how do i get my 4 month old to start sleeping through the night?

Renae - posted on 02/16/2010

He is only 4 months old. It is perfectly normal for a 4 month old to still be feeding every few hours. 50% of babies need to feed at night until they are 12 months old. Most babies will sleep through the night when they are physiologically ready. Sleep training methods usually do not work until the baby is physiologically ready.

Becky - posted on 02/15/2010

I wouldn,t suggest letting him cry it out this early. I would wait until he is 6 months before you do that. You don't want him to start feeling like his needs aren't being met or it will probably prolong the sleepless nights.

Suzanne - posted on 02/14/2010

I never did figure out with my first 2 how to get them to sleep through the night, but with my 3rd, my boys did it for me. They were so enamoured with their little sister that they were entertaining her all day long and keeping her awake. She was so tired by night time that she started to sleep from 9 until about 6 the next morning at 4 months old. She stopped napping a couple months later. She was like most babies and had her days and nights mixed up. This helped break the cycle and got her to sleep at night instead of during the day. I'm not saying to take away naps, my daughter just didn't need them like my boys did. My middle child didn't start sleeping through the night until his little sister did and he took naps until he went to kindergarden. Every child is different. You may have to just be patient a little longer. Good luck!

Becky - posted on 02/14/2010

At four months my son would only sleep about 4-5 hours at night then have a bottle and sleep 2-3 more hours. Naps during the day were about 2 hrs. Sometimes starting baby food too early can cause digestive problems which may keep him from sleeping. Mylicon gas drops are a life saver.

Coralanne - posted on 01/15/2010

Hi there, if you are giving your son cereal before he goes to bed he may be waking up because of tummy pains. Cereal is a wee bit heavy for a bub to eat just before bed. Love Coralanne xoxo

Hayley - posted on 01/09/2010

Quoting Lydia:

Hope this helps let him stay up till 10-11pm before this let him play or a walk around the block. give him a nice bath and put cereal in his bottle 4 the night hopefully he will sleep and if he does U won :}

i dont believe staying up until 10-11 is the answer as that is 2-3 hours of sleep time that you are missing out on sleep, even if its broken up sleep its still sleep !!!! and if the baby naturally wakes at 12 or 1 etc he will still wake up at that time as its his natural body clock, just try to get bubby to self sooth as he may not be hungry but just in a light stage of sleep and then wakes, but then requires you to put him back to sleep instead of doing it himself

Hayley - posted on 01/09/2010

i agree with him possibly being a bit too young to be on solids, but again thats a mothers choice and maybe your bubby was ready for it !!
my suggestion to you is to try to get you little one to self sooth to sleep, I was also told that when babies are older (in your case) your baby may be waking and need you to put him to sleep again and not actually hungry but needs the comfort of the bottle ect to fall back asleep, i too had a lot of issues with the sleeping thing,, but now im only feeding once a night and he wakes then a 5am (still a little early but.....) once my son started to relise that he can put himself to sleep he was sooo much better.

Eli - posted on 01/09/2010

I have to agree with scheduling...I have 4 children, all very different, but with scheduling, they all slept thru the night by 8 weeks. You may have to let your little one cry a bit for two or three days, but if you know they are clean and dry, they are okay. They also will do better during the day because they have enough rest.

Jean - posted on 01/09/2010

First of all unless your peditrician has told you to feed him baby food and cereal, he is too young to have "solid' food." That may be your problem. And he will sleep through the night when he is ready. If you know he is dry, not hurting and hungry, let him cry.

Stacey - posted on 01/08/2010

I had problems with my first, at around 10 months he was waking every couple hrs for a feed and things were getting worse not better, I had tried many things as I was desperate, some things worked for a couple days or a week and then it was like he became immune to whatever method I was using and it wouldn't work anymore and some methods didn't work at all. I got so desperate that I finally tried one of those sleep books (save our sleep by Tizzie Hall) and it worked a treat, I had him putting himself to sleep (usually within 5 mins and with little or no fuss) and sleeping through the night (7pm - 7am) within the week. And he would self settle for 2 naps during the day. It worked so well and I was so used to getting a good nights sleep again that when I was due with my second I was determined to use this method with her as soon as possible. She too was a baby who took a long time to settle and woke often, but I had her self settling and sleeping through the night (she wouldnt even wake for a feed) at around 3 months. Brilliant. Worth a try for sure.

