My daughter is 4 months old. When she was a newborn, she slept ALL NIGHT. Now, she goes to bed at about 9-9:30 wakes up at like 11 then 2-3 then 5-6. What is going on?! I was ready for this when she was a newborn, now I'm just plain EXHAUSTED! I have to be up with my other two kids for school at 7am and I'm up the rest of the day, but with her my day starts at 5am!!!!!!
Welcome to having a baby!!! Most babies don't sleep all night until they are much older. I suggest you take a nap when the baby naps. That's what most sahm's do.
Well what was not normal was her sleeping all night in the beginning - :) Now she is being normal but you're not used to getting up. That stinks. Do you feed her when she wakes? Do you pick her up etc.. Don't do anything that she would want to wake up for. Like turning on the lights, smiling and talking with her.
Also 4 months is a growth spurt age. Make sure you up her food intake during the day to help tide her over at night.
At 3 months old, this was a growth-spurt period.
That means, a baby will need increased intake and more often. Intake has to keep UP with the baby. Thus, babies need to be nursed/given Formula, on demand. Not by a schedule. 24/7, day and night.
NO baby, sleeps the same way all their life. There is no Toddler/child/Tween/Teen/College kid/Adult/Elderly... that has slept the same way, all their life, from when they were a baby. It changes. Sleep patterns, are never static.
Sleep also reflects a baby's development and changes in cognition/motor skills, teething, and growth spurts.
When baby wakes, nurse her.
No baby sleeps all night for 12 hours straight.
They wake, they get hungry, they go back to sleep, they wake again etc.
Do you nurse or bottle feed?
If you bottle feed, why can't Husband wake and do these feedings, so you can rest?
My kids as babies/newborns, woke during the night, about every 2 hours. And when they were cluster feeding, it was MORE often.
They have HUGE appetites and drank me dry and I used both breasts for each feeding session. Then they slept again. Till the next feeding.
Sounds like a growth spurt and maybe teeth. I might try adding a feeding or two during the day to help her feel fuller longer at night. Hang in there!
She could be teething. My 6 month old won't sleep through the night when she's got a tooth coming through. I have also found that when she has a hard time sleeping it may be due to the fact that she needs to eat more. When we moved her rice cereal and veggies later and added an ounce to her pre-bed bottle she slept much longer. You may also want to try making sure that she's TIRED before bed. If she's napping a lot during the day, try cutting out her early evening nap and keeping her awake and moving. This is my husband's favorite job... he gets to play with her after our 4 yr old goes to sleep and it's his "job" to keep her up and moving until at least 8:30, then she crashes!
Your child is acting normally, we all undergo sleep cycles, throughout the night, even as adults where we cycle through light and deep sleep, and even brief periods of rousing. Most of us self soothe, and aren't even aware of them.
We used the Ferber method, it worked for us. Our DS would get up 3-4 times a night, push his mobile on, and fall right back asleep.
Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.
It will pass in time. All I can offer is another hang in there. I also agree with the trying to get her to feel fuller during the day. You will both get through it. Just breathe mama.
The nature of their sleep chages around 12 weeks, and they do a major leap leading up to 20 weeks. Its a rough period, but there isn't much you can do.
I do think you need to move up bedtime. Maybe do 15 minutes every night till you get to 7ish. I think this might really help.
My 9m old does the same...she used to sleep through the night but stopped :( it's been rough here too!
