almost 4 months old and still not sleeping

[x_harmoni_x]

My LO will be 4 months old on Sept 5th and he is still waking up hungry at least twice a night, last night he was up every 1.5-2 hours. I feel like I am doing something wrong. We have a very good bedtime routine and I have no issue getting him to go to bed, but I cant seem to get him to stay asleep. Could he be waking up for some other reason other than being hungry? Would he eat if he wasnt hungry? Last night he wasnt in his woombie so I think that might have contributed to it, but if he was rubbing his eyes and that was waking him up then why did he need to eat too?
I found a horrible website with sleeping advice and now I feel like I am doing soemthing wrong. The website I found said that at the most he should only be getting up once.

[Jacksmommy]

Well, if it makes you feel any better, my son was 2 or 3 years old before he slept through the night, and even then it wasn't all the time.
Your baby is still so young, and if he's waking in the night then he needs you. He may be teething, or reaching a milestone. He may just need to be close to you. Yes, for all of those reasons he would probably want to nurse. It's very comforting.
Do you co-sleep after he wakes up the first time or at all? It may be a way for you to get more sleep.

[Amy_G_]

Other people's expectations of how young babies should sleep thru the night are horribly inaccurate and make you feel incompetent. But his sleeping pattern is perfectly normal for his age.

[x_harmoni_x]

We tried co-sleeping and it didnt work very well. He is a noisey sleeper and I have a hard time positioning with side lying where my arm always goes numb. He does use a paci, but when he is hungry he spits it out, so I know all last night he wanted to eat. He has been going through something though, maybe teething. I would have to give him a paci first before he would take my boob. I would have to pull the paci out abd sneak my boob in, so maybe his mouth was hurting? I wish I was better at figuring out what is going on.

[Aleida]

My daughter, nearly 3, sometimes co-sleeps with us, sometimes not. She is up in the night once or twice. It seems there are spurts when she slept through the night at 10 months- I remember feeling like the only one who's baby didn't sleep through at 3, 4, and 5 months. So, every baby is different. My daughter was a great napper (and still is), which she needs to get through a day. I had been told to cut out her naps so she would sleep the night and it was hell! She couldn't handle her grumpy self by dinner time, nor could we.

At 4 months, I think it would be quite normal to be waking up a few times (for a cuddle, to nurse, or whatever).

[StillSingingMom]

I wish I was better at figuring out what is going on.


We all feel this way. It's nice to be able to come her for ideas.

It's also common to have a growth spurt at four months. Your baby may really be waking up hungry.

[crystal555rose]

I love threads about sleeping. Then you see how different every baby is and how unpredictable they are. My son has a virus and has been congested which makes him wake up, so last night I was expecting the worst. He slept through- which was almost more stressful! I woke up six times to check on him!

Letting go of the idea that my son "should" be sleeping through the night has alleviated a lot of stress for me.

[Amy_G_]

You might find this interesting. Of course it may or may not describe your exact issue

http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/4mo-sleep.html

or info on sleep studies in babies
http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/sleepstudies.html

[crystal555rose]

Nice information Amy G. But this freaked me out:

A worrying 31% of 25-38 month-old children were disciplined (mostly smacking) to get them to settle. 27% of parents let their children cry, 11% at less than one month.

Letting a newborn cry it out!?!?! Isn't that child neglect or something? Spanking your child "to get them to settle"? Although this study was done in Australia I have a feeling this is just as common in the US.

Thanks for posting!

[x_harmoni_x]

Thanks ladies!! I am going to try letting him whine a little bit before going in. I am not going to let him CIO, but I think I may be waking him up when I ran to him as soon as I hear any sounds. I am also going to try feeding him from 3pm until bed time in his room where it is quiet.

[ima062002]

Here are my personal stats (just so that you have another example :)):

Dd1, slept through the night out of the hospital, gained weight too slowly and HAD to be woken forever... only to stop sleeping through the night for about a year - teething, hitting milestones, maybe missing mom? or a combo thereof.

Ds, never slept more than 2-3 hours in a stretch during the night until he was about 3.

Dd2, used to wake at least once a night, mostly more, until she was about 2.

Very few kids I know slept through the night from early on.

[Brianna]

Your not alone. Ds1 started sleeping through the night around 2 yrs on most nights. My 6 month old nurses every few hours through out the night. I think its pretty common for babies and young children to wake at night.

[x_harmoni_x]

I just wanted to give everyone an update. All of a sudden he started sleeping 7 hours. Go figure, i guess his body just wasnt ready yet. Sometiems he will wake up because he drops his paci, but most nights he sleeps from 10-4 or 5.

[StillSingingMom]

I just wanted to give everyone an update. All of a sudden he started sleeping 7 hours. Go figure, i guess his body just wasnt ready yet. Sometiems he will wake up because he drops his paci, but most nights he sleeps from 10-4 or 5.


Remember this when some poor new mom is tearing her hair out because her baby "is supposed to be sleeping all night!" Pass it on. When they're ready, they sleep.

[x_harmoni_x]

LOL well I had to say something right? Now he is back to being up every 2 hours again after 5 days of 7 hours. haha, oh well. I am sureb he will be ready again at some point.

[Got2chilluns]

Teehee.. DD is 3mo old and Every once in a while will sleep more than 4hrs at a time. Last night she slept from about 8-11 and then until 6am! Thats a record. DS, on the other hand, slept thru the night from 3mo of age on... before that he was every 3hrs like clockwork..

I love hearing about babies sleeping habits. Its so true that each one is different, but it doesnt stop us moms from agonizing over it!