Four month old has gone from sleeping through to multiple wakings- please help

[missmargot]

DS has just turned four months and has been on EASY since he came home from hospital. He's always been a great sleeper, waking for a feed when needed and then straight back to sleep. He naps well in the day, I always put him down awake and he self settles brilliantly.

He had been sleeping 7pm-6am with a 10pm dream feed until 3 weeks ago when it all started going wrong. Initially he was waking for a feed, which wasn't a problem, then he started waking habitually at certain times but then a few days later it went haywire. Some nights he sleeps through, then the next night he might wake every half an hour. He has also developed a habit of playing around 4am, shouting and laughing and getting very excited. We ignore this completely and leave him in his cot but it can take him an hour to settle back to sleep.

Any advice gratefully received!

[Layla]

Hi and welcome to the BW

Could you please post your daytime routine... it may be a case of changing his daytime routine

[missmargot]

Thanks for the welcome 

His routine is very straightforward, we have been following EASY since he was born. A typical day goes like this:

6am wake and 6oz bottle
8:15am sleep
9am 6oz bottle
11:15am sleep
Midday 6oz bottle
2:15pm sleep
3pm 6oz bottle
5:15 sleep
6pm 6oz bottle
Bath, massage and bedtime story then in bed for 7/7:30pm
10pm 6oz dream feed

He doesn't always drink all 6oz but usually takes at least 5oz. The sleeps can vary slightly in length but are usually 30-45 mins.

This routine worked brilliantly until a few weeks ago when he stopped sleeping through. I have increased his feeds in line with his demands as he has grown.

[Layla]

You may need to look at transitioning him to 4hr EASY (increasing feeds to 4hrs) and he may need a slight increase in A time to 2.5hrs. You may find him sleeping longer during the day too if you increase his A time...2x1.5hr naps and a catnap as opposed to 4 short naps. For us, waking up early and wanting to play was an indication of needing more A during the day and a routine change. When he wakes from a short nap, is he crying or happy? Does it look like he needs more sleep? Are you able to resettle him back to sleep or leave him in the cot for another 15mins or so to try and get back to sleep? Is he working on anything new? It could also be developmental (if he's rolling over and waking up). There is a big sleep regression at 4 months too and during a sleep regression period, its best to stay as consistent as you can be without using props and it should pass.

[missmargot]

Thanks for the advice Layla. I should have said that we have only recently moved from 2 hour EASY as until a few weeks ago he was little and often with his feeds so 3 hours has been big progress for us.

I think changing the naps may well help though, he always seems better at night if we've had a car journey or similar and he's had a longer than usual nap. He's always happy when he wakes from a nap.

He has also had a big development leap recently, he rolled for the first time a few days ago so this could be contributing too.

Thanks very much for the advice, will try changing his nap times.