My daughter is 4.5 months and still won't sleep through the night. Please Help!!!

Danielle - posted on 06/04/2009

my baby girl is 4.5 months and i started giving her rice cereal and she has slept through the night sence but i cant say it always works the lil boy i watch is 14 months old and still wont sleep through the night

April - posted on 06/04/2009

I agree that every baby is different, but here is what I am doing and it is working. Instead of feeding her I just went in and calmed her (did not pick up, just rubbed her hands, gave a pacifier). Now I just let her calm herself and she goes back to bed within a minute or two of crying. I think she just got used to being fed, she didn't really need it. She goes from 8:30pm until about 5am when I have to feed her anyway before I go to work. Good luck.

Terreque - posted on 06/04/2009

I will try to hang in there it's just I have to go back to work next month maternity leave is up and I don't know how I'm gonna function through the day with little to no sleep. I have a very demanding job

Lisa - posted on 06/03/2009

My lil girl goes to sleep between 7-8.30 pm in her cot(in my room) and will sleep until around 1am then i bring her into my bed for feed and she stays there until morning. She usually wakes once more for feed but I barely notice as she just latches on. My other 2 children were similar. I think all bubs are different and some need a little more reassurance and comfort as my 2 yr old still wakes once a night. 4.5 months is still very young and if youve eliminated she might be hungry/wet etc, she just might need cuddles!

Candace - posted on 06/02/2009

I"m having the same problem, we have a routine (bath, reading, bedtime bath soap and massage gel, eat and bed), i was told even to substitute a bottle with a bowl of rice cereal (2 oz - which i have no idea how to measure) as his last meal of the night before bed to make him feel full longer and sleep longer... but so far its not working :(

Also, I have been co-sleeping since he finally came home from the hospital, and up until this past saturday that met the same results - saturday i started trying to get him to sleep in his own bed, to see if that would help... he goes to sleep fine in his bed, its just the staying asleep part thats the problem. At least we're down to no more than 4 wakings in the night.. but thats still tough on me... i dont have a SO to help out, i'm on my own.

Heidi-Anne - posted on 06/02/2009

Im in the same situation my son goes to bed at 8 gets up to eat at 12, 3 then 5 and 7 and is up for the day. I have tried the rice cereal it did not make a difference for me. Also I do the bath and bottle routine every night and put him in his crib right after and he puts himself to sleep with in minutes. I think some babies just take longer unfortunetly I dream of sleep LOL

Tricia - posted on 06/02/2009

I don't know about anyone else, but even before I had kids, I rarely slept through the night. I don't have any disorders or anything, I just usually wake up at the end of each sleep cycle. Every person is different, and that goes for babies, too. There might not be anything you can do to stop her from waking, so my advice is to find a way to make her waking the least disruptive it can be. My solution is co-sleeping, because then we're both waking at the end of my sleep cycle, rather than my LO waking up on his own schedule. And that way he can nurse us both to sleep.

Tabitha - posted on 06/01/2009

My girl started sleeping thru the night at 2 months. The only thing that i found to help her do this is to co-sleep. she just loves to cuddle, very dependable child. i also started to just rock her back to sleep when she woke up in the middle of the night to feed. eventually she stayed asleep thru the whole night.

Jennifer - posted on 06/01/2009

I feel you! My son will sleep from 7-12 and is then up every two to three hours. We've done everything! Bedtime routine, bottle with expressed milk and some rice cereal, dream feeding. Nothing worked. I have a dr. appt. tomorrow and am going to ask him what his advice is. If he says anything great, I'll let you know

Rae - posted on 06/01/2009

My daughter actually slept from 8 pm to 7 am last night! omg! lol! Well, she did move and squirm alot around midnight, but she was still super tired so I just changed her diaper in her crib without picking her up and she went back to sleep. It's very odd. Have you tried bedtime lotions for night? My daughter usually sleeps after her bath because I use the bedtime wash and lotion so she knows it's time to go nite nite. She usually sleeps from 7 or 8 pm to like 2 am, wakes to feed, and sleeps again until about 7 or 8 am to start her day. Last night was just odd though that she didn't want a feed!



Oh, and she doesn't like sleeping flat on her back, so I have a pillow underneath her crib sheet so she is leveled.



I don't know how your child will react, but it's always worth a try. I can't wait til she sleeps thru the night either, but I'm okay with the once a night feedings for now as well.

