My four month old was the dream baby when I brought him home from the hospital and was sleeping an 8-9 hour block of sleep at night. Then around three months he started waking up more frequently and now at four months the longest stretch he sleeps is 3-4 hours and then wakes up every hour or two for the rest of the night. What happened?!! Please any suggestions on how to get him to sleep better again would be appreciated.
my daughter did the same thing and come to find out, she was just hungrier. The pediatrician said she was ready for some cereal before bed.
Hi D.,
My little one is just now 4 months and I experienced the same thing the last two weeks. He actually woke up every two hours the other night and whined, which he never had done before. Much to my surprise, he popped a tooth just yesterday and he slept soundly for 10 hours last night. Teething hadn't even crossed my mind yet because he hadn't experienced any other symptoms or showed any signs of discomfort. Just a possibility.....
This blog does a pretty good job at explaining sleep regressions in babies. It seems that the first regression is generally most noticeable around 4 months of age.
http://moxie.blogs.com/askmoxie/2006/02/qa_what_are_sle.html
I hope it answers some of your questions.
It might be because he is getting hungry. One thing to try might be giving him a good feed before you put him to bed. another thing that worked with my son was this. Durring his nap times in the day i would not wrap him. However, at night I would wrap him so he wont wake himself up by putting his hands on his face etc. The first 2 nights he did wake up but i did ignore the cries and just give him a dummy and he fell back to sleep. After that it was fine.Be best part I found is that he actually knew it was "bed time" when I would wrap him up. Good luck!
Get a copy of the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. It is a sleep training book and has worked wonders for everyone that I know that has used it. Likely, your child isn't sleeping well during the day which is affecting him at night. The book will talk about what is considered "good sleep" and what is not healthy for the child. Like a nap is the car seat or movable swing ins't even considered a nap since there is motion involved. We used the methods in the book when my daughter was only 6 weeks old and she has been a dream sleeper ever since (she is now 2 and a half.) Hope this helps and Merry Christmas!
Read "The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems" by Tracy Hogg. Seriously, she'll let you know what the problem is and how to fix it ASAP.
It very well could be teething. My daughter is almost 6 months and had been a great sleeper. All of this month, though, she has been waking up at 1 and 4. Last week it was her teeth that were bothering her - she has two right next to each other that have popped through the gums. This week, I am not sure what her deal is. She is breastfed and will go for a well check next week. The dr. is supposed to give the go ahead to start baby food (cereal and stage 1) next week, so I am hoping that will help. Another thought - do you have a humidifier? This winter, it seems that my daughter woke up more often when we did not run it in her room. Good luck and know that you are not alone.
Hello!!
My son did the same thing. At first, he would wake up crying at about 1 am. I would go in and comfort him, and he would go back to sleep. Then he started waking up at 10 pm and 1am. Then it became every two hours!!! I made sure he was fed, changed, burped, not gassy. Finally we figured out he wanted me!!! I had to let him cry it out, but after one minute he was out, and slept through the night again. He will still do it about once a month, but it's usually nothing. Your son might be going through a growth spurt, and need more food, or he could be having night terrors. I would check on him and see if he's hungry. If not, then he might just be getting scared.
Teething....You can let him chew on a damp wash cloth that helps alittle. But this is just something we all go though.
