Sudden sleep deprivation

[SharpInTheWoods]

Hi everyone, I am a new mum & my little boy is going to be 16 weeks this Friday. Up until last week he was a fantastic sleeper, going down between 7/8pm, waking at 10pm for a feed then back to sleep until anywhere between 5 and 7am the next morning. Great.

However, things have gone rapidly down hill. We now have a 3am and a 5 am wake up call. He feeds both times, but not necessarily greedily and then returns to sleep (well, sometimes at the 5am, more often than not he wont unless he is with me, which means I do not get any sleep). He used to do a 3am'er when going through a growth spurt but it never lasted as long before. I wondered whether he may be due solids but do not want to go down that road just yet due to him been below the recommended age for solids. I have tried 'Hungry Milk' formula but he refuses to take bottles (since about 7 weeks old) and exclusively breastfeeds.

I have read tonight other comments about 4 month sleep regression - could I be experiencing this???

Comments would be very much appreciated.

Thanks very much!!

P.S I apologise for adding this in the incorrect place!! Blame the sleep deprevation!!

Yep fraid so it's the sleep regression don't worry, it'll get easier in months some babies get over it quickly, others take a bit longer (yes DS, I'm looking at you)

The same thing happened to my DD. She used to sleep 8pm-7am every night without waking. Now she wakes up every few hours.
To be honest I doubt early weaning will help as milk has more calories than a carrot/baby rice.
DD is 6.5 months now and still wakes up at night. I wish I'd appreciated those 11 hour sleeps more at the time...

same thing happening to me! very frustrating!

Hey, I am experiencing the same but I think dd is teething I took her to doc today as she cries when i feed her. He says she is fine?!!!!!she hasnt eaten today since 5 am and I am very worried and upset. guaranteed she will feed every 2 hours through the night though gone from sleeping midnight til 7 or 8 am with sometimes just one feed. dunno whats going on. distressed.mega tired baby is 14 weeks tomorrow

Yes, sounds like 4 month sleep regression to me too.

As for weaning, I weaned DS at 16 weeks as was the advice then and it made things alot worse rather than better. There is very little that you can give them that will have the same calories as bm. Also, his gut will still be immature and you could be looking at feeding more in the nights plus having a baby awake with indigestion.

Is there a reason you can't sleep when he's in bed with you? Have you got a copy of the safe co-sleeping guidelines?