Author Topic: 4.5 month old waking up multiple times at night and at 4:30 for a feeding  (Read 1493 times)

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Offline katiemac11

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My 4.5 month old baby boy can be a good sleeper but each night we have different issues:
1.  I have tried to get my baby to fall asleep on his own, but he won't.  He will just lay in his crib talking  and sometimes whining trying to fall asleep.  Last night he talked for 30 minutes before I went in, picked him up and he was out cold.  I have tried patty him but he will wake up about 15 minutes later.  The only real way to get him to sleep for the night is to let him fall asleep drinking his bottle or picking him up and he is out cold in my arms.
2.  Some nights he will wake up (talking not crying) mutliple times and I will put the pacifier in his mouth and he goes right back to sleep.  (He only takes a pacifier in the middle of the night)  I tried the patting / soothing but it only last for a few minutes.  By catching him early in his talking / waking and putting the pacificer in he falls back to sleep pretty quickly.
3.  He wakes up at 4:30 to nurse (this will have been about 7.5 to 8.25 hours he will have been in bed / sleeping.  I have tried the going in an hour earlier but that just leads to us being up from 3:30 till about 5:15.

I know you are only supposed to tackle one issue at a time, but any suggestions / guidance / etc is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Offline Martini~

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Could you please post your routine here?

And also I do not get a point about him waking at 4:30 for feed:). Is it bad? 7-8h from previous feed is an amazing number and I wouldn't count on more at this age. Is he going back to sleep after a feed? Is it always 4:30 or around 4:30? Do you dream feed?
~Marta

Offline katiemac11

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7:45 tub, 8:00 lotion, jammies and magic sleeper sack, 8:05 bottle, 8:15 in crib asleep

Everyone keeps telling me he should be able to do 10 hours. He will wake up at 4:20-4:35 like clockwork, which per the book led me to believe it was habit not hunger. He only nurses for about 7/8 minutes before he is out cold.

Thank you!!!

Offline Martini~

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Ok. We would need your full day routine (wake up, when he naps, what is his awake time etc) to understand if he may be overtired or undertired at bedtime (two main reasons to fight BT).

Regarding feeds, 8h for a 4,5mo is a very good stretch and do not listen to "everybody":). There are kiddos who will do 12h but really not many of them. Frankly speaking more of hem will have even 2NF until 6mo! However what you can try is establish a DF around 10:30-11pm (feeding when asleep). If he can make 8h w/o a feed he could go till 7am what would be a great result. My DS is 4,5mo and we DF. Thanks to that I have no hunger wakings and if no other problems, he sleeps till 7. Do you know how to start a DF?
~Marta

Offline katiemac11

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I truly appreciate your help!

He used to go to bed at 8:30 and he couldn't even finish his bottle so working to get him in his crib by 8. But a "typical day is"
6:30 up
7:30 6 ounce bottle
9:30 90 to 120 min nap
11:45 6 ounce bottle
1:30 120 minute nap
3:30 6 ounce bottle
6:00 40 min nap
6:45 5 ounce bottle
7:45/8 ish bedtime routine

How would I do a dream feed?

Offline Martini~

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His day seems to be quite long (14h), that may lead to OT. On the other hand his catnap is quite late and he might be not tired enough to go to bed. Is he waking from the catnap by himself?

I would consider resigning from catnap as he has two long naps and go for earlier BT. So if his 2h nap ends at 3:30 and he got up for the day at 6:30, I would try to put him down at 7:00-7:30 (depending on how tired he is). If you think he cannot cope until 7:00-7:30 (as it is a long awake time), I would try to APOP a catnap as early as possible (ie at 5:00-5:30) and cap it after 15min. Than aim for BT at 7:30.

If that doesn't work, and you cannot yet go on 2 naps but there is no time for catnap, you should cap his earlier naps (sic!) to still manage to do a catnap. We are currently doing that:/ - and I hate it but that's the only thing which works. Probably the best solution will be to cap his first nap at 40-45min mark, than make second nap after a slightly shorter A (15-30 min) and aim for 2h nap. And than you make a catnap but remember to cap it around 2-2,5h before BT so not to have a bedtime fight.

Regarding DF, that's easy. Around 10-11pm you sneak to his room and put a bottle in his mouth:). He should start eating:). When asleep! There are many problems which you may have, but give it a try and let's see what will happen!
~Marta