4 month old son wakes again middle of the night

[Sofie]

My 4 month old ds started waking again a few times during the night, after sleeping through the night (23.30pm - 7.00am) from seven weeks to three months. Last bfeed is at 23.00pm, wakes often well before or in any case at 5.00am and does not sleep well after. He has acid reflux, so he often wakes up in pain. I wonder if he would also wake up for a feed if he would not be uncomfortable. Any suggestions - similar experiences?

Sofie the same thing is happening to me! My 17 week dd used to sleep through from the 11pm feed until 6.30/7.00am. She has now started waking between 3 and 4 am for a feed. She does go straight back to sleep afterwards but it is rather a backwards step.I have just started to wean her as she has become a crazy hand sucker and had begun not to be satisfied after a milk feed so perhaps solids could improve the situation...but they haven't so far!
In all other respects she is a perfect Gina Ford baby and does all the naps and feeds at the right times. I have tried controlled crying but then she gets so upset that she throws up. I am expecting her just to grow out of it. I don't think there is much we can do but wait. Maybe other mums have some words of wisdom for us?

My dd (now 18 months) started doing that when she was about 4 months and we discovered she was kicking her blanket off so waking up chilly. We marched off to John Lewis and bought a Grobag sleeping bag and have not looked back since. Worth a try if you have not tried one already.

hi Sofie,

Presumably you have tried the usual reflux treatments - do you raise the head of his cot for example, as this can help ease the symptoms. As he is still growing quickly at this age perhaps he is taking more milk late in the day than he can really digest at any one time, so could you feed him less, more frequently earlier in the evening to space it out ?

We were fortunate that dd's reflux was diagnosed at 8 weeks and that explained why she had been difficult to settle after a feed until that point although ironically she had just started to sleep through too. dh would often sit up at night with her as a newborn as she seemed more comfy being held upright, and this explained it. However once we were aware we propped her bed up to 45 degrees, including her carrycot mattress , b'fed her more often again and things did improve.

Good luck and hope it improves soon,

well as an experienced mum of ds aged 7 months I can only say that my ds seems to go through phases like this every so often - usually it just settles down after a few nights so I guess it was a growth spurt. Once it was a sore throat on the way. In the very early days it was kicking off his blankets - grobags are soooo much easier.
HTH

Thank you for your reactions. I am on China time, so I can not react and talk to you "live". And so neither can I go out and buy a Grobag sleeping bag very easily here, unfortunately. I do raise the head of his mattress, and feed him quite often before bed (full feed before his bath at around 5.30 - 6.00pm and as much as he still wants after, around 7.00-7.30pm). As he often wakes up coughing and crying, about 4 1/2 hours after the end of his last feed, I suspect it has something to do with acids in his empty stomach.

If it is a growth spurt, it is an awfully long one, lasting over 4 weeks! And I have to say I am getting mad with the conflicting advice about big babies (my son is 4 months, 7.5kg (around 17 lbs)). Some say big babies need more food, so logically they wake up more often. Others say big babies need to be able to last longer between feeds.

I know the reflux is something he will need to grow out of, but in the meantime it is nice to hear some similar experiences.

Hi Sofie, Thought I'd reply since I am online same time as you...I find my dd at that age was quite similar - only not the reflux. She ofeten did a little stint of waking up, just when I would get settled with her rountine. It could be caused by anything - a slight illness, growth spurt, discmfort, cold etc. Just hang in there and try to go with the flow. He should settle down again. Of course, if you do feel that there is something more to it with his reflux etc. do talk to your GP - even if just to set your mind at ease.

Just a quick tip - you can order Grobags from www.grobag.com - they deliver worldwide. I am a great fan of them and DS is still in one at 23 months.

HTH

My dd, also a GF baby began waking at 3 1/2 months after sleeping through from the 10.30 feed at 7 weeks and the baby clinic nurse advised me to feed her every time she woke. I had began using a dummy for her to suck herself to sleep and so used to pop this in. When she began waking 3-4 times a night, I decided to get rid of the dummy totally and do a bit of controlled comforting. One day of no dummy for all sleeps and only one waking in the night with no feed or dummy and she is now back on track. I hear her sometimes wake in the night, wimper for 2 mins and then settle herself back to sleep. It was well worth the effort as I knew that she really didn't need feeding and just wanted comfort sucking.