4mo - sleep gone to pot - what the f**k's happened? help!

[Holymoly321]

DS is 19 weeks. He was sleeping thru from 7pm to 5am. He has four 8oz bottles during the day and none at night (with maybe an extra 4oz bottle during the afternoon). For over a week now he has gone back to waking up at around 2am - not for food, just to have a chat and a wriggle in his crib. We gave his dummy back to him and he'd fall back to sleep until around 5am when we have to bring him into our bed because he is SO awake and that's the only way we get more sleep. But the past three nights he has started to wake at 1am and then every 20-30 MINUTES after that - again just to be awake and chat and wriggle - not for food. I NEED SOME SLEEP!!! Please - does anyone have any advice? DH wants me to start giving him baby rice inthe hope that will make him sleep thru again but I'm reluctant and want to wait until he's at least five months - but I really need sleep! Help - pleeeease!

Apologies for the f word in the thread title - am feeling pretty crappy!

for a start you were lucky ... very lucky

and secondly its a growth spurt

and thirdly babies change throughout their first years .. which is why those with babies who won't sleep look impatiently towards the end of the phase when they'll start to sleep again

have you tried to feed him at night??

The only thing I would add to what Twiglett has said, is I personally wouldn't start baby rice - my experience of giving solids (much later than 19 weeks) is that it makes sleep worse not better!

When he does wake up, do you talk back to him? Do you try to feed him?

shouldn't wean until 26 weeks as his digestive system is not mature enough and you risk him developing allergies in later life by early weaning (incl asthma / excema)

When he wakes up we don't talk to him, just give him back his dummy, which used to be enough even when it dropped out when he'd dropped off. But past two nights he's woken up every time it's dropped out. We did try feeding him at eleven the first time he woke up, but this made him even less sleepy thru the night! I agree about baby rice - really don't want to start all that yet! I've put him down to sleep in his cot in his own room for his morning nap today for the first time - may try and put him in there for the night at the weekend - see if the extra space helps as he's getting too big for his crib in our room now.

Ah! Not that it is the solution for sure, but my DS used to always wake himself up when he started to outgrow his moses basket... stuck him in his big cot and he slept much better, but still never ever as long as your DS

I'd give him milk tbh. Four months is absolutely typical for sleep disturbances. They have a growth spurt and they are much more aware - there is a really big development surge.
Mumsnet archives are PACKED with threads entitled " 16 weeks and sleep has gone to pieces' and "My four month old has stopped sleeping".
And yes, you have been incredibly lucky. My eleven month old has never slept through.

Sympathies.

Jessica NEVER slept through, and at 18 months rarely does now, its hard work.

Rebecca is 13 weeks and she goes down at 6.30pm and is up at 7am but usually wakes once or twice during the night - 1st time we feed, second we give dummy.

I agree that cot should help a little - Rebecca wouldnt fit in her moses basket now anyway!

I agree that it prob is food. My dts are still wakign sometimes for food at 10mnths, they chat like your ds, have a bottle and go straight off again. You have my sympathies tho, I think it is harder to deal with when you've started getting used to sleeping again.

Maybe for a few nights reintroduce that 11pm dream feed -- though you sound pretty sure he isn't hungry (I really can't see why the dreamfeed would make him more wakeful btw: could it have been coincidence?). If it doesn't make any difference after say 3 nights, you'll know something else is going on.
The 20/35 min waking thing sounds like a sleep habit to me, maybe a habit of waking for the dummy. There's not much you can do about this until 6 mths when if you want you can try cc.
You may find that you all sleep much better if he goes into his own room, if you're spared each others' snorings and rustlings etc.
If he does wake and chatter, do you go to him immediately? I'd leave it and see if he settles himself back to sleep. Last night for eg DS (just 1) woke at 4am for a brief chat (with himself, I should add) and then went back to sleep. He does this a few times a week.
According to all the sleep experts I've looked at, no one ever sleeps 'right through' the night. We all surface a few times, and then sink down into deeper sleep again, hopefully without fuss. Your DS has done this before, and I'm sure he'll do it again as long as you don't do stuff like giving him milk at 3am, putting on lights, getting him out of bed etc.

Aloha, it's interesting what you say about being more aware - he seems to have much less patience during the day - can get 'active and vocal (not crying but more grunting and general noise making). Also, he seems to want his feeds earlier and earlier

How much sleep does he have during the day? it could be that he's having too much & this is affecting his nightime. GF would recommend no more than 3hrs in the day, no sleep after 5pm. Does he go out in his buggy in the afternoon? They say that that can help sleep at night. Good luck!

it could also be that he's having too little .. and GF IMHO is an idiot

Problem is babies are all different (no shit sherlock!) - took me ages to work out that my DS didn't sleep too well at night because he was getting too little sleep in the day - seemed to fly in the face of common sense to be the opposite but it was the case! Doh. (I now have to find a way to get him to stop feeding so much at night - it's probably something like reducing his food in the day using a similar theory!!)