Desperate, was sleeping and now is not....

[abauer]

I have a 4 and a half month old baby boy.  He was full term but only weighed 5lb 12oz. He has been playing catch up with his weight.  I stopped breastfeeding when he was 3 months.   Once I switched to formula he really added on the weight.  He now weighs about 13 lbs.  He was doing great for about a month, going to bed at 7:30 and waking consistently at 3:30am and again at 7am.  All of a sudden for the past 2 weeks, he wakes at 12:30am and cries for 2 hours on and off.  I have been doing the PU/PD method and not feeding him.  It does not seem to make any difference because he is still doing it.  My frustration has escalated and I don't know what to do or why this is happening.  Please help!
 

[Scrapbooker]

I'm sorry I don't have any answers for you, but it sounds hard and frustrating.  I hope it gets better soon.

[andibig]

my first thought is he may be hungry.Have you tried feeding him?very possibly going through a growth spurt

[abauer]

I am so torn about it because many sources have said not to feed him or else the cycle will continue.  This is our first baby and I am trying so hard to put him on the right track but at the same time, maybe I am depriving him of food!!!   I suppose tonight, I should feed him and see what happens!  It seems so odd that for a month or more he was going 8 hours and all of a sudden he will only last a few.  I am scared that he will adjust to the new routine of receiving food at 12:30am instead of 3am!  Has anyone had a similar experience?  I really appreciate the advice!! 

[andibig]

i know how you feel and i went through exactly the same things when Sasha was little!!its a huge learning curve
remember he is only 4.5 mths old.when they are that young they go through a LOT of growth spurts etc.
sasha was sleeping through from 8 weeks but would still have occ nights when she needed a feed during the night.
i understand that you don't want to create a habit but lets just see if its hunger thats waking him.if not then we can look at other possibilities.

[barryzchick]

I had come to the boards tonight to post this very same message!!  My sympathies are with you.  My little girl is also 4 1/2 months old - was sleeping beautifully and then the last two weeks have been NO GOOD!  My pediatrician said that it could be due to hunger, so in spite of my desire to wait until six months to start with cereal (I am breastfeeding still), I have started to give her cereal once a day.  We're on day three - so far, still no luck.  So, now I have no idea what to do.  I do not feed her when she wakes up in the middle of the night, and she goes four hours during the day (we are using EASY) between feedings.  I'm a zombie.  I hope others give you some ideas!

Good luck - j

[Ruggie]

My lo went thru the same thing, and it was  genuien growth spurt (waking up at different time, taking in a full feed), and it lasted for 10 days, I was a zombie, and then it developed into a habit (waking up at same time and only sucked for comfort).
While its important to avoid developing a bad habit, you need to recognise geniuen hunger. After I have est that it was a habit and not hunger, I weened him off the night sleep by offering water and diluted milk and decreasing the quantity over a week.
Let hope your LO wont develop a habit like mine.
HTH

[abauer]

Thank you so much for all of the feedback.  Ironically, a few days after I posted the question, my LO seemed to revert back to his old schedule. 7:30pm-3am-7am!  I now know that he must have been hungry and I held off feeding him!  Oops!  This was my first experience with a growth spurt so I will know better next time!

[andibig]

abauer
glad the sleeps back to normal .