4 month old waking up lots through the night.

[mummysquidge]

My 4 month old goes down really well at the beginning of the night, with a dummy. He doesn't need any input from us once he's been put down now to get to sleep and we now leave the room so he's definitely not relying on our presence to get back to sleep. He's been waking up every 1-2 hours at night, often for the dummy (which I know is part of why he's waking up) but last night he woke up crying a few times with it still in. We've tried to get rid of the dummy but it didn't help, he still woke up crying every 1-2 hours during the night but took longer to get back to sleep (we did it for about a week so I would have thought he'd at least start to get used to it by then...). He also takes a long time to settle sometimes - last night we offered milk when he did but he only had about half of his usual amount so he didn't seem to be that hungry.
During the day he has a nap around every 2 hours, for either 45 minutes or an hour + a half, with his last nap being at around 4-5 before bed at 7...
Any advice would be much appreciated!

Not really much advice other than they do start to wake more at that age...becoming aware of things...body growing...brain development...

Like all things with babies, every time you think you've developed a routine it changes...usually every three to four weeks....every time you think you've found a solution it will change...

And like most things it will eventually pass...just try and catch up on sleep during day if you can...

Have a look at the 4 month sleep regression. All normal - nothing you need to do about it except rest when you can!

It's not the dummy. In fact the dummy is likely to be your saviour through this stage because it makes going back to sleep much easier and quicker (and more independant).

The dummy isn't a magic wand though - you will still get wake ups, like you would anyway.

I would suggest you try to increase baby's calorie intake through the daytime by bigger and more frequent feeds. Also ensure baby is not over tired by increasing daytime sleep and reducing awake time between naps. I would expect 60-90 minutes awake time between one nap and the next in the daytime.

I've looked into the 4 month sleep regression a lot but everything just seems to suggest that the only reason they'll fully wake up in the night is if something they've gone to sleep with isn't there anymore, but in some cases with him it's exactly the same which is what's frustrating me!

Thank you thank you thank you. I'm fed up of being told "it's the dummy, get rid of it" when doing that hasn't helped and we've had some better nights with it than without it. I'll give the extra daytime sleep and feeding a go, hopefully it'll help!

I agree it's not the dummy.
He is just a 4 month old baby, developmental changes and that.
AS a PP said, just try to rest when you can!