My little guy just turned 4 months old last week and was an excellent sleeper up until this point(sleeping 10-11hrs straight throught the night)and napping very well also. For the past two weeks he wakes up about 10-15 min after I lay him down for naps and sometimes I can rock him back to sleep, sometimes not. Also, at bedtime he has been waking up anywhere from 7-9 times a night, sometimes he wants to eat and sometimes not. I thought it was teething at first, so I tried giving him Tylenol & teething tablets, however that did not help at all. I've taken him to the Dr. 2 times alread and he does not have an ear infection, the Dr. said he is not teething. He told me that sometimes right before babies are getting to reach a new milestone it can create sleep troubles, another Dr. told me it could be signs of a trained night feeder, which doesn't describe him at all. I read a little bit about something called "4 month old sleep regression" and wondering if it could be that. This is my 3rd one and I've never dealt with anything like it. He has turned into the complete opposite baby that he was before. Does anyone know what this might be or have any suggestions?
according to the book 'becoming babywise'. your baby may be going through a growth spurt. he may need an extra feeding before bed, or wake up hungry. I would fit an extra bottle in during the day, or begin solids if you haven't yet.
always remember that each baby is different, he wont be like any other child, and thats a good thing. but anyhow, milestone must be the issue if theres no teething, and no other medical issue.
trust yourself most of all. you know your son more than anyone else, you know how to fulfill his needs, and what those needs are! :D
its ok to feed him at night, babies triple their weight and double their height in the first year!! thats a LOT of growing! when else will that happen in his life? never! so that kind of immense growth needs lots of fuel, and since their tummies are so tiny, they dont hold a lot of food at once!
solids will not help him stay fuller longer either, and at his age, can cause allergies if introduced too soon.
no child is ever perfect in their sleep. if you've had 2 other kids who slept better, you are in the minority! :D at least hes not big enough yet to spread butter all over the walls - i know a kid who was doing that for a while, (though not my own luckily!!)
anyway, just deal however works best for your family, and he will get back to sleep someday. :D the less stressful you feel the easier it will be for him to get through this part of his life :D
love and responding always to his cries will help him develop IMMENSE confidence and trust in you! :D
WOW, it is pretty crazy but this sounds exactly like my life two weeks ago! I also have a 4 month old who was sleeping from about 8pm to 5am every night and then all of a sudden started waking up every two hours again. At first I would just feed him to get him to go back to sleep bu then I could tell he was creating bad habits and I knew he did not need those feedings. So I took him to our chiropractor to make sure he was well adjusted, took him to the pediatrician to rule out ear infections. When he got a clean bill of health my Dr. told me it was time to start letting him cry it out in the middle of the night. So that is what we did. The first night he woke the first time and cried for about 25 minutes. I did go in there one time to comfort him (without picking him up), he then woke one more time and only cried for about 6 minutes. The next night got a little better and by the third night I only heard him once and he never cried just sort of grunted and went right back to sleep. He is now sleeping from 8pm to 8am without hearing a peep out of him. Babies NEED to learn to self soothe. It is just like any other skill they learn. Like rolling over, crawling, walking it is a skill. It takes some patience the first couple of nights but it is totally worth it in the long run. We had to do it with my older daughter too and she is an excellent sleeper to this day. Good luck!
I'm inclined to think it's a developmental milestone that he is reaching and it is causing him to wake more at night. Have you ever heard of the book "The Wonder Weeks"?
Here is a link about it, I think you would be really interested based on what you are going through.
http://www.thewonderweeks.com/files/ww_content.html
Here is a blurb from the website:
Introduction
Jolted from a deep sleep, the new mother leaps from her bed and runs down the hall to the nursery. Her tiny infant, red-faced, fists clenched, screams in his crib. On instinct, the mother picks up the baby, cradling him in her arms. The baby continues to shriek. The mother nurses the baby, changes his diaper, then rocks him, trying every trick to ease his discomfort, but nothing seems to work. "Is there something wrong with the baby?" the mother wonders. "Am I doing something wrong?"
Parents commonly experience worry, fatigue, aggravation, guilt, and sometimes even aggression toward their inconsolable infants. The baby's cries may cause friction between the parents, especially when they disagree on how to deal with it. Well-meant but unwelcome advice from family, friends, and even strangers only makes things worse. "Let him cry, it's good for his lungs" is not the solution mothers wish to hear. Disregarding the problem does not make it go away.
The Good News: There Is a Reason
For the past 35 years, we have studied the development of babies and the way mothers and other caregivers respond to their changes. Our research was done in homes, where we observed the daily activities of mothers and children. We gleaned further information from more formal interviews.
Our research has shown that from time to time all parents are plagued by a baby who won't stop crying. In fact, we found that, surprisingly, all normal, healthy babies are more tearful, troublesome, demanding, and fussy at the same ages, and when this occurs they may drive the entire household to despair. From our research, we are now able to predict, almost to the week, when parents can expect their babies to go through one of these "fussy phases."
During these periods, a baby cries for a good reason. She is suddenly undergoing drastic changes in her development, which are upsetting to her. These changes enable the baby to learn many new skills and should therefore be a reason for celebration. After all, it's a sign that she is making wonderful progress. But as far as the baby is concerned, these changes are bewildering. She's taken aback—everything has changed overnight. It is as if she has entered a whole new world.
