Waking up every night around 4am

Ellie - posted on 02/11/2009

My little girl was a great sleeper, we would put her down at 7 andshe would wake up at 6am with me and my husband.  But she got an ear infection right around the time she also had her growth spurt and that totally messed her up.  Now she wakes up at 11pm when I go to sleep (which is not so bad) and I nurse her back to sleep, but she also wakes up at 3 or 4 am!!!  I have tried to just soothe her back to sleep but it doesn't help- she will only nurse.    I am starting her on solid now, but she doesn't eat that much, though she does drink a lot of breastmilk.  How can I get my baby to sleep again? Help!

Danielle - posted on 02/11/2009

my son still gets up every 3-4 hours at night. he eats solids during the day and 5-6 ounces when he gets up at night. my ped told me he could go back and forth from sleeping through the nigt to needing to feed for the next 4 months or so. yikes. needless to say, I am completely exausted all the time! lol.

Christine - posted on 02/11/2009

could be a growth spurt or teething. Has his routine changed. That often threw my kids off. my son is almost 5 months and he still usually wakes up between 3-5am. I think babies do this off and on with growth spurts or when they are learning a new skill. Just be consistent and he'll probalby go back to sleeping better in time. I hope it gets better for you. I so understand how hard it can be!

Stacy - posted on 02/11/2009

Ps... My son is on solids, so not sure what is going on!

Stacy - posted on 02/11/2009

My guy has been sleeping like a champ for since about 2 and half months old. 10-12 hours at a time. Usually goes down between 8-8:30 and would sleep till 6:30-7:00. He however got a cold two weeks ago and the stuffy nose was waking him in the night and has now been waking up everynight sometimes twice a night. I so want my old sleeper back. I just go in and rub his belly, or head a little and try giving him a binky. I also tell him in a soothing voice it is time to go to sleep. Last night I didn't even go in there because he was only fussing slightly and he put himself right back to sleep within 10 minutes. I only pick him up as a last resort if he is actually crying and not just fussing. I also only feed him as a last resort as he doesn't really need to eat. Sometimes I will give him a little bit of water in a bottle to get him back to sleep... I just try not to do anything that will get him in the habit of waking up for it...



good luck.

Melissa - posted on 02/11/2009

I hace the same problem! He was sleeping through the night for a month (6-6:30am) and now wants to wake up at 3 or 4. He isnt starting solids though

Melissa - posted on 02/11/2009

During a growth spurt, my daughter would start waking up in the middle of the night like that too eat. But her body made a habit of eating at the same time every night, so she would be hungry at that time every night even after her growth spurt had subsided. (For example, if you were to eat dinner at 5pm every night and then have a night where you weren't going to eat until 7, starting at 5 you would be hungry for dinner.) But fortunately this is a habit that can be changed because the baby doesn't "need" to eat at that time, he is just hungry out of habit.
When my daughter did this, after her growth spurt had finished, I tried other means of soothing her back to sleep instead of feeding. The first couple nights I eventually did have to give in but I would feed her long enough to sooth her and then swap out with the binky. After a few days of this, she stopped waking up in the middle of the night to eat.

Melissa - posted on 02/10/2009

My son goes to bed around 7pm, wakes up at 5am to eat and sleeps till 8 or 9am. He has been eating solids since this started.

Elina - posted on 02/10/2009

My son's been doing the same for a month (but he also never slept through the night:). I actually have a similar post out there. Well, he just got his teeth, so could be that.