Wondering whether you need a schedule for your 4 week old?
Now that you’re a few weeks in you may be feeling that new parent exhaustion kicking in (those sleepless nights are tough!).
And the word “routine” has probably been mentioned a few times to you as a possible solution to your exhaustion.
Baby’s daily schedule at 4 weeks
- Feed on demand – 16-24ozs of formula or breastmilk
- Wake window – 30-60 mins
- Waking 1-2 times or more at night
- 3-5 naps per day
- Nap length 30 mins to 3 hours
Before we get to the sample 4 week old sleep schedule, here’s a public service announcement: It’s basically impossible to enforce any kind of rigid routine on a baby so young, but it is possible to find a rhythm that makes life much easier for tired parents.
I’ve got a four week old sample sleep and feeding schedule that worked for both of my babies when they were tiny.
The principles of this sleep schedule also carry on throughout your baby’s first year. It’s something that absolutely saved my sanity as a new mother and I think it can help you too!
4 week old baby schedule
This is a sample sleep and feeding schedule for your one-month-old. Remember that timings are not exact, and this is simply an example of how an eat, play, sleep routine may pan out over the course of a full day.
| Time | What’s happening |
|---|---|
| 7am | Wake and feed |
| 8am | Nap |
| 9am | Wake and feed |
| 9.30am | Play |
| 10am | Nap |
| Midday | Wake and feed |
| 12.30pm | Play |
| 1.30pm | Nap |
| 3.30pm | Wake and feed |
| 4pm | Play |
| 4.30pm | Nap |
| 5pm | Wake and feed |
| 5.30pm | Play |
| 6pm | Nap |
| 6.30pm | Wake and feed |
| 7.15pm | Bedtime routine |
| 7.30pm | Put baby down for sleep – some babies may like a small feed |
| Night | Baby will wake 2-4 times at night for feeds. Keep lights low after 7pm and speak in quiet, hushed voice. Avoid nappy changes where possible. Settle back to sleep after feeding. |
Can you have a routine with a 4 week old?
You can have a routine with a 4-week-old, but you need to manage your expectations and be prepared for everything to go a little (or a lot) off track sometimes.
A baby schedule for your 4-week-old is more of a rhythm where you go through the same steps on loop throughout the day. It follows a basic premise of eat, play, sleep and repeat. You just need to figure out your baby’s wake window to ensure they don’t get overtired – more on that shortly.
It’s not a set day of timings you can follow rigidly every single day! The truth is that at this age you’ll probably still feel like your days are a little chaotic and unpredictable.
That’s particularly because they’re growing so fast at this stage that things change very rapidly. One day they’re feeding every other hour, within a few weeks they’re only feeding every three hours.
So what does a baby schedule at 4 weeks do to help tired parents? It’s really so that you know what comes next.
If you can anticipate your baby’s needs then you have a better chance of heading off big meltdowns before they happen, and getting as much sleep as possible.
Now just one final disclaimer before we get to the sample sleep schedule. Babies go through growth spurts, developmental leaps and a fun thing known as the “witching hour” in the early weeks.
The witching hour can also be referred to as the period of PURPLE crying – which describes a stage most babies go through where they cry inconsolably for spells in the early evening from around 4 weeks to 10 weeks.
For all of those reasons, some days a routine won’t go to plan. That’s OK. Have a schedule, but be prepared for a little chaos.
And whatever you do, do not compare your own schedule to another parent’s routine with their baby, because it can be like comparing night with day.
How much should a 4-week-old sleep?
Your four-week-old baby will sleep for between 15 and 17 hours in a 24-hour period.
That will be divided into several naps and some, hopefully, longer chunks at night.
No two babies are the same, but as a general guide your baby may manage to stay awake for around 45 minutes to 60 minutes before they need a snooze.
One of the benefits of a sleeping and feeding schedule from this age is that it encourages you to help your baby realise the difference between day and night.
While some people say never wake a sleeping baby, I say that during the day try not to let them snooze beyond four hours.
This way you can start to ensure they are getting most of their milk intake during the day, and sleeping for lengthier spells at night.
That’s your goal of course, but it won’t necessarily happen at this stage.
The reason for trying to set the scene now is it will hopefully click in the coming months as your baby grows, has longer spells of being awake and can go longer periods without feeding.
How many naps should a 4 week old baby take?
Your 4 week old baby is likely to have between four and six naps during the day.
These are unlikely to be equal in length – with some lasting just 30 minutes and others going on for several hours.
Tips for dealing with new parent exhaustion
As we’ve touched on above, one of the toughest thing about being a parent to a 4 week old is how tiring it can be.
When you’re exhausted it is understandable that you may be quite keen to reach for a solution that will solve that. But if anyone had the solution to making a one month old sleep through the night, that person would a billionaire. If I ever find the solution I’ll be the first to let you know!
So I recommend focusing your efforts on getting help to deal with the tiredness:
- Lower your own expectations. Do not worry about the house being clean, give it a rest for a few days. If you feel too tired to head to the baby group today, don’t go and stay on the sofa instead.
- Ask for help. Family members and friends are often happy to step in and either give you a break, or help in another way such as doing the grocery shopping.
- Share the load with your partner. They may be working, but they could take the baby for a night feed – if you are breastfeeding you can express some breastmilk so that can offer baby a bottle. I fed my second baby regularly with breast and bottle, with no issues. There are lots of tips for combination feeding here.
- Surrender to it. At 4 weeks you are very much in the early days and need to manage your expectations in the race to getting your baby to sleep through the night. It WILL come in time, in the meantime you need to work around the sleep deprivation in the best way you can.
How to play with a 4 week old baby
At 4 weeks your baby is starting to be a little more alert during the day.
It’s in the next two weeks or so that your baby will start to smile socially in response to something you do or something that makes them laugh (for my kids it was sometimes a picture on the wall).
So there are very exciting times ahead, but for now your baby will still be taking things in in quite a passive way.
You can place toys in their hands and they may wave them about, however they won’t have yet worked out those gross motor skills just yet.
A few play ideas for a a 4 week old:
- Different sounds. If you have a few musical toys – a rattle, some bells, a drum – then go through each one one at a time and show them the different sounds they make. They will be fascinated.
- Sing nursery rhymes. If you aren’t sure of the words then play the songs from free YouTube videos. You could also buy a nursery rhymes book and read it to them.
- Take them on a tour. Speaking to your baby from day one is crucial – even while they are not answering back! Take them on a tour of the house, speaking to them about objects and different rooms.
- Have a dance party. Put on some music and dance in the living room.
- Show them a mirror. You can get baby safe mirrors – and often toys such as play mats will have them built in – to show your baby their own reflection. They will be fascinated.
- Tie a balloon gently to their ankle. My two babies really loved this little game! If you have a helium balloon then tie the string to their ankle (not tight, make sure there’s a finger’s width gap between the string and their skin) and lay them on they play mat on their back. Then they can kick their leg and see the balloon move.
Final thoughts
This article gives you an idea for how to manage your baby’s day in a way that helps you to predict what they will need next.
If you would like more sample routines then check out my schedule for a two month old baby, schedule for three month old baby and schedule for four month old baby.
