4 month old waking at night

[JordansMom]

My 4 month old baby boy has been waking between 10 and 11 p.m.   I have tried everything (I believe) and he still wakes up.  What can I do?

[Colin Macs Mom]

I was actually just going to post a very similar question. My 4 1/2 mo old was doing great sleeping for about a month - 6-7 hours at a stretch at night. It was heaven, I tell you. But now, since just before Christmas, he's been waking every hour or two hours if we are lucky. I have gone over absolutely everything and nothing has worked. Husband and I are desperate - this is really getting unmanageable as we both work. Any advice would be VERY appreciated.

[mthyne]

I was just wondering, are you two dreamfeeding?  Do your lo's take pacifiers?  And how do they sleep during the day?  I think it's been a general consensus that between 4-6 months sleeping goes into a tailspin.  Babies get so much more alert at this stage that they want to be up and observing, plus they like your company! 
Could you outline their routines a little, and what do you do when they wake up?  Pat/shh, pu/pd, re-insert paci, feed?
Melissa

[Colin Macs Mom]

I have never dreamfed, since he's not a heavy sleeper and would wake up immediately. He does take a paci to fall asleep, but spits it out as soon as he falls to deep sleep. It doesn't seem to be a prop, but at this point I hate to assume anything. My lo sleeps fine during the day, although we have never been able to get him to sleep in his crib during the day. Nighttime is fine, but for some reason he won't have the crib during the day. Usually he sleeps on the couch (with someone right there of course) unless he is held. He has been sleeping about 6 hours or even more sometimes during the day, which I fear is part of the problem so we're trying to cut back his sleeping time during the day. When he wakes at night, we give him the paci back and leave immediately or if he's really making a racket then we do shh/pat. He usually needs to eat between 4-5am - he's a big boy, just under 20 lbs now and wearing 6-9 mo clothes at 4 1/2 mo.

[Kimberly®]

the only thing I would change is that I feel you should feed him instead of giving him the paci or pat/shush.
2 reasons
1 he's most likely waking due to hunger.
2 he'll sleep longer through the night.
The time you say he wakes up are the times to do dreamfeeds. Perhaps you should try feeding him and see what happens.
If he falls asleep while feeding I wouldn't worry, as long as its not a habit and he can't sleep without eating.
I feed my LO (she's 4.5 months old) At 11pm and she now makes it right through till 7am. I can't say it would do the same for LO but it very well could. I don't think it would hurt to try it.

[mthyne]

Jessica--

I don't know if I would worry so much about the naps, they say a well rested child sleeps better at night.  If you did, maybe just by an hour or 1 1/2 hours at most.  Are his naps consolidated, or are they catnaps through the day?  Consolidated sleeping is supposed to help.  Also, is it full on crying, or just whining/mantra crying at night?  If you ignore it for a few minutes, what happens?  This never worked with my son, he just threw himself into a frenzy, but it did help with my daughter as she was able to settle herself. 
Something else I read on another post:  babies at this age are becoming more alert and aware.  You could start making A time a little more stimulating--not longer, but different.  Sit him up, play little games, sing songs, take him outside (of course, with our great NW weather you may have to wait on that! :? )--it may wear him out more so he rests better at night.
I know you don't want to do the dream feed, but it does take hunger out of the question of why he's waking.  My son is also a big boy, we df at 10:30 and he is able to go until about 6-7 in the morning.  He maybe wakes once a night (unless he's sick/teething--then it's about twice), but it's solved just by giving him his paci.
Now, one other thing I do that has helped (he used to get up several times a night), is put him on his tummy to sleep.  On his back he would kick his legs in the air, flail his arms all around and get himself riled.  On his tummy he's less mobile.  Now I know some people don't like tummy sleeping, but I don't worry since he's able to pick up his head so easily. 
Anyway, I'll stop the rambling.  Just wanted to shoot out a few ideas!
HTH
Melissa

[Sarah J]

hello,
this is the first time i have ever used this kind of facility but we are pretty desperate so i thought i would give it a bash.... 

my gorgeous, babe has been sleeping well from the start.  ( i used to feed him to sleep but now he settles himself with a dummy and blanket) at 5 weeks he was sleeping 10pm through to 7am.  for the past few weeks he has been sleeping from 730pm until i wake him at 7 am and taking 2 hour naps as per the four hour schedule - he is 19 weeks old.

however, for the past week or so it has all gone pear shaped, he is awake most of the night.... 

he typically wakes and plays by himself before becoming bored and crying at which point i will give him back his dummy.  where he used to then settle himself back to sleep he now seems to try to sleep and get distracted (with the bars of the cot or his blanket) or he just spits it out and cries again. 
he never seems to get into a state or scream and i am not convinced he is hungry although i have tried to increase his daily calories and have introduced the dream feed at 1030pm. 
he has been waking at around 1am and after settling for short peroids on and off he wakes again around 3 am to play or fuss.  he is usually then getting himself back to sleep (with dummy) around 6 or 6.20am, just before i wake him to start the day at 7 am!! 
his nap times are more of a struggle and he wakes earlier from them now. 

sorry its so long winded but we are struggling to think how we can help him.  he is soley breastfed, weighs 15lb 7oz and was 9lb 8oz at birth - could he need solid food maybe?

[Kimberly®]

Sarah,
Sounds like your LO may indeed need more then he's getting from his current feeds, however, I would suggest you talk to your DR about it. If they say to start then I would. Make sure you get your LO checked to make sure there isn't another reason for the change, suck as teething or an earake.

HTH...

[Colin Macs Mom]

Thanks a lot Melissa - his naps are consolidated, not catnaps throughout the day. Yesterday we limited his daytime sleep to 4 hours approx. and he did surprisingly well with it. I fed him at 3:45 am, didn't give him the paci back and then he slept until 8:15 this morning. BIG improvement! I am thinking that the paci did become a prop after all. We'll see what happens today/tonight.

Sarah, my lo just recently had his 4 mo. wcc with his doc, and we had been concerned because of his sleeping changes and he was also screaming bloody murder just at the sight of a bottle. It was awful! Doc said that about the time they hit 18 lbs they want real food. I had been considering it because my lo is so big for his age and has been really watching us eat - he even took a potato chip out of my husband's hand! So obviously she recommended starting him on rice cereal. We've been doing that about a week now and it took him a few days to adjust but now he's doing much better. Your lo might be a little small yet - can he sit well on his own? Is he watching you guys eat? Just some things to think about - at any rate definitely ask the doc before you start anything.

[Sarah J]

hey, thanks so much for getting back - i realised that i have probably posted my query in the wrong place so sorry but i am a beginner!!!
he doesnt take any extra attention when we are eating and his tongue thrust reflex is still present.  he is stitting quite well though and pretty much everything he gets in his little vice like grip to does find its way to his mouth. but you got me thinking about the teething.  his cheeks are very very rosey some days and he certainly does drool!!  i have packed in as many feeds as he will let me today and will feed him later too. i will have him checked over by my health visitor tomorrow as i would prefer to wait, if possible, before introducing solid food.  he certainly keeps me guessing!!