sleeping

Nicola - posted on 05/08/2009

it could be that your baby is hungry which is why he's waking. have you thought about introducing solids yet? also if you use a soother then try that and if it doesn't work then perhaps baby is hungry. my son went a week or 2 waking several times and i decided that i wasn't going to pick him up or feed him unless he is upset and won't settle with a soother and me stroking his head. luckily it worked but he is 5 months old and he wakes for a feed around 4 in morning. aparently this is quite normal for a breast fed baby. good luck

Jenny - posted on 05/07/2009

Keep in mind that four months is still pretty young. I didn't start doing sleep training until 5 months and that was just for GOING to sleep, my son still woke up to eat every couple hours He didn't start sleeping 8-10 hours until about 8 months. Four months is also a time when first teething starts up. Cold washcloths and some tylenol are good to try. The thing that ended up working for me was establishing a really good nap schedule...not too much during the day (of course that is hard because when you are sleep deprived all you want is for that nap to last forever), Good luck and hang in there and just let everything else go and get your rest when you can. This too shall pass!

Annette - posted on 05/07/2009

Oh, and the sleep training starts with the same time and routine every night before bed ( we did bath,books (for like 30 mins) and music and bed. My hubby stayed in the room so the baby knew he was there, but just sat in the rocking chair and didn't give in by picking him up. I couldn't do it, cause I can't handel the crying, but thank goodness he stuck with it, cause he is now sleeping better, and even napping more during the day. Sleep Begets Sleep I hear.

Annette - posted on 05/07/2009

I agree with Melanie. We didn't do that when our son did the excact same thing, and we finally watched a sleep training video last month because he was one and waking to be comforted every 1.5- 3 hours if we were "lucky" He had US trained, instead of the other way around. We did 3 days of not picking him up, just laying him back down ( cause was big enough to stand!) and rubbing his head and back for a few mins, but not talking to him. After 3 nights, he now sleeps from 8pm-6am with 1 or no waking!

Arlene - posted on 05/07/2009

sounds to me like he cant get him self back to sleep through the transitions. do you have a bed time routine? what do you do to get him to go back to sleep? have you tried reading up on any no cry sleep plans?? i recomend the no-cry sleep solution, by elizabeth pantley. when my son wakes up during the night, i cant let him cry, to self sooth...he gets more agitated, and wakes up for a few hours, so i just catch him as quick as possible, (he sleeps in his crib beside me) and pop in his paci. he settles much more quicker this way, and falls asleep quicker. about a minute later, i take the paci out so he doesnt rely on it for sleeping

Melanie - posted on 05/07/2009

Ahhh I think he's got you hooked. If it's been 5 weeks I'd say it's not a growth spurt and I'd try letting him self-soothe. Try holding back before going to get him and see if he doesn't fall back asleep on his own. It may not necessarily happen immediately but if you're patient within a week you should be sleeping quite well. I know it's hard to listen to our babies cry and not rush in to save them but if you know he's OK you'll see it will pay off in the end.

Melanie - posted on 05/07/2009

Ahhh I think he's got you hooked. If it's been 5 weeks I'd say it's not a growth spurt and I'd try letting him self-soothe. Try holding back before going to get him and see if he doesn't fall back asleep on his own. It may not necessarily happen immediately but if you're patient within a week you should be sleeping quite well. I know it's hard to listen to our babies cry and not rush in to save them but if you know he's OK you'll see it will pay off in the end.