See what a four-month old schedule looks like following the Babywise method. Includes example schedules, wake times, and how to make it past the drenaded four-month sleep regression!
Ahh, you’ve reached the glorious four month Babywise schedule! I loved it when my daughter was four months old. Babies at this age have so much personality, with limited mobility. It’s the best of both worlds!
Four-month old babies are cute and smiley, melting hearts everywhere, yet they can’t quite crawl away and get into trouble just yet! It is certainly many mama’s favorite age and stage!
There is also A LOT of variation at this age. Some babies are rolling over in their sleep from front to back or sitting with assistance, Hopefully by now your baby no longer has their days and nights mixed up. Many babies may still struggle with the 45-minute intruder or only napping 30 minutes, while other babies are sleeping through the night for 10 to 12 hours straight!
Knowing your baby’s proper wake time can be tricky and confusing to figure out.
Remember how much variance there is between babies when choosing to transition your schedule. Just because your baby is four months old, doesn’t mean she’s ready to transition. There can be a range of readiness in the four-month old baby schedules.
If your baby is currently on a 3-month schedule, make sure they are ready to transition before making the change.
When to Start Babywise?
If you haven’t started implementing Babywise yet, now is a great time to start!
Babywise includes a few different foundational principles. I highly recommend starting the concepts of eat, play, sleep as early as possible with your baby. It’s too hard to get your baby on a full-fledged newborn schedule, but you can be aware of your baby’s wake windows and follow those accordingly!
If you work hard in the beginning to teach your baby independent sleep skills and make sure she is getting enough feeds throughout the day, monthly transitions and regressions won’t disrupt everyone’s sleep as much.
Sure, there will still be bumps in the road (we are working with babies after all), but you’ll be able to get everyone back on track much faster than if you were moving without a sleep plan.
Starting Solids at Four Months
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends waiting until 6 months old to start solid foods.
I know many people start rice cereal around four months old with the hope that it will help baby to sleep longer stretches at night. But adding simple solids to your baby’s diet probably isn’t the ticket to a better night’s sleep. Chances are your baby’s sleep problems can be solved by some other means.
We waited until six months and then did baby-led weaning with our girl. I totally loved baby-led weaning and highly recommend it!
Four-Month Baby Schedule
The four month baby schedule has a lot of range in it. Remember, that schedules are designed to fit into your lifestyle and your baby’s needs. One size does not fit all when it comes to baby’s ages and schedules.
I love the flexibility and predictability of Babywise. Sometimes, you want hard and fast answers, but remember that it might take a little bit of experimenting to figure out what works for your baby!
There is a lot of flexibility in the four-month schedule, so read through these options and see which one might work best for your babe. Then try, try, try until it sticks!
Some babies will do well with a 1.75 wake window at 4 months old, while others can go up to 2 hours!
Is My Baby Ready For a Four-Hour Schedule?
You might be wondering when you can switch to a four-hour schedule. Your baby will give you some signs, letting you know that she is ready to make a transition.
If your baby starts to wake up early from her naps or takes a while (more than 20 minutes) to fall asleep for a nap, it’s a good sign that your baby is ready for more wake time. You can increase wake time to 1.5 or 2 hours, depending on how much wake time your baby can handle and is currently used to.
When you do increase wake time, do so gradually. Don’t go from 1 to 2 hours overnight, as that may be too overwhelming for your baby. I added 15 minutes of wake time consistently for several days before adding another 15 minutes again.
If you have to consistently wake your baby from naps to eat, or your baby isn’t interested in eating at the 3-hour mark, it’s also a good sign that she’s ready to transition. I almost always had to wake up my baby for feeding time, so I knew she was ready to extend her time in between feedings.
If you are consistent and have worked toward independent sleep, your baby will show you when she’s ready to extend her schedule.
Sample Four Month Baby Schedule: 3.5 Hour Schedule
With a 3.5-hour schedule, your baby can do 1.5-hour wake time with a 2-hour nap or 2-hour wake time with a 1.5 hour nap. Base the wake time on what your baby can handle. 1.5 hours wake time will be on the lower end, while 2 hours is on the higher end.
The 3.5-hour schedule also includes a small feed to hold your baby over as well as a short catnap to help her make it to bedtime without getting overtired.
Example (with 2-hour waketime)
7:00 am: Wake and feed
7:00 to 9:00 am: Waketime
9:00 to 10:30 am: Nap
10:30: Feed
10:30 am to 12:30 pm: Waketime
12:30 pm to 2:00 pm: Nap
2:00 pm: Feed
2:00 to 4:00 pm: Waketime
4:00 to 4:30 pm: Catnap
4:30 pm: Feed (Smaller snack feed)
6:30 pm: Last feed / Baby’s bedtime routine
7:00 pm: Bedtime
Sample Four-Month Baby Schedule (4-Hour Schedule)
Around four months old, many babies are ready to move to the four-hour schedule. My baby was ready and I loved the four hour schedule. Four months old. Four feedings. Four hours. It was glorious!
The four-hour schedule consists of two hours wake time and two-hour naps. I loved the long nap times but also the longer wake times. It gave us a chance to feed and then have a little activity or playtime outside together.
Here’s an example of a four-month, four-hour baby schedule.
Example schedule
7:00 am: Wake and feed
7:00 to 9:00 am: Waketime
9:00 to 11:00 am: Nap
11:00 am: Feed
11:00 am to 1:00 pm: Waketime
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm: Nap
3:00 pm: Feed
4:30 to 5:15 pm: Catnap
5:15 to 6:30 pm: Waketime
6:30 pm: Last feed/bedtime routine
7:00 pm: Bedtime
Eliminate Short Naps with a Predictable Sleep Routine
Take away the stress of figuring out your baby’s sleep needs. With the Baby Sleep Schedule Binder, you’ll get sleeping and feeding schedules that you can implement for every age, even if you currently have no routine in place. Check out the Baby Sleep Schedule Binder here.
The Four-Month Sleep Regression
Around four months old many babies (and parents) experience the four-month sleep regression. Your baby’s sleep cycles start to mirror an adult sleep cycle, meaning they move from deep to light sleep to deep again.
Some babies breeze through the four-month sleep regression, while other babies start waking up constantly after sleeping through the night.
If your baby is used to falling asleep with little or no sleep props, they may not have a regression at all! I was dreading the four-month sleep regression, but our baby didn’t skip a beat with sleeping! We had practiced putting her down tired but awake with a pacifier, and she was okay!
Other babies might start waking up more frequently in the middle of the night, especially if they are used to falling asleep at the bottle or breast, or in mom’s arms.
Continue to be consistent with your sleep routine and work toward independent sleep with your baby and the four-month sleep regression will pass. Moving to a four-month Babywise schedule is the start to dropping feedings and extending baby’s wake time!
My blog is full of things to help you celebrate motherhood including baby nursery ideas, sleep schedules and sleep tips, fun printables, baby registry must-haves, and so much more.
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Michelle
Tuesday 29th of March 2022
How many ounces do you give at each feeding with these schedules?