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4 month old constantly waking from 3/4am

19 replies

Naetha · 29/04/2008 20:29

Hiya there, I'm starting to get to the end of my tether sleep-wise!

My 4 month old DS has never been a great sleeper at night, but over the last 2 weeks it's just got silly.

He will go to sleep fine at 7pm, we have a nice routine where he gets into his sleepsuit and grobag, then has a big feed (9-12oz) in his own room with his lullaby music on and then into his cot. I'll usually put him in his cot when he's sleepy, but not actually asleep and he'll fall asleep to the music. SOmetimes he has a dummy, sometimes he doesn't. He usually wakes up 10 minutes after going down for a burp, but then straight back to sleep again.

Until a couple of weeks ago, he'd sleep until 3 or 4am, have a big feed (6-8oz) then back to sleep until 7ish, however recently he's been waking for a feed at 12-1 (6-8oz), then waking for another feed at 3/4 (4-5oz), then waking at 4:20, 4:40, 5:00, 5:15, 5:30, 5:40, 5:50, 6:00 etc. I've tried feeding him, but he's rarely hungry. I usually give him his dummy, and although he will fall asleep again, he is awake very soon after.

I know he does sometimes suffer with wind - he will writhe and squirm, then do a big fart, but usually wake himself in the process. The only way he will sleep properly is if he comes to bed with me and sleeps on my chest. However, this isn't something I want to encourage long-term as I struggle to sleep like this, and a couple of times I've woken up to find us both under the duvet / slumped to one side, so really not safe.

Any tips on getting him to sleep better? He's bottle fed with EBM with the occasional top up of formula. From what I can tell he's not really hungry after 3/4am, but he will on occasion take 2-3 oz. Is his frequent waking a sign of wanting solids? He is showing other signs, although I'm not convinced that he's ready at all.

Yours in a zombie-like-state...

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Naetha · 29/04/2008 20:35

Oh, and during the day he will have a 45 minute nap at about 9-10am, a 1 and a half (ish) hour nap at about 1pm, and a 45 minute nap at about 4pm.

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BWMum · 30/04/2008 11:19

I have no expert advice to offer, only sympathy. My LO (who is 4 months on Mon) is doing the same. She now wakes at least 3 times (around 11, 2 and 4) and then wakes for what I'm regarding as the start of the day around 6:30. She definitely wants to eat each time she wakes, other than at 6:30 when she sometimes wants to chat.....!
I read a link someone posted to Kellymom which said that 4 month old babies often don't eat enough during the day because there is so much else going on, and then they catch up at night. (Sorry can't put in a link, I'm on blackberry.) Have also read that teething can cause wakefulness - my DD is drooling like anything so might be teething. Unfortunately none of that doesn't solve the problem, just explains it!

Hope things get better for you soon.

Naetha · 30/04/2008 16:57

I suppose it could be teething - he is drooling like mad, and constantly chewing on everything (bit DH's nose this morning when he got too close!), although doesn't seem to be in any obvious pain or discomfort when he does wake, just likes to smile a lot and jiggle about his cot looking excited!

I wouldn't mind a 6 o'clock start either to be perfectly honest, but I draw the line at 5am!

I did wonder if it was because his nappy was getting very full? We use disposables with the (apparent) extra sleep layer that's meant to let them go for longer. I don't change it at all during the night, but as he's still drinking so much it's obviously going through him, so I may try changing it when he has his midnightish feed, that way at least he won't have the 10oz of milk he had before bedtime hanging around in it.

Luckily I don't have much of a problem falling asleep again, but it's still soul destroying none the less! I was in absolute tears at 6:30 this morning as he'd been stirring regularly since 3:30, and at 6 I'd finally given in as he was wide awake, and turned him around in his cot and opened the curtains so he could amuse himself with his mobile. He promptly turned himself onto his tummy and threw up everywhere .

Ah well, another night ahead! Let's see what this one has in store!

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dreamymum · 30/04/2008 16:58

turn on babytv and you will see it will relax him!!! it will help you stay more calm and get him back to sleep more easily. or else it will just be more pleasant to be awake with him.

dreamymum · 30/04/2008 16:59

i only recommend that if he is not going back to sleep because he is crying in pain. otherwise try not to take him out of the cot!

could be teeth coming in and the pain waking him?

Babyisaac · 30/04/2008 17:05

My DS is 16 weeks and is doing the same. He used to be able to go 5/6 hours before waking for a feed. Now he wakes every 2 hours from midnight (also has a feed at 9pm), sometimes hungry and sometimes just for comfort. I try to feed him us as much as possible during the day but he won't take any more on board unless he's hungry.

