4 month old won’t nap in the day - should I try formula?

[May182]

I’ve exclusively breastfed my 4 month old since birth and he feeds every two hours, including nights. I was up with him feeding 5 times last night. Is this a lot for a 4 month old? He sleeps well in between feeds at night but I was up feeding at 9pm, 11pm, 1am, 3am and 5am. Like clockwork!

But the real issue is day time naps. We got into the habit of rocking him to sleep for day time naps but he now weighs 19lbs (huge baby!) and I can’t physically continue to do this. So we’ve started trying to lay him down in his cot when he’s tired - showing signs like becoming grizzly/not making eye contact etc.

I put him down in his cot this morning around 10am, he cried for about 20 minutes with me constantly next him/stroking his head/shushing and eventually fell asleep for about 15 minutes in his cot, then jolted himself awake.
This happened again this afternoon, although he cried for 40 minutes (a new screaming cry I haven’t heard before) , then fell asleep for about 20 minutes before jolting himself awake again.
This is only the second day of trying this new day time nap technique, should I just stick it out? Or will feeding formula help? Hoping that formula might help him sleep longer at night too.
I’m just so worried he isn’t sleeping enough in the day but it’s hard to know whether it’s due to not enough food, the new technique of laying him in his cot to sleep or the dreaded 4 month sleep regression! Anyone have any advice/positive stories from experiences like this?

Love, one tired mumma x

My 3.5 month old was like this until literally two days ago. He had never slept more than 3 hours before and suddenly did 5 hours, then 7 last night!

He's been resisting daytime naps all of a sudden for the past week, despite clearly being tired. He's exclusively breastfed also, perhaps some hope there that yours will do the same? I'm not sure how/if formula would help but worth a try.

It's false that formula fed babies sleep longer, I'm afraid. It's fine to switch if you wish to of course but it would be a shame to stop breastfeeding for this reason alone. My baby would only contact nap or sleep on walks in the day until 8 months old so what you're experiencing is normal, just really hard work so you do have my sympathies!

When my children were babies, it was normal to start weaning at 3 months with baby cereal, it worked with nighttime feeding, also recommended then if bottle feeding was to put an extra scoop of powder in nighttime feed. My first boy would hardly sleep in the daytime, I used to go for walks with him in pram, this helped him to self settle.

You’ll be providing enough food for him, especially if he’s huge 😂 you got him to that point after all.

But it is true that formula is harder to digest so lingers in the stomach longer essentially making them fuller for longer.

It does sound like it’s the 4m regression though, I found it absolute torture in the end. Do what ever you can to maximise sleep

Will he nap in the pram, car or a sling?

I'd try other nap locations. Strapped into the pushchair and pushed back and forth in the room. A bouncer chair also worked a dream for mine.

Please ignore all the above advice re weaning him early and putting extra formula /water ratio. It's not necessary and a choking risk

I have a non-napper (now over a year old). Personally, I don't think it's hunger that wakes them from day naps, if you feed them before putting them down. What worked for me for a while was breastfeeding to sleep lying down on a bed in a room near the cot so that the transfer can be done as easily as possible. I experimented with waiting 20 mins or transferring immediately, sometimes one was better and sometimes the other. But I have a non-napper so there is probably better advice out there!

We bounced out ds to sleep and eventually had to stop as my back was killing! But we did it in stages so for one week I slouched on the sofa or bed with him on my chest and bounced him. He cried but I was comforting him the whole time.
Then it went to a gentle jiggling 🤣
Then I just held him on me so again I was comfort even if he cried, rub or pat his back etc.
Only once he could fall asleep completely still did we attempt putting him down sleepy but awake and patting etc. It probably took a few weeks and he still contact snapped or slept on us a lot but my knees, hips and back were grateful...
4 month sleep regression sucks so just do what you must to get through, contact naps etc. are fine too!

Sorry just to add, I'm sure breast milk is enough for your lo. If you WANT to use formula or combi feed then do but know that we moved completely to formula at about 4 months after a disastrous bf journey and it made no difference to sleep 🙂

@Mindymomo

When my children were babies, it was normal to start weaning at 3 months with baby cereal, it worked with nighttime feeding, also recommended then if bottle feeding was to put an extra scoop of powder in nighttime feed. My first boy would hardly sleep in the daytime, I used to go for walks with him in pram, this helped him to self settle.

Neither of these things are recommended any more. In fact, it does against current guidelines.

I don't think how they are fed makes a difference. My exclusively breastfed second baby has slept 8-12 hours at a stretch since birth. My first child would only go 90 minutes or could sometimes sleep attached to my boob for hours! We did nothing differently. My firstborn got gradually better after 6 months (nothing to do with food - she mostly threw that on the floor till 10 months) and slept through the night in her own cot from 11 months.

You can give him formula if you want to give him formula but evidence says it won't make him sleep for longer if that's what you're wanting. It just means someone else can give him the bottle. Dad could give a bottle of EBM if you can be arsed expressing?

It's normal for young babies to wake and feed regularly, it helps to prevent SIDs and ensures adequate weight gain. You probably know this. It doesn't last forever.

@Mindymomo

When my children were babies, it was normal to start weaning at 3 months with baby cereal, it worked with nighttime feeding, also recommended then if bottle feeding was to put an extra scoop of powder in nighttime feed. My first boy would hardly sleep in the daytime, I used to go for walks with him in pram, this helped him to self settle.

I don't understand why you're saying this. It doesn't help the OP.

We know much better than to do this now.

Definitely ignore the poster who recommended messing with the formula powder to water ratio - that's dangerous and could result in dehydration. Also milk has more calories than baby rice so would be more filling.

My 4 month old used to be primarily breastfed bar one FF before bedtime (bottle given by her dad before I’d expressed enough of a stash). She fed 7:30pm, 11pm, 1am, 5am, 8am until about 3 months. Overnight DD slept ~8pm to 1am before wanting her next (breast) feed then would sleep till 6am, waking for a feed and this continued for ~3weeks.
One night, she wanted bedtime early and I ended up breastfeeding around 7:30pm and she slept till 3am so I did the same the next night and again and again for about a week and each night was the same stretch of sleep roughly. This last week, she’s been wanting bedtime at 6:45pm so is fed just before and has been sleeping till 5/6am!!! She needs her dummy putting back in every few hours so unfortunately it’s not totally uninterrupted sleep but it’s better than her fully waking :)

In regards to day time naps she’s a serial no napper without cuddles, rocking, shhing, many tears etc etc. Yet suddenly this last week she’s also started doing an odd screaming but if I put her down she instantly stops the screaming, will lightly grizzle and then falls to sleep within a few minutes!!??? I’ve not got my head around that yet haha!

Basically, I’m saying the above as I don’t think formula vs breast had anything to do with the amount of sleep overnight and I’ve not done anything different throughout the day for naps or routines etc - it’s just been her own natural progression over the last few weeks!

No real advice from me I’m afraid just my experience. Who knows if tonight is the night your DS decides to sleep longer! ☺️