born at 4lbs. 15oz.) but now we think close to 15lbs.  This week we have her 4 month visit at the Doc so I'm hoping they sugguest a little cereal.. what do you think..food and naps related?

I found around that age, some feeds were 4 hours apart and some had to be 2 hours apart - especially towards evening.

Chances are, you're doing nothing wrong in the afternoon. She likely is just developing her naps and they will come over the next month or so. I would feed more if you think she'll take it, and get her down quickly. If she takes short naps in the afternoon, that's just normal.

Sounds like she's doing great at night!