4 month night waking/ sleep regression

[Westsmom]

I am a first time mom to a 4 month old. Previously my baby ate every 3 hours during the day had poor 45 minute intruder naps and could do 8-9 hour stretches at night without needing a feed. We have always done a 3 hours easy since he was 3 weeks old. His EASY now looks like this: (but sometimes varies a half hour if he wakes up at 7 or 730)
E:730
A: 810-9
S: 9 (1.5 hrs)

E:1030
A:1110-12
S:12 (1.5 hrs)

E:130
A:210-3
S:3 ( sometimes only 1 hr)

E:430
A:510-620
S cat nap( 30-45 minutes)
Bed time routine ( bath)
E730 bed at 8 AWAKE in crib and he falls asleep on his own.

He would sleep until anywhere from 3-5 with one NW for a feed and back to sleep until morning.
However, for the past 3 weeks he is now waking multiple times at night ex: 1130, 230,530. At first I chalked it up to growth spurt/ sleep regression and I was feeding him each time he would wake. However I have noticed in the past few nights that he is only really hungry at the 230 or 530 feed and usually falls asleep within minutes of the other wakings at which time I wake him up to put him back in his crib. Any suggestions of how I can help him to only wake up when he is actually hungry?  Thanks
 

[newkidontheblock]

This might mean that it is time to push A times - you could move to a 3.5 EASY or a 4 hour EASY depending on what works for your LO in terms of spacing feeds. Many can't go that long between feeds to begin with. 

Quoting Tracy
"When 4 month olds are kept on a 3 hour routine, they have irregular naps and often wake up at night.If they don't naturally make the transition, we have to help them along."

Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!
Time to Transition - 3hr, 3.5hr or 4hr EASY
3-4hr EASY Transition – In 5 Minute Increments

I do think simply increasing A time will help you sort this out. FX

[Westsmom]

Thank you! I am going to try switching to a 3.5 hr easy and see how that goes! Xo

[Westsmom]

Today he has actually been doing a mix all on his own. I was just observing today before adding and A time but this is his EASY so far today.
E:700 wake and eat
A:2hrs
S:900 1.5 hrs
E:1030
A:2hrs
S1230(2hrs)
E:230
A:1.5 hrs
S:400

[newkidontheblock]

That looks perfect. How did the rest of the day go? And more importantly, how was the night? Of course, it would take a few days for any effects to show

[Westsmom]

He woke up at 530 ate, and ate again at 730 bed at 8. Up at 12 and 530 and 730 for the day.Today was not a typical day we had a lot of errands to run . We will be staying quiet for the rest of the week. I will post in a few days and let you know how its going. Thanks xo

[Westsmom]

So its been quite awhile and nw are actually getting worst. Over the weekend he was waking every 2 hours! And started waking early from his second and third naps ( first one still ok) I am wonderinf if he doesn't need an increase in activity time again? Is activity time right now is 2 hours. He is on a 3.5 or 4 hr easy, depends on his day. He just recently had two teeth come in so sometimes I would let him eat a bit early because his feedings were short due to pain I think.  I just want to add that at night when he wakes, it is like he is not fully awake. He will latch for 5 minutes then he is asleep again. For his naps though he is awake and plays a minute or two before whinning for me. So its almost like he is n't tired enough. If I go in I can have him settle again for the rest of his nap. Any opinion would be appreciated thanks!

[newkidontheblock]

Could you post a few days for me to see, hun? How old is he now?

[Westsmom]

Yes I will post yesterday and today tomorrow morning . He is 20 weeks

[newkidontheblock]

So you are just out of the storm! Do you follow the wonder weeks?

[Westsmom]

Just out if it? Haha I feel like I am smack dab in the middle! No i have not been following the wonderweeks. First I have heard of them

[newkidontheblock]

The wonder weeks are mental leaps that pretty much turn our babies' worlds around. They play havoc with sleep and moods but your baby picks up new skills with each leap. It is useful to keep a track of them so you can understand why your little darling starts behaving strangely every few months
http://www.thewonderweeks.com/

The week 19 leap was by far the worst for us. That combined with the 4 month sleep regression quite broke me. But it gets much better once you're out of this as A times move quickly and you drop to a 2 nap routine

[Westsmom]

Monday ( sunday night wakings were every 2 hours so thats why I left him sleep in)
E:820 up&eat
A: 2hr 4 min
S:In bed 1022 asleep1024( 1 hr & 15 min nap
1138 awake
E:1150
A: 2hr 22 min
S:Down 158 asleep 2(35 min nap) then went back down
Up at 335 ( 48 min nap)
E: 350
A: 2hr 40 min
CN 615-645(30min)
Bath
Ate 7
Bed at 806 sleep at 825
Nw 1135, 3 & 5
 
Tuesday
Up 715
E:725
A: 2hr 20 min
S: 925 bed 0935 nap( 1hr 10 min)
1045 up
E:1125 eat
A:2hr 50 min
S:Bed 105 Sleep 135-225
E:340
A: 2hr 40 min
S505 nap 545
7 bath 730 eat 815 sleep
Nw 1115, 245,6


As you can see its all over the place! Before the weekend he was only having 2hr to 2 hrs and 10
Min of A time. And he was taking 2-3 1.5 hr naps at least plus a cat nap before bath time.

[Westsmom]

He was up and ate at 730 this am then was put for a nap at 940. He played until 0950 and then slept until 1020. I resettled him, he slept for 5 more minutes and that was it. I don't know if its still his teeth bothering him or what is up. Hopefully it is just part of the wonder week.

[newkidontheblock]

A: 2hr 22 min
S:Down 158 asleep 2(35 min nap) then went back down
Up at 335 ( 48 min nap)

Probably a broken nap due to the extra long A

CN 615-645(30min)
Bath
Ate 7
Bed at 806 sleep at 825

This CN seems to be quite late, don't you think? I imagine it is because of the late start to the day but it might be better to opt for EBT instead

Nw 1135, 3 & 5

Do you dreamfeed? Would you consider it? This might be a growth spurt ..or maybe it was a growth spurt but now it is more like he isn't getting enough calories during the day? At least with the DF, we could rule out hunger as a reason.

Okay, so I'm leaving what I wrote already because it's done yk? But after looking at your second day and reading the rest of what you wrote, I would say that this is simply a phase of bad sleep, probably due to that pesky wonder week. That doesn't account for the extra NFs though -- do you nurse or is he bottle fed? Any way of upping his intake a bit to see if that makes a difference otherwise?