It is well known that a child's physical development progresses in what we commonly call "growth spurts." A baby may not grow at all for some time, but then she'll grow a quarter inch in just one night. Research has shown that essentially the same thing happens in a child's mental development. Neurological studies have shown that there are times when major, dramatic changes take place in the brains of children younger than 20 months. Shortly after each of them, there is a parallel leap forward in mental development.
This book focuses on the eight major leaps that every baby takes in her first 14 months of life. It tells you what each of these developments mean for your baby's understanding of the world about her and how she uses this understanding to develop the new skills that she needs at each stage in her development.
What This Means for You and Your Baby
Parents can use this understanding of their baby's developmental leaps to help them through these often confusing times in their new lives. You will better understand the way your baby is thinking and why he acts as he does at certain times. You will be able to choose the right kind of help to give him when he needs it and the right kind of environment to help him make the most of every leap in his development.
This is not a book about how to make your child into a genius, however. We firmly believe that every child is unique and intelligent in his own way. It is a book on how to understand and cope with your baby when he is difficult and how to enjoy him most as he grows. It is about the joys and sorrows of growing with your baby.
All that's required to use this book is:
One (or two) loving parent(s)
One active, vocal, growing baby
A willingness to grow along with your baby
Patience.
The eight greatest fussy phases happen around these weeks (I'm getting this from the website, for some reason it wont let me copy and paste the chart)
Week 7,14,21,28,35, 42,49,56,and 61.
Hope this helps some if you can get through all that reading :)
My DD went through all of those phases and I found we both got the most sleep when we slept together!
I'm sorry but I don't have an answer except that my son did the same thing around the same age. Unfortunately his sleep patterns were pretty inconsistent--some nights better than others. We had to try the crying it out method for a while (as much as I did not want to!), but that eventually helped. I also starting weaning off of night feedings (around 7-9 months)...in my advice I think it is still okay for a 4 month old to be nursing at night. I read Dr. Weissbluth's book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby" (thanks to some mamasource suggestions)and that seemed to help quite a bit. Then finally right at 9 months old, he went back to being the good little sleeper that he was...he sleeps 10-12 hour stretches at night!! Sorry, this may not help much, but please know you are not alone and I completely understand what you are going through...it's definitely not easy!
Hi J.,
Babies wake-up more often when they go to bed asleep, rather than going to bed awake. They need to learn to put themselves to sleep. When you put them to bed asleep they don't learn how to do that. If they do wake-up, they are tired, and want you to rock them again. Babies are so smart. We, also, have a tendancy to spoil our third one more than others, especially if we think it might be our last one.
C.
My youngest son, now 15, had the same issue. Was a good sleeper until he started to understand and was stimulated by the world around him. Could be that he doesn't need the same amount of sleep that he did just a week ago. Most children will let you know exactly what they need. If he is taking alot of naps during the day I would try and shorten them. If you are having trouble getting him to nap during the day then try and make it a quiet time instead of a sleep time so that by the time it is bed time they are ready for sleep and should start sleeping better. Both of my children by the time they were a year old didn't nap but maybe 1 hr during the day but slept like little rocks during the night. Also if you haven't introduced rice or cereal into his meals you might want to check with your Dr and see if you can give him some at night time feeding so the little tummy is full and won't wake up for "feedings" in the middle of the night. He could be going thru a growing sprut that makes him more hungry then he used to be. Hang in there... this too will pass. All children are different. Both of mine are that is for sure.
It could very be a "milestone" sleep issue, but waking 7-9x/night is pretty excessive. I'm going to list some suggestions, from easiest/cheapiest to harder/more expensive. Perhaps you've already tried some of these.
(1) Try Hyland's Colic Tablets. They are a little harder to find than the teething tablets, but I've seen them at co-ops and Whole Foods. You can also order them online, just google the name.
(2) Swaddle him. I swaddled my son until he could no longer fit inside the thing! I used a velcro swaddler; I think they work better.
(3) Run a fan or some other white noise in his room.
(4) Make sure his room is cool at night. This time of year, we tend to bundle up babies before bed and then crank the heat. They really do sleep better when the room is cool. Also, the feet-in, fleece pajamas are often too much. My son just swelters in those. He sleeps in cotton pants and a t-shirt.
(5) Take him to a chiropractor. I have a friend whose daughter was extremely colicky w/sleep issues, and chiropractic care resolved everything.
(6) Look into if acid reflux may be the problem.
(7) Look at food sensitivities or intolerances. They can crop up at any time, even when a food had previously been tolerated. I don't know if your baby is breastfed, formula fed, or both, but consider altering your diet and/or switching formulas. The most common allergies out there are cow's milk, wheat, and gluten. Switch to a formula that does not contain any of these, and eliminate these from your diet for 2 weeks and see if there is a difference.
If you've exhausted 1-6 and 7 sounds like too much of a pain, food intolerances can now be diagnosed through simple blood tests. I don't know how many MDs do this, but my family's Naturopathic Doctor does these tests.
