Sleeping FAQ: 3-4 Months – Lunchtime Nap

My 3 mth daughter wakes after 45 minutes and will not settle back to sleep again. Having tried different ways to get her back to sleep I don’t know what to do for the best

My 3 mth daughter will sleep for 45 minutes at lunchtime then wake and not settle again. She has a couple of times but I had not done anything differently so there are no clues there for me. I have tried leaving her and going in every so often, usually every 20 minutes to reassure her with my voice. It will take up to 50 minutes but sometimes she will settle back to sleep. The other day I went in and picked her up as I was worried she had wind. When I did this, she did not settle back to sleep. I am worried now that I have broken the pattern? Should I carry on persistently leaving her and letting her settle back to sleep? She is woken at 7.30am and has a nap of 30 minutes from 9.00/9.15. I put her down for lunchtime nap at 12/12.15 and she goes down OK with about 5/10 minutes of crying down. She does not seem to be hungry as will always happily wait to 2.30pm to feed and she has 8oz at 11am which she takes her time of drinking. Should I start taking her out for the 2 hours? The problem is it has been so cold.

My daughter takes 5ozs formula and 3ozs expressed milk at 7.30am, 11am, 2.30pm and 6pm. She takes 4ozs formula and 2ozs expressed milk at 10pm. She weighs 11.5lbs approximately.

She naps at 9-9.30am, 12-12.45pm and 4.30-5pm.

Although you feel that your daughter is not hungry until 2.30pm offering her a top up before she goes down at 12/12.15pm may help her settle back to sleep after the first 45 minutes. To make sure she will take this top up move her feed time back to 10.30am and then offer her a couple of ounces of milk at 11.45am. If she is not interested in having a top up feed, cut back on her 10.30am feed by 2ozs. which can then be offered as the top up at 11.45am.

Look at the article on the Lunchtime Nap which appears on the website. This will give you all the points to check such as making sure your daughter is tucked in well at this time.

It can take a while to establish a pattern of a baby sleeping for a longer stretch at this time of day. If your daughter wakes after 45 minutes, leave her for 20-30 minutes to settle herself but, if she shows no signs of doing so, get her up rather than leaving her to cry for any longer. If you feel it is too cold to go out every day at present you could also try holding her back to sleep once she has woken from her first 45 minutes.

If, after consistently and persistently trying with one method for over a week, your daughter continues to sleep for only 45 minutes at the lunchtime nap, then accept that she may need another short nap after her 2.30pm feed. This will prevent her becoming over tired before 5pm and means she is able to enjoy her bath and bedtime routine.