Baby Is EXTREMELY Cranky After naptime...HELP!!!

Try a earlier naptime for the second nap-say around 12:30. Once she gets to the tired and irritable stage before a nap, it's too late. You want to get her in the crib before that happens. When babies are overtired, they can't sleep long and wake up angry and fussy. Most babies this age take three naps a day. So she will probably go back down for the third nap around 4:00 or 5:00. Once a good nap schedule gets worked out, she'll stop the screaming and wake up happy and rested. Good luck!

she should be sleeping a whole lot more ALL thru the day! Her nap schedule is currently that of a much older child & it's taking a toll on her. Typically at this age, it's still a constant rotation of eating/sleeping. I would expect her schedule to be more than 1/2 the day spent in napping- until closer to 6 months!

1st ?: if she's waking at 7a.m., why are they waiting to feed her until 8? That's one whole hour wasted!
2nd?: does she seem to need cereal at this point? I know a lot of drs are recommending 4 months.....so is this part of the issue? Is it time to add the cereal into her schedule?
3rd?: why are you playing with her constantly? OMGosh, that's like a daycare provider's worst nightmare! Leave her be.....sometimes. Let her learn to entertain herself, let her learn to self-soothe. Teach her coping skills. At four months, she's old enough to use a floor gym & to be able to reach for toys during tummy time!

One more thought: play soft music during naptime, give her a soft blankie to grasp against her cheek, & I totally agree with you - let her cry it out!

She is going down for her second nap when she is overtired. You need to move the second nap up to probably 12:15 or 12:30., No more than 2 hours should pass before she is in her crib and asleep again, so 1.45 after waking, do the sleep routine. And she should still be doing a third nap until 6 or 7 months, some do it to 9.

I agree with the other ladies about putting her down a bit earlier. Also it could be a startle response that's waking her up. You know how if you are sleeping and sometimes "jump" in your sleep. This could be what's happening. Too much excitement right before a nap could be causing this. Be sure to wind things down about 30 mintues before a nap so she's not going to sleep excited.

it seems like it's too long of a stretch between her two naps, maybe try putting her down earlier for her second nap? I learned that from experience with my now 19 month old. Even to this day, if he goes down about half an hour before i feel like he really "should" go to sleep, he sleeps longer and wakes up bright-eyed and bushy tailed. At her young age, she needs to not go that long between sleep stages. Check with her parents and see if you can start putting her down around 12:30 then maybe give her a chance for another late afternoon nap or put her down to bed at 6:30 (another great piece of advice i learned way too late haha). Good luck!

You're keeping her up too long and she is overtired. 9:30 to 1:30 is too long a stretch for such a young baby. Newborns often can't make it more than an hour or 90 minutes w/o a nap and a 4-month old probably can't make it longer than 3 hours tops. You can't wait until a baby is visibly sleepy to put her down. She should go down at the very first eye rub or spaced-out stare -- or before if the clock tells you it has been too long. Also, make sure her waking environment isn't super hectic, noisy, and overstimulating. Having said all that, I have seen a lot of babies do the micro-nap thing. Even with your best efforts, that can be an annoying phase kids go through. Best of luck.

maybe try to put her down for a nap at 12:30 or 1. It may help to get her hour nap in.

Cat naps aren't good.. It's a sign of exhaustion.. Their little brains needs frequent rest to build synaptic connections and process and store information... I'm not a fan of letting them cry it out either... My parenting style is attachment parenting... Babies do not self-regulate... They depend on their caretakers to help them regulate their needs (hunger, sleep, diaper changes, baths, etc).... My daughter, who is 10 months old, has a schedule based on her biological needs.. She naps like clockwork at 10am-11am and again at 1-3:30, then goes to bed around 8 and sleeps till 8. She is fed on demand. The only food that is scheduled is solids. I feed her solids with the family at 8:30am, noon, and 6pm. She gets snacks between meals like my toddler.

How many ounces of formula/milk is she getting in a day? A baby her age should be getting between 26-32oz a day. If she's not getting enough food that could be an issue too. Babies will hit growth spurts and suddenly require extra food. My brother's wife, who is fat-phobic, would only give her infant the minimum ounces recommended per day. The baby needed more and would be fitful and fussy around nap time, napped poorly, and would wake up screaming (from hunger). Didn't matter what I said- his wife refused to change things and said the doctor said she would be fine and kept doing what she was doing.......

The 4 month old should be taking several hour long naps during the day- usually 3 naps, and she *should* be sleeping 12 hours through the night if she weighs more than 12lbs.

Check out the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", and "Happiest Baby on the Block"

The catnaps are not the problem.
In my opinion, it's the long sleep time at night. 8 to 7 in the morning is a LONG stretch for a 4-month-old. She should be getting woke up and a bottle long before then.
Also, if you are playing with her constantly when she is awake, she may be getting over excited and stimulated and can not settle down for a restful sleep. Try a little self entertainment time in her safe play area when nap time is getting close, rather than so much one-on-one with her.