4 Month old wakes up every hour now

[timelessnomad]

So here is the most recent update. Last Thursday when I was giving her her vitamin D drop on my finger I felt teeth! She now has two front ones on the bottom. That night she slept a whopping 4 hours in a row lol. So my theory is that from 3.5 months it was a combo of sleep regression, learning new skills, and teething.

Since then she has been doing the below
7:30 bed
9-12 up and eat
2am up and eat
4-5:30am up and eat
6:30-7:00 up for the day

Its still not great and she is almost 6 months, but at least I can function on it.

The daycare has been going well. She is getting more used to her teachers and seems to enjoy it. Her naps go anywhere from 10 min to an hour, but still range around 30-40 min. Weekend naps are about 45 min, with the rare appearance of a 1-1.5hour stretch. Her dad doesn't sleep much so I'm starting to think that she inherited that from him...ugh.

She is consistently drinking 4 4oz bottles and the daycare wanted me to pack more, but I'm struggling to even make that much. I pump at 4:30am and get the most I get for the day 6-7oz. Then three times at work (9-10oz total), then I try for another at night but barely get anything. On the nights I watch her there is no 4:30am pump since I'm feeding her through the night and so my total oz for the day is 12 vs 16-20oz. I've only been making up for the needed oz's on the weekend but I've been dipping into the freezer stash as well. I'm taking herbal supplements and drinking lots of mothers milk tea, and also trying to up my water consumption. So far its just getting us by but that's better then not getting us by.

On the nights my husband watches her I have to come up with another 4oz for the bottle, and still get up for the 9-12pm feed since there isn't enough milk to give him more. I so wish I was an over producer, but still thankful that I can even breastfeed.

I started solids on Sat after the pediatrician gave me the ok. She is only a week and a half out from the 6 month mark. We're on day three of bananas and she seems to like it but not much actually makes it in her mouth lol. Its mainly for the daycare who says she is starving all the time. We had to try the food at home for three days but today I'll bring some bananas with breast milk mixed in and see if that keeps her less hungry.

Guess I'm wondering if EBF babies really sleep through the night by this point? So much of what I read is about formula fed babies sleeping, but is her current schedule of 3 feedings after her 7:30pm bedtime normal?

She still doesn't soothe much for me, but she has started soothing herself a bit more. At least one wake up at night, I just let her toss and turn and she goes back to sleep.

So progress....but sometimes it feels so slow. And then I start thinking about her next teething spout and if that will start this bad cycle all over again. Will she ever be a good sleeper, vs a sleeper that has boughts of just allowing me to function, vs not. I guess we will see.

Hang in there mama's and dada's if your dealing with the same thing.
Big hugs to all.

[ginger428]

Hi timeless!
Sorry for not responding earlier. So so happy that here’s been some progress for you. We’ve been miserable here for a while and we’re still getting mutiple wake ups within the first 3hours of bed. Not sure what that’s Bout. Then our routine is almost identical to yours.

Really glad daycare is going better. That’s a lot of pumping! And wow, teeth! I agree... must have been a combination of things.

Will she settle without eating at all? If she can, perhaps you can pump at those times on weekends  to up your stash?

I have the same thoughts going on... will he always be like this. Haha. His dad is also one of those that function on little sleep. My first is also a low sleep needs baby/child.

Apologies for the disjointed remarks... will come back ar some point when I can think better.
Hugs. Hang in there.

