20wo can't self settle - will weaning help?

[ghall54]

In previous weeks, my 20 wo ds has slept through I'm his cot from 9pm to about 7am. However in the last week or so he has been waking in the early hours and not been able to settle himself back to sleep. We try mobile / cuddles / face stroking but the only thing that works is to bring him in the bed with us (at which point he goes to sleep very quickly). He doesn't seem to be hungry when he wakes and does his 'sleepy' cues.

I don't want it to get to the point where he can only sleep in our bed. Would weaning him help with the early morning waking? At the moment he has around 180ml/6oz before he goes to sleep, we've tried to give him more but he just wants to sleep! During the day he has a further 4 x 210ml/7oz, and again we offer more but he's not interested/full up.

Unfortunately its very unlikely to help. There is a notorious four month sleep regression which sounds like probably what you are experiencing. Dd2 did similar and it was a horrible few weeks but she did eventually settle back to a reasonable routine.

Tbh at 20 weeks sleeping through is still the exception rather than the norm so don't try and judge based on expectations that may be too high anyway.

My only real advice would be to stick to your bedtime routine, feed him quickly when he wakes and put him back down, any special blankets he likes to chew? If co sleeping helps and you can do it safely then do it, sleep is sleep at this age!

Hope improvements start soon!

DD2 is 23 weeks and so far has never slept through.

Weaning really wont help. Its a myth that it helps them sleep better. For the first while they arent getting enough food down to make a difference anyway.

Could he be cold?

4 month sleep regression a bit late? if so it should blow over.

One of the things we did think was whether he was cold, we've changed from his 2.5 tog to 1 tog sleeping bag as we panicked about him overheating now its a bit warmer

I bet he's cold from your last post! Stick him back in the other one and see what happens-my DS is still in his winter weight sleeping bag but have put lighter pyjamas on him.

Hi. I also have a 20 week old. Up until this past weekend she had been waking me every 30-90 mins through the night. From the beginning of last week til now we have tried many things, so I will tell you what worked and where we are now. We realised she likes to be cosy so she now sleeps on a sheepskin, which is laid in her cot. She has on a vest, baby gro, 2.5 tog gro bag and a hand knitted cardigan over the top. Her room is about 18 degrees.

This improved her sleep. She began sleeping for 2-3 hours at a time but she still couldn't self settle.

So this past weekend we sleep trained her. We did jo frost controlled times crying. I know she is younger than recommended age but we only used it to get her to settle, not to try to get her to go through the night without feeds. Each time (bedtime and naps) she has fallen asleep before the 16 minute check (with the exception of the first night when she fell asleep one minute after it!)

We wake her for a dream feed at 10 and she has around 3 both nights for a bf. she now takes a full feed rather than just grazing through the night as she had been doing.

I wanted to share my experience in case it was helpful to you. I hope it is. All the best

That should read "she has woken around 3 both nights for bf."