4 month old out of sorts.

[myusernamewastaken1]

Hi all,

I have a 4 month old who has always been a happy calm baby. Not a great sleeper throughout the day but a really good night time sleep , usually from 730pm - 9am no issues.

Recently he's been very stressed and angry all day and till late at night, have burst of very loud cries and very fussy. He's been waking a lot from 730pm- 11pm and seems to be unsettled.

For reassurance and to rule out any health issues as this was my biggest concern, we visited a doctor today who said he looks in perfect health and they're not concerned it is anything major.

It has become very stressful and it makes me anxious , although I have confirmed he's well in health I can't help but think something is hurting or upsetting him. I'm so worried my little boy is unwell or suffering and I cannot help him.

Has anyone experienced this ?

Four month olds are a pain in the arse. It’s the age. They are more aware of their surroundings, learning that they are a separate person from you, not old enough to communicate well or move independently… they are just fussy little bastards I’m afraid. They do get better.

Everything @WorkEvent said. They calm down by 6 months in my experience. 4-5 months is so tough.

I don’t agree with everything she says, but this article from Sarah Ockwell Smith explains it very well: sarahockwell-smith.com/2013/08/29/help-my-4-5-month-old-is-sleeping-like-a-newborn-again-aka-as-the-4-5-month-old-babies-from-hell/amp/

@WorkEvent Hopefully it gets better soon. It is driving me crazy trying to please him. My two year old is also acting out because he sees his brother getting a lot of attention trying to calm him. Our oldest was such a calm baby all the way through very content and happy. Our youngest is definitely challenging at times (I feel I can say this to you) honestly I had another post up which I mentioned I found this baby to be challenging and got a lot of people on this app saying that a 3.5 month old isn't challenging and I was doing something wrong. I had to delete my account from all the people hating on me because I admitted I found it this way.

Sorry you went through that @myusernamewastaken1. No judgement from me at all - my DS was an incredibly demanding baby and has only got better with age. I find a toddler so much easier than a baby!

@AliceW89 just read this article and it sounds like my little guy. It does give me so much reassurance that it's physically nothing wrong in terms of health but simply and stressfully a development phase that shall pass.

I more get so anxious thinking something is upsetting his little belly or something else i can't see!

Thank you.

My four month old is also going through a fussy phase - tbh he has always been a handful but seems particularly fussy at the moment. He is really struggling to nap in the day (good night time sleeper though thank goodness!) and has started screaming if he is handed to anyone else which makes life difficult when you just need 10 mins to yourself! He also doesn't like to do anything but play with my hands - he's never really settled on his playmat and lasts about 10 mins in his jumperoo. Pop him down to do anything and he will winge. I absolutely adore him and his smiles and giggles light up my day but this seems like a particularly difficult period! Is this to do with the fourth leap???

@SearchingStar , I don't know what's happened but since this post he's actually
Been a dream. He's not back to his little self yet but a lot more calm and relaxed. At times it's a bit touch and go. Basically if you do anything to destroy his happiness, it can be difficult to settle him. For example today he was so happy and at one point seemed very tired. So tried to do our nap time routine and he go so frustrated so it took me a hour to get him back to smile and giggles.

Thank you for sharing that link @AliceW89 really really needed to read that today. I have a (nearly) five month old and I'd forgotten how hard this part is (I've also got a four year old). It was good to be reminded!