4.5mo now literally waking every 40 mins - please please help

[CookieTramp]

DS2 was getting OK with his sleep and was "down" to 2-3 wake-ups per night. I could handle that. One of those would be for a bottle, the other was just to lay and kick and gurgle. I would just wait half an hour or so and he would self-settle with a dummy.

Now I can't cope. Every 40 minutes he wakes and wants replugging with the dummy. It's been 2weeks now and I'm at the end of my rope. I know there is a 4-month sleep regression - is this it? Does anybody recognise it? Other factors are we are weaning him (please let's not get into that unless you think it has an impact on sleep - I am half Dutch and 4 months for weaning is totally normal there. All my family do it) and the dummy has loomed larger and larger in our lives. We never did the dummy thing with DS1 so didn't realise it could have such a big sting in the tail!

I wonder whether going cold turkey with the dummy would ultimately help the sleep or whether he would wake just as often but be harder to settle.

Any ideas, ladies? Will this improve naturally or are there any suggestions to try? Please please don't post if your baby of similar age slept/sleeps fine and you can't imagine is wrong. You will tip me over the edge! :-/

How's the weaning going? Is he eating well? Could it be that he's just hungry?

What's your bedtime routine like? Do you give him a bottle or some baby porridge before he goes to sleep to fill him up?

Sorry, a lot of questions!

If it helps my four month old is sleeping badly too and he is not weaning nor does he have a dummy! I think the sleep regression thing must be a factor. It is a real pain though, hope you get some sleep soon.

He has a little bowl of baby rice in the morning, which he WOLFS! Asks for more but I decide how much and stick to it. Then a little bowl of purée mixed with a little rice in the evening. He has a bottle (breast is just about finishing now) before bed at 7 and two other bottles during the day. A dream feed at 10 (he was sleeping 7-10 but now only in 40 min bursts) and he doesn't seem interested in bottles at night. Will take 2fl oz at some point but no more.

Just wants dummy and to kick and gurgle in what would be a cute way on the day but not so cute at night!

He sleeps badly during the day but always has. Never longer than an hour.

Four month sleep regression.

Nearly killed me, DD got through it by about 6 months. Most of my friends babies went through it for a couple of weeks. We were waking every 45m-1hr.

Hang in there, it does pass.

My ds slept fine til 4 months then for almost exactly a month he was the same he snapped out of it after exactly a month. Overnight he suddenly started doing 7-8 hour stretches.

It lasted another month til we started solids at 6 months then it all went wrong again so solids could be having an adverse affect on sleep for you.

You say he's asking for more when you give him some baby rice in the morning - I think you have a hungry baby combined with sleep regression.

My DS was very similar - he was also sleeping for 40 minutes and then waking up. It's soul destroying, but ask for and accept as much help as you can to get you through this. It was one of my DM's friends who mentioned the "hungry baby" phrase. As a result, DS was having crumbled baby rusk in his (hungry baby) formula at 11 weeks, baby rice at 12 weeks and mashed banana at 12 weeks. Eventually, I just filled him up and he started to sleep a little more but my gosh, it was tough for me.

I wonder if increasing the quantity and/or number of his feeds would help? You may genuinely have a little one who is starving - going through a growth phase and wants more food! I should mention DS is now 14, 1.85m and predicted to reach 2m.........

I do think he's hungry but not hungry enough to want formula or breast at night, so I don't feel that can be the issue (if there is one). He does take a little formula after his rice but not much.

His full bottles are at about 11, 3 and 6, plus the dream feed at 10 and a little at night. His rice of course is made with formula as well.

I think the dummy is more likely an issue than hungriness or weaning. But because I need a "plan" to keep me sane, I'm just giving bottles today and see what happens.

Wittery, I don't consider that I'm weaning early. Am following Dutch practice which is 4 months. But I'll see what happens today and tonight. It's probably just the sleep regression but I have to keep trying stuff or I'll go mad! :-)

Oh and yes, the dream feed bottle he takes the full 8fl oz.

Don't worry about the weaning thing it's all bollocks do what's right for you and your dc. I weaned my dd at just over 3 months cos milk just wasn't doing it also she was terribly colicky and weaning solved 90% of that. She is however up wry hour or so too during the night after sleeping for 11 hours straight it's been 6 weeks and driving me insane!

Hopefully it's just a phase. 4 months is supposed to be a very difficult time for babies. I remember DD was bloody hard work at this point, in the day and at night. She was weaned at 4 months too, but I don't think that made any difference.

I've now got a 3 month old DS so looking forward to going through it again very imminently Although this time I'm not going to wean until 6ish months so I'll see if that makes a difference....

One hours sleep doesn't seem much in the day. Does he show signs of getting overtired? Is there anyway of getting him to sleep longer - walking him is his buggy, letting him sleep in your arms etc. Although I remember DD started resisting sleep in the day at this age, it was a nightmare.

Dummy probably doesn't help long term if it's his only way of self settling. He needs to either learn to settle without it, or you can wait until he can put it in for himself.

My DD was very similar, OP. It got so bad that we were waking every 20 mins-half an hour to put her dummy back in. It was horrendous. And she wasn't hungry, just wanted her dummy.
This lasted until she was 6mo. We contemplated cold turkey with the dummy, but she just got hysterical evey time we tried.
Eventually, we got her a teddy that you could attach dummies to. She learnt to find her own in the night, and she's very attached to the teddy now too. She's slept through since then, apart from illness.

Daily scoop, you'd think! My mum swooped in one day and decided enough was enough. She took him out in the pram (he fell asleep right away) and walked in the rain for an hour and a half. He still slept the regulation 20 minutes and would not go back to sleep. We are baffled!

Thanks for words of encouragement. We went cold turkey on the dummy today and no food at all. He's currently screaming as he tried to go to sleep without it :-(.

Hello all. Strange development: I gave Baby nothing but bottle and breast yesterday, and he went down at 7.30 (I gave in on the dummy as he became hysterical), slept until 10, took full feed and then woke up only once at 2.30!!!

Could it be the good troubled his tummy in some way? There was no sign of discomfort so hard to believe but is a very strange coincidence!! Slept right through to 6 after that. Now still in hammock kicking and gurgling so I haven't even had to get up yet, just holding his hand.

It could be, my 4th was a great sleeper until we started weaning at 6 months.

Id try just giving him milk for the next few days and see how he is