Susan - posted on 06/01/2009

Everyone one of my kids was different sleeping wise, I still have a 2-year-old that wakes up halfway through the night.

Anyway - with my first, the doctor suggested to me that when she wakes up for that bottle in the middle of the night to slowly cut it back by an ounce every week. Eventually your daughter will get use to less and less and finally not need anymore. It worked for us with our first child, took a couple weeks but well worth it.

Tangee - posted on 06/01/2009

I actually wanted to correct something I had mentioned in my last post... I had stated "I don't know if that has anything to do with him sleeping better through the night or not" - I wanted to correct that because the swaddling is indeed one of the reasons why he sleeps better at night...silly me... what I meant to say is I don't know whether getting the dvd is too late to try and use the techniques or not since your baby isn't in what Dr. Harvey Karp considers the 4th trimester (the first 3 months of birth). You may want to contact a rep from his website at http://www.thehappiestbaby.com/.

Hope this helps...

Tangee - posted on 06/01/2009

I don't know if it's too late to try this but have you ever heard of Happiest Baby on the Block? That helped us tremendously when our lil man wouldn't sleep through the night. We still swaddle him (one of the techniques in the dvd but that is only one of the techniques we still use from any of the other techniques in the dvd - this and one other)...I don't know if that has anything to do with him sleeping better through the night or not. But we also co-sleep so he actually sleeps with us in the bed and when he does get fussy in the middle of the night, it's usually him looking for my booby for the magic milk and I give it to him and we both go right back to sleep... So I don't know if you co-sleep or breastfeed but perhaps try swaddling?

Amie - posted on 06/01/2009

The only thing I can think of is maybe they can't get themselves back asleep because they are used to being put in the crib when they are already asleep? I try to keep Liam awake during his last feed (7-8pm) and put him down while awake. It takes him anywhere up to 30 mins to fall asleep...sometimes crying, sometimes not. I think this helps them learn how to get back to sleep on their own, without needing food. Liam wakes up several times a night but only for a couple minutes, doesn't cry out, and goes back to sleep. Once they are in the routine of getting themselves back to sleep, I think they will cry less during the night and at bedtime. Hope this helps :)

Alicia - posted on 06/01/2009

hmm. I have to respectfully disagree on a few responses. First, sleep begets sleep or so they say. So don't try to keep LO awake during the day, they will become overtired and cranky. Second, I have heard about the rice cereal, but personally I am not convinced...that doesn't mean that it wouldn't work for you. A book that I use as a resource is Good Night Sleep Tight by Kim West and Joanne Kenen. Some of the ideas and techniques in there have really helped us. Maybe LO isn't waking out of hunger but just wants snuggles? Try dream feeding too. Good Luck mama!

Alicia - posted on 06/01/2009

hmm. I have to respectfully disagree on a few responses. First, sleep begets sleep or so they say. So don't try to keep LO awake during the day, they will become overtired and cranky. Second, I have heard about the rice cereal, but personally I am not convinced...that doesn't mean that it wouldn't work for you. A book that I use as a resource is Good Night Sleep Tight by Kim West and Joanne Kenen. Some of the ideas and techniques in there have really helped us. Maybe LO isn't waking out of hunger but just wants snuggles? Try dream feeding too. Good Luck mama!

Melissa - posted on 06/01/2009

I have the same problem!! Exact same schedule... maybe we just arent blessed with good sleeping babies:(

Terreque - posted on 06/01/2009

I will try Thanks

Jenny - posted on 06/01/2009

You could try some rice cereal to try fill her tummy a bit!!!! My daughter is 4 and a half months and sleeps from about 9:30 - 10:00pm until 7:30 - 8:00am straight!!!

Natalie - posted on 06/01/2009

every baby is different so its hard to say what will work for your little one.....If possible try to let her slepp less during the day and stick to your routine and hopefully she will just start sleeping through the night.....sorry I could not be any more helpful and good luck.

Natasha - posted on 05/31/2009

i really feel your pain. im in the same situation as you. my daughter is 4 months and we have the same routine as you except i breastfeed her to sleep. she will not sleep through the nite. she goes to bed between 7-8 and gets up to feed at least 4 times. she is usually awake at 6:30 -7 am to start her day.



i assumed by now she would be sleeping through the nite :(