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My four month old struggles with sleep.

Eva - posted on 10/21/2009 ( 3 moms have responded )

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My four month old fights falling asleep. He often needs to be rocked to sleep because he is just so tired. All I do is look for signs of sleepiness and rush him right to sleep but he just doesn't sleep - I don't over schedule our day, we just work on sleep. Regardless, he gets cranky because he is tired but really doesn't nap well. Some babies just fall asleep everywhere but not my son. It takes so much work to get him to sleep - he has always been like this. (He doesn't have any medical conditions.) Any advice??

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Elizabeth - posted on 10/21/2009

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My baby girl likes to be laid on her side and given a pacifer for naps or bedtime. I usually have on a fan or some light music and that typically does the trick. You just have to find what works best for him and go with it. Sometimes if she doesn't want to nap and I know she is tired (rubbing her eyes,etc) we put her in her jumparoo for 10-15 mins and she wears herself out:) Good Luck!

Vanessa - posted on 10/21/2009

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My 4 month old is the same way. We have to rock him as well, sometimes for 40 minutes or so. All the reading I've done suggests this is quite normal. Babies need help falling asleep. Of course knowing this does not make it any less frustrating when you are in the 44th minute of rocking. We have to keep finding ways to soothe him to sleep (e.g., different rocking motions, sometimes he likes up and down bounce, other times side to side). We also found having some white noise is a must (like a fan or humidifier). Some days it does feel like all that occurs is feeding, changing diapers, and trying to get him to sleep, so I think I understand what you are saying. I've heard, and read, that they eventually get better at falling asleep. Somethings I've learned: 1) like I said, white noise is good, 2) once he falls asleep in your arms wait until he is limp before putting him down, otherwise he will be more likely to wake up as he won't be in a deeper sleep, 3) have a nap time routine, read a certain book, sing a certain song. That being said, it doesn't always work, we've had to just skip naps after trying for an hour because I was too tired. I guess it is suggested that they get tired an may need to nap within 2 hours of waking (until a certain age...not sure when). I'm sure there are other suggestions out there that will help. I would also do some reading about the pros and cons of letting a baby "cry it out" before making that decision. It is a personal one, I've heard arguments for both sides and spoken to parents who do it or do not do it.

Theresa - posted on 10/21/2009

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Get him on a set routine, starting with waking up in the morning right down to bedtime.

You don't want to over schedule but you don't want to under schedule either. Get his brain working so it tires him out. It will be hard on you too for the first week or so. After that it should get better. Remember there is nothing wrong with putting him in his crib and letting him cry himself to sleep. I even put a radio and played soft nursery music when it was nap time. It was hard for me too, but we pulled through! There was a point and time where I actually had to just tune my son out.If you want an example let me know and I will post an example of what our routine was back when mine were that young, I kept a copy in the baby book..lol Hope I helped!

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