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| First Time Moms |
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| Hi there! I'm new here and a first time mom. My four month (technically 18 week) old son had been sleeping about 7-8 hours a night for at least a month (bedtime 8pm, then up around 4am) until about a week ago. He had his four month check up and vaccinations last week, slept 12 hours that night and then each night he's been waking up earlier and more often (last night every three hours). I breastfeed (though he gets the ocassional formula bottle), and he still eats every 2 hours or so during the day. He's his normal chatty self when he's waking up at night, but last night around 2:30am he wasn't really even hungry -- he just latched on, sucked a bit on one boob and relaxed enough for me to put him back in his crib. He's putting on weight fine, fine number of wet diapers and he seems fine otherwise. I did start him on the tiniest bit of cereal this week and am wondering if that is causing the trouble? He does seem a bit more gassy than usual, but he's only eating about a 1/2 teaspoon of cereal at this point, so could that really cause that much of a problem??? Has anyone has this problem? |
| Posted by Krista on 02/08/2007 08:12 AM
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| Krista, you and I have exactly the same situation. The EXACT same thing happened to me, around the same time. I really thought it must just be a growth spurt because my daughter all of a sudden went from wearing 0-3 clothes to 6 month clothes. However, the awakenings continue and it's been 6 weeks since they started. She was almost exactly 4 months old when she started getting up at night and now sometimes she'll be up 4 or 5 times. She has acid reflux and I'm trying to decide if that is the problem. I also feel like she is having gas problems in the middle of the night but I do just what you do--pick her up, nurse her, and she's out in about 30 seconds. Then I toss and turn because I can't fall asleep! I tried giving her a tiny bit of thin cereal last Friday and was up EVERY hour with her that night so I'm not doing that again until she's 6 months. Her body just must not be ready yet, just like your little guy's may not be also. I did read a book called "The No Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. I have tried some of her ideas and they worked for a little while but now it's all back down the drain again. I have had her on the schedule suggested in Babywise since she was about 2 months old and that sort of helps with her not associating nursing with sleeping. However, she does need a pacifier to sleep so when she wakes at night I have to put it back in her mouth and sometimes she'll fall back asleep. I am tempted to just let her fuss (not full on cry, I just can't do that) a while at night and see if she'll put herself to sleep because she does that during the day with a nap. However, we have a 1 bedroom apartment temporarily and she'll wake up my husband and everyone else in the building. I'm in the same situation...we just have to hang in there I guess. Please let me know if you find any other useful tips because I'm just as baffled as you are! :) |
| posted by Briana on 02/08/2007 09:55 AM
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| Well, Colin woke up with a "wet" cough (no fever), so the on-call nurse suggested I bring him in, as the way he's behaving might mean he has a a cold with an ear infection... but no ear infection. Doc said it's either a) a run of the mill cold, in which case it will be gone in 5-7 days or b) reflux (good instincts Brianna), and it won't get better in a week and she'll give us baby zantac. She also said that a rash on his face, which I thought was from winter dry skin, is actually probably a food sensitivity to something I'm eating and might be contributing to the reflux. She suggested eliminating dairy completely, as that is the most common sensitivity she sees. She seemed to think that the sleeping, coughing, congestion and night wakenings would improve as the cold/reflux improves. We shall see. |
| posted by Krista on 02/08/2007 01:59 PM
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| I just got a great book at the library called "The Baby Whisperer" and it has some great suggestions about why he may be suddenly waking up so often and how you can help stop the habit he has gotten himself into. I think you should read it! Let me know what you think. |
| posted by Briana on 02/08/2007 03:35 PM
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| That is so Funny...I have the same exact situation. My 4 month old was sleeping just fine not through the night but for 3-4 hour stretches and all of sudden she started to wake up every hour. I would breast feed her and immediately she would fall asleep but as soon as a I would put her down to sleep she would twist and turn and cry so I would pick her up again and immediately she would fall asleep well after a few sleepless nights like this I began to keep a little notepad next to my bed to write down the times she wakes up and the time she goes back to sleep. I did this because in the middle of the night all the times seem to just blend together and I couldn't figure out if she just woke up or if I just put her to sleep. Well if she woke up in 45 min. to 1 hour I kew she was not hungry so I would let her cry and in 4-5 min she would be sleeping. (I would put some music on and this too would help her fall asleep as well.) On the other hand if she would wake up in 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours I figured she probably is hungry so I would feed her and put her back to sleep. If she cried for more than about 10 min. I would pick her up, but she seemed to do ok with this. Side note... in the beginning it killed me to let her cry and still does but I time her crying to see how long it lasts. I hope this was hellpful! |
| posted by Michele on 02/09/2007 09:21 AM
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| Colin has a full blown cold -- runny nose and everything. Slept on the floor in his room, him in a bouncy seat, so his head is elevated. That way is was quicker and easier to suction out his nose when he sneezed and stirred. I'm a little tired (and sore) this morning. :-) So, I'm guessing that a large part of his problem was he was getting sick. However, because of the rash and the fact that he was gassy and spitting up a lot more often recently, I'm still eliminating all dairy. Hopefully that helps his gassiness and fussiness. I hear ya on how hard it is to let them cry -- I'll let him talk and "fuss" when trying to get him to go to sleep, but not cry. Sometimes he talks himself to sleep (mostly at bedtime and during the night) and sometimes he winds himself up into crying (mostly for naps). BTW, Glad to hear my four month old isn't the only one eating every 2 hours! |
| posted by Krista on 02/09/2007 10:34 AM
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| My daughter did the exact same thing at that age (she is now 6 months). I read online that at about that age babies are more aware of their surroundings so when she woke up in her crib (she falls asleep nursing), she was confused about where she was and would cry. I would nurse her for about a minute and she would go back to sleep and then the process would repeat a couple times each night. I finally had to get tough because I was a sleep deprived wreck. My husband and I decided to sleep train her. After putting her down we made the rule that I wouldn't pick her up again until after 4 am. I could go in and sing or talk to her, pat her or anything else, just not pick her up. The first couple of nights were hard because she cried for almost an hour at a stretch, but after three nights, we no longer have any trouble. She goes to sleep nursing, I put her down, and she wakes up to eat once a night (sometimes she even sleeps through until the morning). I have to admit it was very difficult to let her cry, but I think that it truly was the best for her and I. We are both more rested and happier in the morning. Good luck! |
| posted by Leah on 02/09/2007 01:01 PM
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| My daughter is 4 months and I am having the same problem. She had been sleeping in her papasan swing since she was two-months old until her doc told me her head shape was suffering and so we've quit the swing cold turkey. Now we've transitioned to the crib, but she is having a tough time STAYING asleep. The first couple of nights she would cry and cry when we put her down, but now she goes down just fine. It's the staying alseep that's the problem. She's getting up 3-5 times during the night. I feed her each time (bottle) and put her back down. She is actually under-average for her age in weight, so I feed her whenever she seems to want milk, but I'm becoming a nightmare to live with as my husband will testify b/c I'm sleep deprived! Also while this is going on, we've started her on cereal and I think that is only adding to the problem--she just seems fussier and less satisfied. Maybe she just isn't ready yet. However, in the midst of all these changes, I've learned that letting her cry for 10-20 minutes won't kill her even though it kills ME, and, she is getting used to the crib. I feel your pain. Hang in there! |
| posted by Kari on 02/09/2007 04:19 PM
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