started not sleeping through the night

Ivy - posted on 11/09/2008

My son has been sleeping through the night since about 9 weeks old - he is 4.5 months now and as just started the screaming in his sleep a few days ago. We ran in and picked him up at first - only to them realize that he wasn't really awake. Now the rule is - do not engage! We just pop in, stick his binky in his mouth, and he's back to "sleep" in no time at all. :-) Good luck to all!

Belinda - posted on 11/09/2008

Thanks for your help all. I think the problem is a combination of things. I has stopped wrapping him up and started doing it again a few nights ago and he only woke up once and has slept much better during the day. I think the other problem was when he started crying during the night he was not actually awake and i was wakeing him when i went into him. So if he does start crying now i stick his dummy back in and he is straight back to sleep. I tried letting him cry but he ends up wakeing himself up.

Sian - posted on 11/09/2008

hey there all!!!

well my little en is nw 18 weeks nd blimey i havent had a decent nights sleep since i can remember...oh apart from last night as she went to stay with grandma he he...(although i still found myself still waking). I breast fed her until she was 7 weeks and found it extremely difficult as i wasnt producing enough milk and baby also had colic.

I put her onto formula milk sma which she ended up being hospitalised as she was constipated and so changed her milk to cow nd gate.. she has been waking every 4 hrs or so during the nightime which isnt so bad and she has definately been so much more settled since goin onto solids however now it seems she is cutting her first tooth arggh! with dad away in the army and my mum the only support that i have its been pretty tough although it only takes a smiile to know that all the sleepless nights are well worth it.xxx

Joanie - posted on 11/09/2008

I have this same problem! My baby was sleeping through the night since 8 weeks and just started waking up these last couple weeks. I assume it's because he's going through a growth spurt and/or he has an upset stomach or something else wrong (poopy diaper, leg stuck in sleeper). If he has slept through the night before, I don't think he needs the cereal to help him sleep. I'm guessing it's just a growth spurt. Do you feed him when he wakes? I tried just giving him a pacifier and putting him back to sleep, and it's worked. But more often, he wakes up again an hour later because he really is hungry. I've also tried just giving him a small feeding, and that has him waking up a few hours later. So I gave in and just spent 20-30 minutes with him the other night letting him nurse, and he slept the rest of the night. I think it might also have something to do with what I've been eating (black bean soup... so good, but gassy) because he's had gas when he's woken up so I've given him gas drops.



I haven't tried to just let him cry and see if he'll go back to sleep (because I have a 2 year old that I don't want to be woken up), but if it doesn't get any better, I might try that.

Jennifer - posted on 11/07/2008

As soon as you hear him start to wake up or fuss, do you immediately run to him? It is normal for babies to cry out some in their sleep, so maybe try letting him soothe himself. Of course, if he continues to cry for several minutes, there may be a legitimate reason. My son has been sleeping through the night since he was 7 weeks, and so far, he has not had any problems waking up in the night. Sometimes during naps, he will let out an awful scream or two, but he usually goes right back to sleep after a minute or so. We have started solids too, but not for the reason you want to. I've heard that there is no correlation between starting solids and sleeping through the night, but lots of moms have had success with it, so you may want to try it if nothing else is working. But I do agree with the moms who say to be as quiet as you can if you have to get up so that baby doesn't have a chance to be become too engaged.

Kate - posted on 11/07/2008

Its pretty normal around 4 months to have some sleep issues as your little one becomes more aware of themselves and their surroundings. Try not to encourage him at all when he wakes up, by keeping the lights dim, not talking at all, and just feeding him or rubbing his back or whatever to help him back to sleep. It should pass hopefully :). Starting solids won't necessarily help unfortunatelty, but it doens't hurt to try. With my son it made it worse (he didnt' sleep all night until 18 months!), but my daugher started sleeping all night at 6 weeks :) Hang in there!

Barbara - posted on 11/07/2008

I started baby cereal cus of this problem and now she sleeps between 6-10 hours at night

Missy - posted on 11/07/2008

My daughter is 5 months old. She started to sleep through the night around 6 weeks. When she was around 4 months she came down with a stuffy nose and began getting up. Then we had changed her diapers size and she began peeing the bed every night. Once I got her past that it was a habit for her. I would get up and give her her binky and after about a week she was back sleeping through! I know it is hard when you are used to sleeping all night! The time change has my daughter up around 7 when she use to sleep to around 8 or 8:30. Its ok though as Im going back to work next week so she has to be up earlier!! Good luck.

Maria - posted on 11/07/2008

well u have been lucky if he has been sleeping through the night:-).....think its pretty rare.... so before he didnt wake up to eat at all? is he doing that now or is he waking up without any reason? if he wakes up to eat i think its just cos he is getting bigger and need more food..... could be an idea to start solids..... my little one is 4 months and 2 weeks and ive started giving him solids a bit already.....he did wake up last nite but only once when he has done it twice before to eat and so hopefully soon he will sleep through the night :-)

but then again....at this age a lot of new things happen, they get more interested bout things around them, starts to move around etc and so he might just want to feel close at night, maybe he is feeling a bit unsecure and thats why he wakes up.....i think it will pass sooner than u think :-)