4 month old falls asleep feeding then wakes 5 minutes later

[MinimogMum]

My LO is 4 months old and currently naps in a crib in her own room. She has been doing this consistently for several weeks, but recently she has started falling asleep at the bottle (nothing unusual about that, though sometimes she shows little signs of being tired beforehand) but when I put her to bed, within 5 minutes she wakes up, looking at me wide-eyed with an innocent 'I'm not sleepy!' look!

I have tried soothing her back to sleep, but I can rock/ shush her 'till the cows come home without her even closing her eyes! This is fair enough if she isn't sleepy, but when I know she is (been awake for some time, started rubbing eyes etc.) she does this sometimes too and ends up overtired as a result!

Anyone know why she keeps doing this and how to fix it?

Also, she sometimes gets really fussy when I try to feed her, even when I know she is hungry. I noticed this usually happens during the day when she is tired and knows she will fall asleep feeding (not at night though). I often have to put the bottle in her mouth while she is crying and she will stop within 20 seconds to drink, but I will have to go through the same song and dance again if the bottle comes out of her mouth (from whipping her head side to side, knocking her out with flailing arms etc.). Even my mum who is an experienced nursery nurse is baffled by this.

Anyone else experienced this one?

Have you tried feeding her at the beginning of her wake cycle instead of at the end? A lot of people at this age start suggesting an eat-play-sleep routine. It also helps disassociate eating from going to sleep, which helps get nights under control.

I would try upping the teat size!

I’d probably just hold her, my baby took contact naps until 5 months but before that if you put him down it was game over!

Unfortunately holding her is out of the question as I have too much other stuff to do (like pump milk, for example which I can't do while holding her), also she wakes up after only a few minutes then as well regardless.

I know this is an old thread but did you ever find an answer OP? This is exactly my situation right now

Unfortunately no, I just had to accept she was awake and put her to bed later. If you could get someone to watch her or give her something to entertain her (like a play arch or dangling toys), it could give you time to pump or do other things.

Mine grew out of it after a little while.