Sleep going downhill...

[Kafri]

DS is 5m.

As a tiny he hardly slept at all and when he did it was upright on DH or I. As the weeks went on he started to sleep well, to the point that at 12 weeks he would sleep 7.30pm - 11pm. DH would wake him for a feed at 11, then straight back down and he'd sleep til 7.30/8am
Then we stopped his 11pm feed and he slept 8pm through to 6am isn.

As we got to 4.5m he started waking earlier - between 4.30 & 5.30, having a feed and going back down to sled til between 7 & 8.

Now he's waking 'at some point' in the night. One night it was just before midnight, another night it will be 2am, another it will be 4.30 - is this all 'normal'?

Getting up in the night is fine by me well, dont get me wrong, i'd prefer not to but you know... but the new problem we seem to be having is him not wanting to go to bed at night.

We have kept his routine the same so nothing has changed there. He still starts to get his tired cry, DH settles to give him his bedtime bottle (has always done bedtime so that's nothing new). He has his feed but then doesn't drop off the same as he used to and screams if DH pops him in his cot which also used to be fine

Any suggestions lovely MNers?

[Greypuddle]

I can't give you any answers, I'm afraid, but this is happening to us virtually word for word. Particularly the getting upset when put into his cot. We now get DS to sleep at around 9.30/10 in his cot but bring him into our bed for a feed when he first wakes up, at around 2. Mine's definitely hungry in the night, not just unsettled. I've decided it's just a phase (I tell myself this a lot). I was really reassured by another poster linking to this - www.psychologytoday.com/blog/moral-landscapes/201301/baby-sleep-training-mistakes-experts-and-parents-make. It seems to talk mainly about bf, but if you're ff, you might still find it a little reassuring!

[roamingwest]

Have read that erratic waking like that is usually hunger related? Maybe bump up feed volumes in evenings and see if it helps?

[Ethlinn]

The exact same thing is happening to us now!!! DS is 4 months now, started sleeping through the night at 10 weeks. And it's now all changing. He wakes literally EVERY night, any time between 3 and 5. Sometimes he will settle back to sleep without a bottle, sometimes needs a feed. Just like Greypuddle, I keep telling myself it's just a phase (or at least - I hope so!). He has been growing really fast recently and also learnt quite a few things (rolling over, flipping to his side etc) so maybe that's a factor too? And the heat - we're on holidays now (7 weeks at my parents') and it's incredibly hot here, so maybe that's the reason? I can't give any advise, but can only keep my fingers crossed that it stops soon!

[Kafri]

roamingwest I make him 8oz feeds and try my utmost to get him to have as much of it as I can but he rarely finishes them. He can drain 8oz as he does occasionally with his daytime bottles. He has a feed at 4.30/5.00 and then another at 7.30/8.00 then bed. He is on Aptamil Pepti 1 for his reflux and it is very watery so I wonder if he's ready to move onto the Pepti 2???

Grey and Ethlinn thanks for the replies, I really hope it's a phase. The getting up isn't so bad really, it's the starting to get reluctant to go to bed that's worrying me.
He never used to nap in the day as a tiny (screamed constantly) but now naps quite well. I don't think he over naps to be honest from what i'ver read is in the realms of normal. And to be honest, trying to keep in from napping when he gets tired and whiny is defo no fun for either of us.

[Ethlinn]

I would never stop my LO from napping during the day either! He gets so whiny when he's tired that I would soon regret it. He only catnaps anyway but needs his wee nap every couple of hours. Wish I could get him to sleep a couple of hours. DS has reflux too and he never used to sleep during the day when he was tiny so I feel your pain here .
Maybe talk to your HV about moving onto the Pepti 2? Although my HV says she would never recommend moving onto 2 earlier than 6 months (LO is on Nutramigen, still only taking 6 oz, feeding 5 times a day).

[Meringue33]

Four month sleep regression

[Ethlinn]

Just had a thought here when finished my previous post. My LO totally goes through funny phases with his bedtime and falling asleep too! We had a couple of weeks when he would be asleep within seconds after his bath, hardly even touching his last bottle (he was feeding enough during the day, so I wasn't particularly worried). Then we had a few weeks when it was a fight - us against him, still crying or wanting to play. We're now somewhere in the middle , he usually laughs now when goes to bed, which is hilarious. And me and OH never changed his bedtime routine! So maybe it really is just a phase. And it will soon be over!

[Kafri]

DH has just given DS his bedtime bottle and I changed his teat for the next size up. The packaging says 4m (he's on the MAM teats). When I tried them a fortnight back he spewed the whole bottle back up so I stuck with his No2 ones for a bit. Seems ok so far and has fallen asleep on DH so going to try putting him in his cot and see if his feed stays put and also how well he sleeps.

[Ethlinn]

Hope it all goes well! My DS is asleep now, I'm hoping it cools down a bit overnight (27 degrees in our room now ). And I am now wondering what time he wakes up tonight... Keeping fingers crossed for good night sleep for all of us

[Kafri]

Thanks. 27degrees eh, we're on 22 here which is just about right for me.
I'm going to head to bed myself soon, try and get some sleep in before he wakes up - I don't function very well without sleep so tend to get to bed early so DH handles any early wake ups then once he comes to bed it's down to me when he wakes but at least i've banked a few hours beforehand.

Good luck, i'll post how we do in the morning.