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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

4 month old- my content little girl is now so irritable! At wits end!

16 replies

cheekymonk · 15/06/2011 20:53

Hi all, well is as the title says really. DD now 17 weeks/4 mths yesterday has been an angel, sleeping through, feeding well etc but its all changed! She now wakes at least once a night (btw I know this is still good going), usually around 5am and is starving but sometimes its 2/3. I have upped her feeds to 7ozs and she usually feeds every 3 hours but sometimes its more. I hve upped again to 8ozs for some feeds.
She always wakes up cranky now and today has been really upset and frustrated. I have changed from aptamil 1 to 2 this week so am wondering if she is unhappy with the change of formula. Today she has been pulling herself up to the bottle really guzzling at it then getting really fretful and pulling away. She is on 3 mths teats so I don't think the flow is the prob or the temp. I have taken her out in pram and she has been asleep within 10 mins.
Her daytime sleep is all over the place, going from bigger sleeps to the odd 1 hour sleep.
She may be teething but I feel like I'm failing but not picking up on the exact problem. I did think she may need weaning but HV has told me to hold off until she has doubled birth weight and drains 9ozs every 2 hours. Her weight is fine and following the centile she's on.
Any ideas/suggestions? I know 4 mths is a big growth spurt but this is unbearable. MY DS aged 6 is suffering from the constant crying as I can't give him any attention (DH works away in week). Please help! x

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Moulesfrites · 15/06/2011 20:57

My ds is 20 weeks and has just come out of a grizzly period which started around 15 weeks. He is ebf and went from waking once a night to every 2/3 hours. It may be the 4 month sleep regression - very common, as well as a massive growth/developmental spurt. Tbh it's just guesswork trying to figure out what is wrong - teething crops up a lot when speaking to people but my ds still has nothing to show for it! I'm sure it is just a phase and it will pass, but you have my sympathies.

I dont know anything about bottles or ozs etc but someone who does will be around too I'm sure!

titferbrains · 15/06/2011 20:57

you need to read about 4 month sleep regression and its impact on other behaviour. This kind of change is pretty typical at 4mo - I saw it in my baby and lots of my mum friends have reported a big "change" in their previously easy/straightforward/angelic babe...

LilRedWG · 15/06/2011 20:57

Wow - I could have written this post. DS is one day older and being exactly the same. Will watch with interest.

LilRedWG · 15/06/2011 20:59

Ds is ebf.

Original poster

cheekymonk · 15/06/2011 21:05

Thanks for that, will have a look. How do you know the difference between growth spurt + sleep regression and needing weaning? I am yrying to follow HV advice but everyone is telling me to ignore them and crack on with the weaning! What if she got ill because I had ignored their advice?? I did wean ds early and that was all fine but guidance was not so stict then. I am stressed out!

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Original poster

cheekymonk · 15/06/2011 21:05

as my poor spelling shows!

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Moulesfrites · 15/06/2011 21:09

I know, everyone said the same to me "Give him a bit of baby rice, it'll not do him any harm..." ad infinitum!

I just tried to read up as much as I could about weaning and made the informed decision to wait - there is no guarantee it would make any difference anyway! The advice seems to be if they are hungry to give them more milk, as it has far more calories in it than any food you could offer at this stage.

It is really hard, I completely sympathise - you have it a lot tougher than me with another child to cope with too - ds is my pfb. All I can say is that it will pass.

sweetuphoria · 15/06/2011 21:25

I sympathise, and I wish I could give you some advice but unfortunately My little angel DD who was sleeping through the night and hardly ever cried has been moody, grizzly and waking several times a night since about 17wks (she is now 23 weeks and I am sorry to say its still happening).

I'm pretty sure it is the developmental stuff that is happening and also I think she is teething but jeez never thought it would go on for this long!!

matana · 15/06/2011 21:51

Have faith - it'll pass!

Kiwiinkits · 15/06/2011 22:06

She's hungry. Give her some baby rice once a day at lunchtime; won't harm. Mine started weaning that age and she's a fabulous eater.

Beaurevage · 15/06/2011 23:17

There's a book called The Wonder Weeks that covers the various developmental leaps and all the wonderful things that come with them. Have only just bought it myself but so far it is fairly spot on in relation to what my DS is going through at 12/13 weeks.

Original poster

cheekymonk · 16/06/2011 13:56

Well, I will stick to milk for now but if it lasts much longer then I will rethink! Thanks all. Will have a look at that book too x

OP posts:

Octaviapink · 16/06/2011 14:18

Yes - stick to milk. They can't digest solids at that age anyway, so it just goes straight through (potentially damaging the immature gut on the way) and there's far more calories in the milk than you could possibly get into her with solids!

WestYorkshireGirl · 16/06/2011 16:13

Also experiencing this with my DD although she wasn't great to start with in terms of sleep and cried lots. She is 22 weeks tomorrow. Hoping things improve soon as waking 4/5 times a night is killing me!

Cyph · 01/11/2011 10:15

I really sympathise. My baby girl was so easy! But she is 16 weeks now and I can't do anything with her! She even cries hysterically if I put her in the car. The only things that really cheer her up are having a bath and going for a walk in the pram. What to do??!!

ShowOfHands · 01/11/2011 10:27

Oh I hated that bit with dd and am dreading it with ds. Their sleep regresses, they become frustrated by their physical limitations and it's hard flipping work. It's a normal developmental phase.

It's extremely unlikely to be anything to do with being ready for solids. The way you will know they're developmentally ready for weaning is that they'll sit up, lose the tongue thrust reflex and be able to pick things up and accurately put them in their mouth. This happens somewhere around 26 weeks, sometimes a bit before, sometimes a bit later. But those are the signs. Sleep patterns, fussing, watching you eat etc nothing to do with it.

The only thing I'd suggest is to go back to stage 1 milk. Stage 2 is a marketing gimmick and the only thing it might do is cause constipation due to added iron which a baby can't absorb properly. This can affect behaviour by causing stomach ache.

Kiwi, if you somehow were right about the baby being hungry- and really how would you know through the computer screen?- then how would giving a substance with fewer calories, filling up their stomach and leaving less room for calorie-rich milk, once a day help exactly?

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