[timelessnomad]

Well figure its about time for an update. I am happy to report that things have gotten better. Basically 3.5-6 months was pure hell. I'm chalking it up to teething, learning new skills, and just having a kid that doesn't like to sleep. At 5.5 months I had a checkup with the dr and got the ok to start solids. It started off pretty slow, but she is now 7 months and eating pretty great. Her sleep seems to have settled into a rhythm that has been consistent for a few weeks now. Naps are still pretty much a disaster. Sometimes 15 min, sometimes the rare appearance of an hour, but now that she is sleeping better at night I'm not complaining. Even the daycare ladies say, "Wow this kid does not sleep! But at least she is happy"

7:00 up / nurse
8:30 breakfast at daycare
9:30 ish (maybe a nap, maybe not)
10:00 bottle at daycare
11:30 lunch
1:00ish they try for a nap
1:030sh bottle at daycare
4:00ish bottle at daycare
Sometimes she sleeps again for like 15 min before I pick her up. Sometimes she literally is awake from 1:30pm to 6:00 when I get her
6:00 pick up
6:30 dinner
7:00 nurse and get ready for bed
7:30 sleeping (this is usually always the same, she may have inconsistant naps, but she is pretty much always in bed by 7:30

9-10 1 wake up and nurse
1-2 2nd wake up and nurse
5am, sometimes she wakes up, but sometimes she sleeps till 7am
7am I wake her up

At her last checkup the doc said she doesn't need night feedings anymore, but that her top teeth are about to come through. So I've been nursing her for confort as she seems pretty unhappy at times. She is much easier to soothe though. She does use a pacifier at night (Wubbanub) but she can put it in herself. She is crawling and she will crawl over to it and put it right in her mouth so I figure that since I'm not doing it, its ok.

Once we're past the top teeth coming in I'm going to try an limit the nursing at night. I honestly don't mind getting up at 2 and im usually up by 5am anyway so its doable. And on my husbands nights he limits her to 4oz of bottle, and that works. We will probably start cutting down an oz a week at night when we feel like the time is right.

So anyway, hang in there if your dealing with a kid that doesn't sleep. Things do get better. At least now when she is teething, I understand the signs and can chalk the bad nights up to that. I celebrate the times when she sleeps for more then 4 hours at a time and cross my fingers that she doesn't revert again to being up every hour.

Ginger how are you these days?

Thanks for the support everyone.
Wishing everyone a good night of sleep.

[timelessnomad]

Well my baby girl is 8.5 months now. 4 teeth and doing great. We made it through coxsackie virus and her first cold. But guess what..she still doesn’t sleep. I look back at her logs and she literally slept more when she was a newborn. I’ve gotten a therapist and that’s definitely helped. But sleep is still horrible. I guess I’ve just resigned myself to the fact that this is who she is. She is a wonderful kid. Already able to climb a full set of stairs, cruises around furniture, crawls around so quickly, and loves her solids, but hates to sleep.
I’m still EBF and pumping at work. Here is her current schedule

7:00 wake and nurse
8:30 solids (2.5-3oz)
10:00 4 oz bottle at daycare or nurse on weekends
Around 10:15-10:30: Starts nap that can be 30min-1.5 hours
11:30 solids  (2.5-4oz)
12:30 4oz bottle or nurse in weekends
Around 1:00 - 2:30 starts nap that can be 30 min - 1.5 hours
2:30 snacks (puffs, cut up fruit and or veggies)
3:30 - 4:00ish : 4oz bottle or nurse on weekends
Around 4: catnap, maybe, or not and she is exhausted by bedtime
6:00 2.5-3oz solids

Is she had ok naps she does the below. If not then she she passes out at 6:30
7:00 nurse
7:30 bed, she puts herself to sleep. Sometimes crying for 5 min

9:30 up nurse
11:00 up nurse or husband does bottle
2:00 up nurse or bottle
5:00 up nurse or bottle
6:30-7:00 up for the day.....zzzzzzz bang head on wall and go to work.

Repeat

PUPD doesn’t work with her
Shush pat doesn’t work much either
She has never liked being rocked, but sometimes singing a lullaby works.
I feel like all that works is nursing’s.
When we’re home on the weekend I work on having her settle more on her own with naps. She will cry for 5-20 min and resettle.
Dr said she doesn’t need feedings, la leche group says night feedings are normal.

All I know is that I feel like this will never change at this point so I just power though and crash when I can.