Night wakings Waking at 4 1/2 months

[wiggleworm]

My baby has been on EASY since 1 month old and has done great she is now on the feedings every 4 hours for about 3 weeks and has done fine until this last week. She is waking inconsistently in the middle of the night. She doesn't cry, she wants to play and babble. It takes about 30 min. to get her to go back to sleep by shh, pat and paci. She also has been swaddled since birth and 1 month in the kiddapotimus from Babies-R-Us. She only has a bowel movement every 3 days and the pediatrician told me to give her a tablespoon of Karo syrup every other day if no bowel movement. Last night she woke at 3:15am and was moving around with eyes open and passing gas, she finally fell back to sleep after paci 30 min. later. She then woke again at 4:15 and did the same thing except I can't recall gas this time. Anyway, some nights she may wake at 4:30 and week in periods of every 15 min. I finally just made a bed in her floor!!! I was getting so exhausted running back and forth to her room.
I also thought maybe she needed more food she was getting 6 ounces and now I started another ounce to 7 ounces every 4 hours. She takes it all most of the time. She also had two bowel movements yesterday and still did not sleep through the night. What is so frustrating is she was doing so great until now! 

this is our everyday routine

7:00am wake/eat/diaperchange/play
9:00-11:00am morning nap (this week she wakes up after 45 min and I have to put in paci/pat/shh her)
11:00am wake/feed/diaper change/activity
1:00-3:00pm afternoon nap (once again she still has to be paci/pat and shh! for at least 20 min somewhere during her nap.)
3:00pm wake/feed/diaper/and activity
5:00-5:45 nap(she naps without waking)
5:45 wake and play
6:30pm eat/diaper and bath
7:30 sleep

Patting during the day vs. night is the same, it seems as if she wakes up and when you go to her to put in her paci she smiles at you and is ready to play!

Thank you so much for your help! I will take any advice I can get
Thanks,
Tonya

[teezee]

maybe try extending the A time a bit by 15 min or so..read a book or something low key and you also may want to try limiting the catnap to no more than a half hr. if the catnap is too long or too late in the evening it could interupt nighttime sleep.

[Elphyrafire]

Not much advice from me but maybe sympathy instead?
At 4 months DS started the same antics- getting up to laugh and babble. Have you tried letting him do his thing without going in? I mean, it backfired for us a few times in that after 45 mins he started crying.
I'm beginning to think it's a developmental thing- why at 4 or 5 months? I have no idea! I hear that often from people.
We have had some success with Wake-2-Sleep (lots of posts about it on the board). ((HUGS))

[wiggleworm]

Guess What!!! She slept through the night!!!! After trying almost everything except solid foods I decided to break the swaddle. She slept without both hands out all night and slept through the night. It was like she was free and able to sleep! I had no idea that this was the problem and no one did. She also took great naps and back to her regular schedule.
Thanks for all the advice! Keep this as a solution to sudden night wakings at 4 months!!!
Joyful and rested,
Tonya

[Elphyrafire]

Helllllllllooooooooooo! I've always been scared to try.! It's the only thing I haven't done- have given him one arm free but never full freedom. Does it work at naps, too? Trying it tonight!

[teezee]

congrats!!

[Renee'sMum]

OMG!!  Mine is doing the exact same thing!!!  Doing it right now in fact and it is 2:15 am---has been awake for 1/2 hour.  She already sleep without arms swaddled, so that can't be it.  Must be some sort of growth thing at this stage by the sounds of it.  I usually feed her around now, but she usually falls back to sleep.  My day looks like yours, except at the end of the day I feed her at 6pm, bath, massage, read story and then cluster feed at 7pm.  I am breastfeeding.  She then wakes at 10pm wanting to eat---we have done sh-pat to make her wait to eat, but that doesn't change anything---she still wakes the next night at 10pm.  Last night she woke around now; I fed her and she went back to sleep. She then woke at 5:15am wanting to play, wouldn't go back to sleep. I finally fed her around 6am, thinking was a growth spurt situation. She stayed awake until 8:30, slept for only 1 hour, wouldn't go back to sleep.  I waited to feed her at 11am.  Went back to sleep at 12:30 and slept til 2:45am. 
Is this just a developmental time?  Should I be feeding her still around now (2am)? Is this something that she just needs to work thru?
Tired!!

[Renee'sMum]

So I thought I had her back to sleep...nope! So my dh went in and finally got her to sleep at 3:15am.  She woke again at 4:45am..sounded lilke she was playing, but then was crying.  Tried to get her back to sleep...nope.  So, I thought maybe hungry, growth spurt.  She ate for about 5-8 minutes (I'm BF).  She's just not going back to sleep!!! Seriously considering switching to formula so I can better monitor her food intake, maybe help get her to sleep thru night.  I am sooo tired! (have my own health issues working thru, too).