4 Month Old Baby Sleep and Feeding Schedule

The “fourth trimester” is coming to an end, and your baby is beginning to find some rhythm to their days and nights! At this age, parents can start to balance baby’s cues with a desired feeding and sleeping times and you may begin to see a schedule emerging.

In this article, you will read:

• Age appropriate recommendations for sleep and feeding

• Suggested total sleep and wake windows for 4 month old babies

• A sample schedule for a 4 month old baby

Sleep and Feeding Recommendations for 4 Month Old Baby

Many parents like to continue to implement an “Eat, Play, Sleep” routine during this month. This order of activities works well for most babies this age, and also provides playtime between eating and sleeping so as to not create an association between food and sleep (its best if babies do not get used to falling asleep while eating!)

Sleep

It is normal for daytime naps to still be short, but the morning nap may begin to lengthen in the coming weeks. If baby is ready for three naps a day, use the 5 month old schedule. 4 month olds still wake a few times during the night and still need at least 1 or 2 night feedings. The “4 Month Sleep Regression”, which is a shift in baby’s sleep patterns, may cause more night wakings during this time. Learning to fall asleep independently at bedtime is the best way to help ease the difficulty of this regression. Continue to swaddle if not rolling at night. I highly recommend the versatile Butterfly Swaddle (use code summitslumber for 10% off) if your baby is not yet rolling at night, or if you need a good transition swaddle product. The Zipadee-Zip is an excellent product for providing swaddle-type comfort and Moro reflex muffling, but is still safe for rolling babies.

Total sleep per day: 15 hours

Wake Windows: 1.5-1.75 hours

Feeding

Offering breastmilk or formula (4-6 oz) about every 3-3.5 hours tends to work well for babies this age so that they get full feeds during the day, which means more daytime calories and less hunger overnight. Try to avoid “snack feeds”, which will cause a snacking habit, causing baby to want to eat small amounts frequently (even overnight).

Sample Schedule for 4 Month Old

The schedule below is an example containing averages. It is not meant to be followed exactly as every baby is different, and parents will typically need to make adjustments to balance actual wake times, nap lengths, hunger cues, and sleepy signs.

Don’t Forget the Bedtime Routine!

At this age, be sure you’ve started a solid bedtime routine! A good bedtime routine is key to laying a healthy sleep foundation.

For more tips, or to get extra help if healthy sleep is feeling out of reach, visit www.summitslumber.co, or get started with a “Two Weeks to Sleep” Package.