Hi all!
I have an 18 week old. When he was 12 weeks, he became a dream to put to sleep. I would literally feed him, put him swaddled with one arm out into the crib (while awake), give him a pacifier, and he would be asleep within a minute or two, max. He'd give me 7 hours, feed, and then another 4 hours, at which point I would wake him at 7 to start the day. We had a great EASY routine, too!
Then the 4 month sleep regression hit with a vengeance. I realized the pacifier had become a prop, and he had me running to reinsert it DOZENS of times a night. Obviously unsustainable. He also became harder to put down for both naps and night sleep.
I decided to start sleep training this week. Early, yes, but I figured he would be able to handle it. I put him in a sleep sack and took the soother away completely and just placed him in the crib after feeding him with the intention of using the Ferber method.
He took about 15 minutes to fall asleep, but for the first time ever, he would wake up 10 minutes later screaming, then finally go back down, then 40 minutes later, back down, an hour, back down, etc. Etc. I never had to intervene/comfort as he would scream, pause, scream, repeat. Anyway, as bedtime was always between 6:30-7:30 depending on how naps went that day, I finally went in to feed him around 10:30 (I figured if he was awake for 4 hours on the whole, perhaps he is now hungry and needs food despite drinking 5 oz before bedtime). After feeding, he would fall asleep within 20 minutes, give me 7 hours, feed, and then I would wake at 7.
This happened 2 nights in a row.
My question is...
Is me feeding him at 10:30 (not a dream feed. He's wide awake) causing another sleep crutch, or is he actually hungry? I can't figure out all the false starts! Once he does eventually pass out he is AMAXING. I just need to figure out why he won't stay asleep initially. Is this something that should go away in a few days or a week?
Thank you!