4 month old waking all night- HELP!

[ZacharySwan]

I'm hoping for some help here because I'm falling apart with exhaustion. DS is nearly 5 months old and wakes countless times during the night. No exaggeration, I suspect he woke 30-40 times from 10pm til 7am, and has done for weeks.

He is EBF. This problem started at about 2 months old. He was using my nipple as a comforter and would only sleep when attached, so we introduced a dummy. Also began swaddling due to flailing arms. He began to self settle (yay) with a little grumbling, and although he woke every hour at night could be settled with a feed or dummy putting back.

But it's just deteriorated, from waking every hour to waking every few minutes and not going back to sleep. He lies awake groaning which will develop to fill on crying if not cuddled/fed/rolled over/shushed or whatever combination I desperately try.
He will grudgingly settle in his cot during the day, and when put down at 7.30 at night, but from when he wakes for a feed at around 10ish will only settle in bed with me, if only for a few minutes at a time.

He's not waking for hunger. I think he's in pain. He has ranitidine because I suspected silent reflux and basically demanded it from the gp but it doesn't seem to be helping. He has mild eczema but don't think it can be that.

DH is relegated to the spare room. He tries to help but DS screams when DH tries to settle him (which obviously I can't sleep through).

I am a very poor sleeper, so couldn't nap in the day even if his toddler sister would let me. This is just destroying me. Any ideas?

[InMemoryOfSleep]

@ZacharySwan our DS was always a happy little guy in the day, it was just at night he was utterly miserable. We figured it was because he was moving around in the day he could get his trumps out whereas he got trapped wind at night and it caused him pain. Also, I think as he didn't have severe symptoms as he was BF, then he was distractable in the day. And yes, sleep is still a bit of a rarity in our house, we're battling through some mega teething pain! Hope things improve for you x

[ZacharySwan]

Thanks for all your advice everyone. Much appreciated.

[ZacharySwan]

Ok. So dairy free for me for a bit. I hadn't actually considered that this time around. It's definitely worth trying. But wouldn't he be more unhappy during the day if that were the case?

And I've just noticed your name inmemory. Gave me a wry smile.

[hashtagtubechat]

I too would look into cow's milk protein allergy, especially if he has exzema. It doesn't necessarily show immediately after birth so worth cutting dairy out of your diet for a few weeks, won't do him any harm. Hope you'll get to the bottom of it soon. Good luck

[crazycatlady5]

Thing is, I get the idea about a sleep regression- which may account for his sudden inability to nap, but doesn't account for not sleeping for more than an hour at night since he was 12 weeks old.

It absolutely can. Mine woke every 45 mins during the regression, it was very tough indeed! But that doesn’t necessarily rule out illness in your little ones case.

Hope you get to the bottom of it x

[InMemoryOfSleep]

Also Zachary, just rereading your posts - CMPA babies can often be quite chunky as they will feed to calm their tummies, which may account for why he wants to feed so often.

[InMemoryOfSleep]

Have you considered a dairy allergy? My DS has cow's milk protein allergy and had nearly identical symptoms to your DS. We had to go private to get a diagnosis in the end due to NHS waiting lists, but worth mentioning to your GP maybe? As he's breastfed the symptoms can be more minor than if he was bottle fed (and therefore ingesting large amounts of cow's milk protein directly, rather than a tiny amount that comes through your milk). Basically you'll need to go completely dairy free for at least a month to see if his symptoms improve, it takes a while for the protein to leave yours and DS's systems so you won't necessarily see an immediate improvement. But it made a massive difference to us, he's still dairy free now at 17 months, so worth doing! There are loads of online resources if you google CMPA.

[peaceloveandbiscuits]

The calculation used to work out ranitidine dose:

Baby's weight which is e.g. 8kg x by 3 = 24 then / by 150 then x by 10 (150mg in 10ml solution) = 1.6ml per day = just over 0.5ml 3 times a day.

However, my 7.8kg DS has 0.6ml 3 times a day because that's what stops him being sick twenty times a day.

The chemist should be able to advise you.

[Leedsnew]

I would stay off any meds (calpol not too bad but I would not give more than a dose every 24 hours)...try dill water...or just some boiled and cooled off water...

