4 month old night waking every hour - mama's desperate!

[aleliap]

My four month old has never been a great sleeper, but it doesn't even seem to be getting better as he gets older (in fact, it's getting worse!). I haven't had a stretch of sleep over 3.5 hours since he was born and am starting to feel delirious!

Until last week he was on the three-hour EASY because it is virtually impossible to keep him up more than 1.5 hours. But DH and I have really been working on it and following Tracy's 3-hour to 4-hour transition plan. We've managed to push him back about 15 minutes thus far (in 1.5 weeks) so it's slow going.

His schedule right now looks like this (and is being pushed toward the 4-hour every 3/4 days)
6:30/7 wake up
7 eat
7:15-8:45 activity
8:45- 10:15 sleep (not uninterrupted, but he settles pretty easily)
10:15 eat
10:30-12 activity
12-1:15 sleep
1:15 eat
1:30-2:45 activity
2:45-4:45 sleep
4:45 eat
sometimes catnap around 5:30, if so 7/7:15pm bedtime, if not 6:45 bedtime

he usually wakes 1-3 times before I dreamfeed him at 10, but settles right back to sleep with paci/shh pat
after dreamfeed he makes it to 12:30 or1:30 after 1:30 he's been waking up every hour until the last two days when it's been every 30 minutes.

I'm trying to eliminate night feedings per my pediatrician's advice (my kid is 18lbs!!! so no shrinking violet) and she said he should be able to go 10 hours (and if he does then my husband and I can trade off nights which would be a huge help since I work full time).
That being said, I generally feed him around 4am and he will usually sleep until almost 7, though sometimes he keeps waking up every hour even after feeding.

I know that this makes it sound like he must be hungry and hence waking up all the time, which could be true, but he was night waking every hour BEFORE I started cutting out the feedings. Which is why I started cutting them out so that my husband and I could split the time.

I am desperate to get some sleep, as I'm sure he is...can anyone give me some advice???

[AndieP]

I know that this makes it sound like he must be hungry and hence waking up all the time, which could be true, but he was night waking every hour BEFORE I started cutting out the feedings

There could be a number of factors here, but to me it sounds like he's developed sleep association to feeding. He wakes up during the night wanting to suckle even though he doesn't need feeding. This is fairly common with babies who don't sleep through, and it can be caused by overfeeding when they are a newborn. However, your schedule seems fine in terms of the number of feeds. It's hard to say without knowing all the details, but I think your pediatrician's advice about trying to eliminate the night feedings is spot on. Just persevere with it!

He also seems to struggle to self soothe. Some babies just get this easier than others. Does he settle easily before his night's sleep?

To encourage self-soothing...

1) Make sure he doesn't fall asleep during his last feed before placing him in his crib. You can tickle his foot to keep him awake if you need to
2) Try doing this for daytime naps before doing it at night

Good luck!

[aleliap]

Thanks for your reply! I'm so at my wit's end!

He actually goes to sleep like a dream, both for nap times and night time. We swaddle him and lay him down awake and he goes to sleep beautifully. Occasionally he will lose his pacifier before he falls into a deep sleep and will cry for it, but not always and once it falls out when he's asleep he doesn't wake up. But when he wakes up later he soothes quickly with the pacifier...so it's probably a prop but that can't be all that's causing the problem (I don't think).

any other ideas? am I just stuck?!

thanks again for your help!

[Khalam's Mama]

Your routine looks ok. He is on the low side of A time so it is great you are starting to stretch it out. Maybe aim for 2hrs.

All those NW sounds like maybe he is in pain. Is he bf or bottle? Does he have any reflux or allergies? Have you tried pain meds?

Obviously your pead has seen him and given advice about weaning NF and you have to do what you think is right but I am not convinced this is going to help tbh. Not all bubbas can sttn at this age.

[katie80]

Obviously your pead has seen him and given advice about weaning NF and you have to do what you think is right but I am not convinced this is going to help tbh. Not all bubbas can sttn at this age.

This! My DS was big as well, I think 17/18 lb at 4mo and 20lb at 6mo and he definitely still needed two BFs a night until around 7mo. Size isn't really a deciding factor in how long a LO sleeps at night. I'd keep going with at least two feeds and resettle the other wakes.

I also think it sounds like he could be in some discomfort from all those wakings. It could be a paci prop as well, but I'd rule out pain first. (((Hugs)))

[Khalam's Mama]

In fact some sleep experts say the bigger they are the longer it will take to sttn as they have higher calorie requirements. Mine were both huge and did not sttn at this age.