4 months old not sleeping in the night .. .. what do you do .. ??

Some thoughts.... How many feeds does baby take during the day? Are they consuming enough calories for their age? Without doing so baby may find it difficult to sleep through. How many day time sleeps is baby having? Too much = day into night Too little= overtired baby who will find it hard to sleep restfully. Do you have a consistent bedtime/bedtime routine? 2 Months; My LO in bed alone/awake at 7pm Dream feed at 11pm Awake and shouting at 2-3am, Breast feed, NO nappy change unless poo. No talking, no lights. Put back into bed alone/awake takes 20 mins to settle herself. If cries put hand on tummy do not pick up! Awake and shouting at 4-5am,Breast feed, NO nappy change unless poo. No talking, no lights. Put back into bed alone/awake takes 20 mins to settle herself. If cries put hand on tummy do not pick up! (Would listen from my room with doors open as baby in her own room) First day time feed at 7am. I woke baby and fed every 3 hours, cluster feeding towards bedtime to tank her up with extra calories. Eat, nappy change play and put down to sleep immediatley if showed any sleep cues, rubbing face, sneezing, starring into space. Dream feeding only work if you are consistent with it and do not give up after a few attempts, try about a week and see if it is for you. Gradually 2-3am wake up and feed disappears by itself and then the 4-5am. Try to let your baby shout for 5 mins before attending as by responding immediatley you take away the baby's ability to settle itself. If shouting continues feed but try to extend response time each night and if feed time become shorter try just giving a pacifier instead of bottle/breast. Most baby's of this age wake due to bad habits rather than actual hunger provided they are getting enough daytime calories. Break habit of taking baby into your bed, yes you are tired, yes you have had enough but too many bad habits give yourself more work longterm. Be strong and good luck. P.s. my DD slept through from 10weeks in her own bed in her own room.

I have read that this 4 month sleep regression thing is not connected to the baby being hungrier so starting solids or giving formula top-ups won't help, waking up is not apparently connected to hunger. Sleep is controlled by the brain not the stomach and some babies that have previously slept for long stretches at night will wake up more at this time because they are processing new skills. There is also a theory that goes along with the reasoning that human babies are born too soon (compared to other animals) and the 1st three months of life should be considered the 4th trimester, with this in mind it makes sense that *some* babies have a slight regression at 4 months, this is also the time that most babies lose their newborn reflexes as the brain develops more complex survival/social reactions and a baby is able to make more voluntary movements ie: holding head still, co-ordinate hand-eye action Anyway... go back to the newborn days, sleep when you can and remember that it will pass (I'll try to remember this advice when my baby gets to this stage!!)

lots of info and advice here.. http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/sleep

mine too!! DD used to be a star.. she's sleep for 6 hrs straight, then 2 night feeds... but just last week, her pattern changed, only 4 hrs, then every hour!!! i changed her feed by adding formula, i made her sleep more...nothing helps!! i want this to end... :( but when???

Sounds just like my 4 month old and I thought he was doing pretty well! I think only patience and daytime naps will save us Layool ;-)

All babies are so different so its pointless to compare them with others. Could he be hungry? How much sleep is he getting during the day? I have found that what works for one mum/baby doesn't necessarily work for the next mum/baby. My DD is 4 months and goes to bed every night by 7pm, I wake her every night for a dream feed and have done since day 1. This works for my DD and since 9 weeks she has slept straight through from 11pm to 7am, every night... so far! BUT she is formula fed and I do think that that has helped us with her sleeping as she is kept fuller for longer plus I have been very strict with her routine when it comes to feeding and sleeping. But as Yasmine said, dreamfeeds don't suit all babies. You have to do what you have to do but don't beat yourself up if your baby is waking twice at night. I have known other bubs to wake up so much more, so really and truly, your bub is doing well to only wake twice. Now... whats this about a 4 month sleep regression? Eeeeek! Still waiting for that one, hopefully that doesn't affect all babies. Good luck Layool! And remember... there is no right or wrong, do what you feel is best for your baby. ;)

Paradoxically, the solution is to wake them up - around 10pm or 11pm, right before you go to sleep. Feed him, if possible while he's still half asleep, and then put him back down. He should sleep straight through. Sorry to to disagree guiness, but dreamfeeds dont work for all babies, I used to dreamfeed at midnight before I went to sleep hoping this would make him sleep through. Fed him half asleep and he was in a coma when put down back into his cot. However, 2 hours later, 3 hours later, 4 hours later, etc he would be up and in a bad mood. Once I stopped dreamfeeding he just got up at 4am, got his bottle and went back to sleep till 8. Some babies dont appreciate the disruption of sleep for food, and I read that dreamfeeding beyond 4 months can create bad habits where babies internal clock wakes them up for a feed even though they are not hungry, just wanna suck. Layool I also had that problem at 4 month, apparently it is typical for 4 month old babies...patience...

so your 4 month old is waking twice during the night for a feed? Perfectly normal... my then 11 month old was waking 3 times. Count yourself lucky!

PS there have been a couple of threads recently on this topic. If you do a search, you might find some helpful advice there.

*Hugs* there's a well-documented 4-month sleep regression (and it's not common for babies of this age to be really sleeping through the night anyway). This too shall pass! But it can be tough for mum in the meantime. If you are currently taking him into your bed, you might like to have a look at this leaflet. It outlines the risk factors which contra-indicate bed-sharing, and describes ways to minimise the risk of accidents or overheating. If risk factors are not present, it is safer to share a bed than to fall asleep with your baby on a sofa or armchair. http://www.babyfriendly.org.uk/pdfs/sharingbedleaflet.pdf xx

Paradoxically, the solution is to wake them up - around 10pm or 11pm, right before you go to sleep. Feed him, if possible while he's still half asleep, and then put him back down. He should sleep straight through.

Hello, Is it possi.ble that he is hungry? Many babies at this age have to be given solids (rice etc) to feel satisfied enough to sleep...