Why is my 4 month old screaming all night?

[clairebzippy]

Hello mums-

Might anybody have a clue why my son has decided that 1-2 hourly screaming at night is the way to go?

Could he be teething?
Or is it a behaviour thing?
Should I be doing something to discourage it?

Thanks x

I've been told about that- don't fully understand it though x

Do you breastfeed? What do you do when he screams? Hard to answer your question without more details...

I'd say not discourage so much as fix. He's too young to be 'misbehaving'.

Agree that more info would be helpful. 4 months is a time of huge change and development, so it could be a number of things.

Sorry, right more details.

He is red cheeked and dribbly and in a bad mood- possibly teething? He has last feed (formula) at 7.30pm. He's been waking 1-2 hourly for 3 nights now. Each time I've soothed him, made sure he's comfy and put the lullabies on his monitor.

When you say 7.30 is his last feed and that you make sure he's comfortable and put a lullaby on, that means you don't feed him again or carry him etc.? So in the OP u said he screams for 1-2 hours - this is presumably as he wants to be picked up or fed? Have you tried doing that?

The original cause for waking up might be teething (although in my experience teething is often just a default explanation for anything that hasn't been identified - it could also be a sore throat, stomach ache, wind etc...

In any case maybe for a week or two your child is miserable or in pain and I would suggest picking him up and potentially feeding more to see if it helps rather than letting him scream for two hours (sorry if I misunderstood you but it does seem from your post that you leave him in his cot and don't feed him again). Just revert back to your old schedule when he's better. It usually takes a week or two (assuming it is the sleep regression or teething). You could
also take him to the doctor to make sure it's not a sore throat or ear infection.

No sorry I didn't make myself clear- I wouldn't leave him to cry for 2 hours! I meant that he was waking every 1-2 hours. Each time I tried all sorts- cuddles, checking not too hot/cold etc. he would settle then do it all again. It's that bit I don't get. I do all the fundamentals but he still wakes, so is it a bad habit?

Nope - sounds like the four month sleep regression. Nothing you can do, really, but ride it out.

Do.you feed him in the night!

oops meant ? not !

Classic teething. Give calpol/ibuprofen, teething gels and cuddles. Grit your own teeth. Teething tends to come in stages. You get a few bad nights or a couple of weeks of it and then it eases off (for a while!)

I seem to remember with my 2 that they were still having a "dream feed " at 11pm at that age. They would take a full bottle untiI it gradually reduced when they started on solids. Are you absolutely SURE it isn't hunger? I would try to rule that out before assuming it couldbe teething.

Mind you if he has been fine until just the last few nights it sounds more like teething. Unless he's suddenly having a growth spurt? I'm afraid I introduced one of mine to baby rice just after 4 months despite the whole 6 month thing. (On advice of health visitor). Seemed to do the trick- he was just hungry (he is an unusually tall kid and just needed the extra calories)

Sounds like the 4 month growth spurt. Even if he's been sleeping through, I'd return to night feeds. It'll pass and he'll return to sleeping through if that's what he was doing before...

I think it was teeth- he's settled the last 2 nights.
I had tried feeds at night, but he didn't want them! He's a sausage. I'm afraid I've ignored the HV too. I tried him on a spoonful of baby rice and he's happy as Larry now. I know they have to tell you government recommendations but they aren't always right I don't think.

Thankyou all for taking the time to help me x