Dana - posted on 01/08/2010

Ahh, my son had eczema too. His dermatologist said that they once used to say that baths were bad for eczema but now they're finding it's good, she had me do it everyday. Once I started bathing him everyday and used CereVa lotion (developed by dermatologists) his eczema disappeared and he had it bad, bad. I had been using steroid cream and a special shampoo for his head. Do not let him cry in his crib until he falls asleep. I'm not someone who agree's with letting them cry it out but, even people who do, say you shouldn't do it before 6 months. I personally think it's cruel no matter what age. To each their own, but not before 6 months, at least.

LeAndrea - posted on 01/08/2010

Thanks for the comments! for the ones who suggested baths i do but he can only have them every other day and can not use any perfume stuff because he also has eczema! He gets a jar of baby food for breakfast with about 6oz of formula lunch is the same thing then at night i make him cereal and spoon feed it, i Have tried the cereal in the bottle and it doesn't seem to matter some nights we is up every 4 which i don't mind but most nights its every hour! so we will see!! Is it ok to just let him cry up in his crib until he falls a sleep, knowing he has already eaten and is fine?

Kelsey - posted on 01/08/2010

Make sure hes getting enough sleep during the day! Despite what some people may say, keeping a baby awake during the day will only make it all worse. Other than that, I think its all up to him.

Dana - posted on 01/08/2010

Every baby is different. He's probably hungry even though he eats a lot during the day it's normal for babies to eat at night, they're constantly growing.

Renae - posted on 01/08/2010

Most 4mo babies do not sleep through the night. Most babies sleep through (7-8 hous)after 6 months old. I post a lot about sleep methods but unless he is waking very frequently (more than every few hours) then I would strongly suggest giving him more time. Starting solids usually does NOT help babies to sleep through. Their biological clocks have to be ready to sleep a longer stretch as well as being physiologically ready to go without feeding for a stretch of time. That clock I just mentioned, doesn't fully mature until about 40 weeks old. If he is waking unusually frequently you are welcome to contact me for some sleep through strategies.



Something that will help which you can start to do even before he is ready to sleep through, is use a gentle method of teaching him to go to sleep on his own. This will ensure that once his body is ready he will sleep through and not continue to wake out of habit. I recommend at this young age that if you want to try something you go with Gradual Withdrawal. There are lots of instructions on the net or again you are welcome to contact me. The other thing to do like other mums have said is establish a bedtime routine.

Lydia - posted on 01/08/2010

Hope this helps let him stay up till 10-11pm before this let him play or a walk around the block. give him a nice bath and put cereal in his bottle 4 the night hopefully he will sleep and if he does U won :}

Kimberlee - posted on 01/08/2010

ooooh and a baby massage on top of the bath should also work wonders.

Kimberlee - posted on 01/08/2010

have you got him into a schedule yet? Waking him up early. Then setting the mood at night? My son sleeps the best when i give him a bath.And you may want to try the lavender and chamomile products when you give him a bath.That should relax him.

Virginia - posted on 01/08/2010

I put rice cereal in my daughters bottle before bed and it helps her sleep through the night because her tummy is full and has no reason to wake up. I have done this with all my kids. They never got bloated, constipated or anything. Make sure the nipples of the bottle are fast enough flowing for the thicker milk to get through.

Katrina - posted on 01/08/2010

dont no if will help,but both my kids have slept through night since month old,all i did was give them a dummy,and that was it flat out,they stir if it fell out but once bk in,fine

Michelle - posted on 01/08/2010

I suggest that you make sure you don't give him anything heavy at lest one hour before bed it could cause bloating and gas which will keep him woke try a warm bath and swaddle him before laying him down it works wonders remember baby suck instinctively he may not be as hungry as he is fussy and in need of comfort.

Shawn - posted on 01/08/2010

You just have to wait until he is ready to is what it sounds like. My son didn't start sleeping through the night until he was over a year old (no kidding).