[ZacharySwan]

And yes, very strong physically. Can move head around etc. And happy as Larry during the day- for which I am very grateful as I know some have much more unhappy babies to contend with (been there, done that!)

[ZacharySwan]

Well. Gave in and tries sleeping him on his tummy. He slept for about an hour. Then back to the same.
Thing is, I get the idea about a sleep regression- which may account for his sudden inability to nap, but doesn't account for not sleeping for more than an hour at night since he was 12 weeks old.
I can't get a gp appointment for another 10 days. I've requested a repeat prescription of ranitidine and may just use my initiative to up the dose. I'm increasing sure it's reflux causing his upset. Because it is pain keeping him awake.
I have wondered about a bigger dummy- but he doesn't wake because he's spat it out. Well he does sometimes. But often he still has it in when he wakes.

[crazycatlady5]

Nonsense old advice to wean a baby early. It’s really hard but it’s normal and will pass x

[peaceloveandbiscuits]

Jengib that's all very normal for his age - he doesn't need to be weaned.

[Jengib]

My 4.5 month old ds is exactly the same! He used to sleep from 10-5am and now he sleeps from 7 until 11 and then wakes every 2 hours! I am going crazy. He is bf but he isnt hungry every time he wakes. He has started to reduce his feeds of a day for some reason he is super nosey so any distractions around and he throws his head around to look about so short of feeding him in a dark silent room I dont know what to do. My mother in law keeps telling me he needs to be weaned because he is a big baby (92 percentile) but I dont think he does as its not always hunger waking him. Any suggestions anyone has would be fab!

[haveagobletofblood]

My baby is 5 months and going through sleep regression. I have started to put him down prone to sleep as it's the only way he'll get over. SIDS is a very small risk for babies after 4 months - I presume he can lift his head up and turn it from side to side? And he has a new mattress?

This might sound daft but what size of dummy are you using? My DS is on the 91st centile and I recently gave him 6-18 month dummies. The 0-6 wasn't settling him and wouldn't stay in his mouth. The 6-18 stays in until he actively spits it out so it does help him get over into a decent sleep.

[peaceloveandbiscuits]

I do understand

[ZacharySwan]

Maybe I misread it or misunderstood it, Peace. I haven't read the packet in a while. In my defence I am a tad sleep deprived.

[peaceloveandbiscuits]

No no no. 15ml per 2 sachets. And if he needs the full 6 doses a day + ranitidine, you definitely need to go back to the doctor.

[ZacharySwan]

We do cosleep not through choice. I'm a very bad sleeper and there's no chance of just drifting off no matter how knackered I am. I guess I never learnt to self settle...

Anyway. Gaviscon is 15ml per sachet. That's 30ml 8 times a day. I'm not giving him 8 ounces of water even if I could get the required 48 syringes into him!

I just tried putting him on his front. Drifted off beautifully. Clearly sleeping deeply. Unfortunately he then planted his dummy stuffed face into the mattress. I then read an article saying them at there is 19x sids risk for a baby boy used to tummy sleeping. So we're back to square 1.

[peaceloveandbiscuits]

Hold up - I use gaviscon and I breastfeed. You just mix it with 15ml water and syringe it in like calpol.

[Cel982]

Are you co-sleeping, OP? My first baby was a very frequent waker, I know how hard it is. What saved my sanity was co-sleeping, and learning how to feed lying down so I could drift off again as soon as she had latched on. It improved a lot around 8 or 9 months (and No. 2 is a dream of a sleeper, which has been a lovely surprise).

[ZacharySwan]

Wow. Lots of thoughts and ideas. Sorry if I miss any.

My main concern with introducing formula is the potential impact on supply. It was the beginning of the end when I did that for dd. Having said that, I don't want him to be going hungry (again, a worry from dd). I personally would rather have a ff baby than a hungry bf baby. That's if he would even take a bottle tho. May be just causing him more upset and, yup, could be even worse especially if hunger isn't the issue.

He's always been a bit windy.

Hang on... feeding required!

[ZacharySwan]

*More ranitidine not gaviscon.

[MyDarlingWhatIfYouFly]

How is his weight gain? Is he windy?

[Isadora2007]

OP, can you get your partner to settle your toddler and go right to sleep at 7.30 when baby does so you can get a decent few hours sleep?