Letting Sleeping Babies Sleep?

My son did the same thing for the longest time. We always just let him sleep, and he never once woke up in the middle of the night. Every now and then we would have to wake him up for his last feeding, and then he was out for the rest of the night again. He still to this day (at 1 year old) doesn't like napping at daycare, so he's always extra sleepy when he gets home. It has never messed up his schedule, but he only goes to daycare 2 days a week. It may be different if he went more, I suppose.

At 4 months old the baby does not need a sleep schedule nor should have one forced on them (at least that's what the pediatricians told me).

She is very tired from all the commotion going on around her... if she sleeps for a bit that's fine.

Go about your normal routine... my daughter used to sleep in the Bjorn while I vacuumed (of course not anymore) but it got her used to normal noises around the house.

let her sleep, but don't walk on egg shells to keep her asleep.

I used to leave my daughter in her car seat when she fell asleep on the way home until I had dinner almost ready...
then I'd take her out of the seat and let her wake up... she loves sitting at the table with us even though she wasn't 'eating'...

hope that helps

I'd wake the baby up then bed her down later. This might encourage more sleep during the night, but babies don't always do what you want. If you're away during the day, she definitely needs attention and touching from you in the time you have together. That would be the best reason to wake her up and spend as much quality time with her after work as you can. I know it's very hard being a working mom. I've been there.

Four months is early to worry too much about it. I read all the books and drove myself a little nuts trying to implement good sleep habits/schedules too early. Fortunately, my munchkin is no worse off for it. Relax for now, let her cat nap after daycare and enjoy a few evening hours with her afterward. Routines and schedules seem more helpful after 7-9 months, depending on your baby.

I have a four month old as well. I don't get home with her until 6:00 or later due to traffic and by the time we get home she's asleep. But I do wake her up, change her diaper and feed her. I give her a bath every other night so that on the off nights we can play a little and I read to her. I lay her down at 8:00 and she goes right to sleep usually. She has been sleeping through the night for the past two months, only waking up during the night a hand full of times in that two months thank goodness! I get her up at 5:45am, so by then end of the day the bedtime seems about right. Letting them get their rest is normal and good, if the baby is too tired that might cause them to be restless and cranky. At least this is what I found, and so far letting my daughter get her naps in and waking her up for our routine has worked very well. I hope this helps!

Let her sleep for maybe an hour and then wake her up. I did that with my son and he slept much better at night. If she takes a late nap, chances are so won't get to sleep until very late at night. Good luck! :)

I'm no expert and my child is now 7 years old but I think I would let her sleep for a little while. It could be a nice time for you to transition from work to home with out all the baby demands. Let you and your husband have an hour or so together and then wake her up. But words of experience don't get to comfy in a routine because as soon as you do she will mix it up on you. Stay very flexible.
Let her sleep for now and enjoy it.
M..

She is too little to be on a rigid routine. Let her sleep. My kids used to always fall asleep onthe way home. My son would stay asleep, my daughter would wake up once the car stopped. As she gets bigger, she'll sleep more at baby school and be more alert when you get her home.

Babies usually get very tired when they leave their daycare. Those places are always very busy, so they don't get to nap every time they need to. My son used to fall asleep in the car and sometimes would sleep in the carrier once at home for 20 minutes or so. I think you need to do what works best for you and your baby. If you wake her up and she's in a bad mood the rest of the evening, then I would probably let her nap for 20 minutes or so--whatever she needs in order to wake up in a good mood. Many times babies just need a quick power nap in order to re-charge their batteries. From my own experience, this has never interfered with their night sleep. On the contrary, when a baby doesn't get a chance to sleep well during they day, they usually have a bad night.

The only way to see if it is going to mess up the routine is to try it. If you do let her sleep, and she chooses to do so for 4-5 hours, then that will be a problem for you during the night. It is impossible to stop her from sleeping in the car, so go ahead and let her nap, wake her up when you get home, and see how that works for her for the rest of the night. You may have to modify your routine a little bit, but it shouldn't be much. I think a 4 month old could have a sleep pattern, but at that age those patterns change quickly, and by 5 months old they are into another pattern. It is a constant adjustment as their needs change as athey grow. I think you are right on in assessing what will work.

My daughter was just starting to show some signs of a regular "routine" around 4 months- nothing we pushed on her, just something she fell into naturally. That natural pattern happened to be a fairly early bedtime of about 6pm. She would usually wake 1-2x for a night feeding then wake about 6-7am, then nap again about 9am etc.... So, anyway, I think letting your little one sleep may be her way of telling you that's exactly what she needs. My sweetie kept the ultra early bedtime until about 9months, then it was pushed a bit later and she'd be asleep by 7pm. After she dropped her morning nap at about 13months, we moved her bedtime back up to about 6:15pm. She's now 19months and falls asleep between 7:15 and 8pm (she's in bed at 7pm). The book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child is very informative on the sleep needs of children and worth checking out. Good Luck!

That's a good question. I had that question too, but when my kids were older. At this age, if her body needs the sleep, let her sleep - until she naturally wakes up. She's growing. A person can't get too much sleep. It's so good for you, especially a baby. I never woke my kids. I figured that they must need it. If they wake late at night, they'll naturally be tired and go back to sleep quickly... I think. Hee hee. Try it out and see what happens.

at 4 months old i don't think you will mess anything up, her sleep. once you start to get her out of the cxar she might wake up anyways.

at 4 months.. the baby does not have a sleep schedule yet.

They are just starting to get a sleep schedule..

When she does get a sleep schedule.. she should be up about 2 hours and then down for a nap.. she should take 3 naps a day.. morning afternoon and then a short evening nap..

Then she drops the evening nap and her bedtime moves up a bit.. then she drops the morning nap.. and you are left with one nice long afternoon nap...

At her age taking a short nap in the car at 530 is very normal. I would probaby let her sleep for 30-45 minutes and then wake her up.. she should be alert and ready to play..

Lisa