It is very very hard going. Hard to settle him without the boob. This works every time but I then try to extract him from me and insert the dummy to dupe him but he's not fooled. Co-sleeping doesn't work for me - he sleeps, I don't. Just hoping it's a phase he'll grow out of. (Sigh emoticon)

floppyhat · 30/04/2008 20:01

Hi naetha. I know exactly how you are feeling have 7 month old twin girls and one of them was still waking. She could not settle with out her dummy. She is still having a slumber feed before we go to bed but have started noticing an improvement when we lift her and not let her wake up and cry for it. It was also every sleep cycle which apparently is 45 mins, she would wake when she got into light sleep. so what i did over two nights I got help in the day so i could have a sleep and then slept in the nursery. As soon as she started to stir i settled her off with her dummy and slight patting. Over the two nights she didn't completely wake up. On the third night I went back to normal and she woke once. i couldn't believe it. She still wakes occasionally and needs her dummy but what an improvement than 10 times a night as I agree it's soul destroying. giving either of them water when they woke just got them more upset.I remember things getting bad around 5 months and low and behold two teeth came through she slept better in the day so i worried about night time but actually if she sleeps well in the day she sleeps better at night so i try really hard in the day to keep her to her routines and it's paying off at night. Don't give up it will get better but it would be nice if they came with a manual wouldn't it.

bebobaggins · 30/04/2008 20:14

I'm in the same boat with DD 17 weeks.
question for floppyhat - I don't quite understand what you did, put her dummy back in before she completely woke up and that stopped her waking up?

moocowme · 30/04/2008 21:48

my DS did this at the same age and it was teething - still waiting for those teeth to appear at 7months but the discomfort he felt with it has got much less now so i think it was the initial pain and discomfort that the process bought that was the problem.

I also found that he drank less when this started so that also contributed to his night wakings. DS also found he could suck better at night while semi awake as it was much less painful.

I did find that paracetamol was better than gel at this stage as the pain is a bit deeper in the gums and the gel does not penetrate as much as needed.

your lo is just a sensative one bless them.

pinkdelight · 01/05/2008 09:26

We had this problem with our ds and were really at the end of our tethers, then a mumsnetter suggested the Baby Whisperer's pick-up/put-down technique and it really made a difference. You can feel a bit told off by the book (BW Solves All Your Problems) but if you can ignore all that and just use the technique, it's certainly worth a go. Such a relief for your lo to learn how to soothe themselves so that you can finally get some sleep!

pamelat · 02/05/2008 18:00

This is what m y 15 week old is doing!!

She now considers anything from 4am to be "up" time, she used to go back down until 7am ish.

She also used to go from 7pm until say 2am (or even 4am on a brilliant night) but now she is waking at 11, 1, 2, 3, 4 etc - she has also been a bit cranky in the day (probably because she is tired

She is drooling a lot and sometimes pulling away from feeding screaming, could be teething but cant feel anything on her gums ... ?

ILikeToMoveItMoveIt · 02/05/2008 18:06

A thought for you. If you think he may be having some wind/tummy pains, why not breastfeed him, rather than use EBM. The bottle feeds may be causing him to be windy? Also he his probably more likely to overfeed from a bottle than a breast (maybe causing the vomit and wind?)

Also, the added benefit of feeding directly from mummy may get him back off to sleep?

FruitfulOfFruit · 02/05/2008 18:07

Sadly, its normal for babies to start sleeping worse at around 4 months. Ds2 is the same age as yours Naetha, and is sleeping from 7-11 (dream feed), and then till about 3am. Then hourly wakings (or worse) till 6:45. No advice, sorry! Other than -

And this, too, shall pass.

pamelat · 02/05/2008 18:53

anyone know how long this stage lasts, just roughly ?!

Caz10 · 02/05/2008 19:03

another one here! 20wks but sleep pattern changed a few weeks ago (too tired to remember when exactly!). She feeds basically every 4hrs, so approx 7, 11, 3ish - all of which would be ok if the next stop was then 7am, but i find she can be up any number of times after 3.30 and wants to start the day around 5.30am.

i don't sleep well with baby in the bed either, but what i have found is that if i can endure 1/2hr-1hr of chattering etc with her lying on the bed next to me after the 5.30 wakening, she will szometimes then drop off from eg 6am-7am and I can doze.

dreading going back to work soon on this amount of sleep...

Naetha · 03/05/2008 08:24

Well, I was a little naughty, in that I went against WHO and HV guidance, and tried my LO with some pureed banana for lunch yesterday.

He woke at midnight, then at 4, then at 6:30, and I got a decent night's sleep - hallelujah!!!!

I know the weaning guidance is for 6months, but this is working for me

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FruitfulOfFruit · 03/05/2008 11:29

Sounds good! Do other things as well as banana though - banana is notorious for making them constipated.

I put ds2 in a 6-18mth grobag last night, instead of the 0-6mth. Its thicker (don't know why, got the same tog rating) and obv there is more of it, so warmer generally. He did 11, 4:30, 5:45, 6:45. Which wasn't bad, by comparison...

I'm also starting to let him yell for 5 minutes rather than haring in there at the first squawk. I know that doesn't work for all babies - with dd I had to get in there quick before she got herself into a state and screamed for hours. But I think it may help with ds2.

Caz - how long is a piece of string? I got woken up at 12 and 3:30 by ds1, who is 3.3.

Naetha · 03/05/2008 14:48

Yeah I just tried the banana because we had an elderly one on our veg rack!

Bought some carrots and parsnips and going to puree them up tonight

What's lovely, is how much energy he has after a good night's sleep. He is thrashing around under his babygym, and has kept himself amused for half an hour while his previous limit was about 10 minutes. Hopefully this will last, and not be a one-night jobbie!!

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AmyT56 · 05/08/2010 12:13

Naetha - did the whole solid foods work long-term or was it a doozie? I am having the exact same problem - please help! Need sleep.

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