Baby sleep at 3 and a half months

[Pinetreeland]

My 3.5 month old naps really quickly during the day, after perhaps nursing for 10 minutes each time. But for going to bed at night (we put him to bed around 7.30 every night), he fusses a lot and typically will take more than 1 hour of nursing/fussing/kicking before he will fall asleep. During all these time he shows all the signs of tiredness such as yawning, rubbing eyes etc. When he nurse, it wasn't like a continuous feed, he spent more time kicking and turning his head while nursing for 10-20 seconds each time.

This is very exhausting for me and I wonder whether anyone has any tips and advice for me?

[ThePippy]

Maybe his bedtime is too late? My DD used to find it harder to fall asleep when she was over tired. You could try moving his bedtime to 7 or even 6.30 to see what happens.

[Pinetreeland]

Thanks I'll give it a go - it's a shame though - if he sleeps even earlier his dad will miss him in his awake state completely as he only gets home half 6.

[ANTagony]

My four month old DD was/ is similar. The health visitor said it was cluster feeding as she was starting to want more as she was growing/ having a growth spurt. I'm demand feeding and as shes growing she goes longer in the day (especially if we're busy) so its easier for her to be almost a feed down by bedtime.

I started introducing an earlier feed at about 4.30 then another at 5.30 then the final pre bedtime one at around 6.45.

Things are not perfect but it does seam to have calmed the frustrating bedtime hour of me knowing shes tired and wishing she knew that was whats wrong.

[naturalbaby]

my baby is 4months tomorrow and has been going through a grizzly growth spurt. a lot of the feeds he spends looking up at me in surprise every few seconds, then grinning which is very cute but not getting the job done!
sleep wise i'm doing gina ford so aiming for 1hr in the morning, 2hrs at lunch time, 1hr max in the afternoon. awake from 5-7 then bed. last night he was slumped bleary eyed on dh for hours all evening so we just kept him up till he complained then he went to bed from 9-4, good feed then back to bed till 7. this is a tricky age so try and stick to your regular routine to help baby but don't get too worried if things are all over the place for a while.

[Pinetreeland]

Yeah my baby is doing exactly the same - sometimes during feed he just such for 2 seconds and look up and smile at me and starts chatting for 15 seconds and then go back for the breast. This repeats again and again but he looks so cute when he does that...

[AngelDog]

Sounds like he's overtired from too late bedtime / too long awake between naps / too short naps. By this age, a nap of less than 30 mins doesn't count as a nap, according to the sleep books.

Will he sleep longer in the pram or sling in the day?

I'd try putting him to bed earlier. At this age, most babies can't stay awake for more than 1.5-2 hours before needing another sleep again.

[boredbuthappy]

OP - Definitely try moving bedtime to a bit earlier. Babies have a very short but very definite window of being able to settle to sleep once they are tired. If you go past this window of opportuny, what happens is exactly what you describe.

[brettgirl2]

What happens if you leave him to kick and fuss on his own?