Four Month Old Has Stopped Sleeping Through the Night

You mentioned you just started feeding him rice cereal. Both of my kids did not digest rice cereal well. It caused stomach pains and problems with their already established sleep habits. My doctor recommended to stop using rice cereal for 2 weeks and then try again. If it still wasn't going well and was causing problems with waking them with tummy aches, stop and wait another 2 weeks before adding it back in.

I did this with both kids. Rice ceral just never agreed with them. I went through the routine until they were 6 months old and ready for oatmeal. They never did eat rice cereal regularly. You might try the same thing and see if discontinueing the rice cereal gets him back on track.

Good luck! It's hard having a child that normally sleeps through the night change their routine.

Hi, I am a stay at home mom of two little girls. Now ages 5 and 3. Both of my girls went through this and I think most babies do. The first thing that I would ask is, is he sleeping in the same room with you? Its a lot harder for you to sleep through him babbling and playing if he is in the same room. Some babies just make noise when they sleep and I know that with my first daughter I would jump up every time she made a noise. I learned that you just have to ignore it unless they just start screeming. I got to the point that I had to just force myself to stay in bed unless they really started screeming and I know that that is easier said than done. But it was a lot easier after I moved them to their own room with a monitor of course. Then when they would fuss I would check on them pat them on the back and walk out. DO NOT pick him up. Then, if they kept on I would look at the clock and make myself wait 5 min. It seemed like forever....but I was amazed at how many times they would go back to sleep on their own if I would just leave them alone and let them cry it out. (Five min of crying never hurt anyone). If after 5 min they hadn't stoped I would peek back in and maybe pat a little more and make myself stay out 5 more min. Of course this does not count if they are sick. Then they just need their mommy's. But, just be sure that the pampering stops when he is well again. Hope this helps. -L.

Babies go through growth spurts every few months, and they need to eat more often. Your baby is most likely hungry - give a bottle! Continue your normal bedtime routines, and repeat a shortened version at night after the early am feeding. Baby will return to STTN when she is ready.
BTW - baby cereal has less calories in it than milk/formula, so it won't really help your problem.

Babies go thru stages and sometimes a baby who used to sleep thru the night will change his habits and it is all normal. Feeding him solids wont make him sleep more at all. It is simply a wives tale, sorry! Putting cereal in his bottle wont help neither. You'll just end up over feeding. He has learned a new "trick" and the world is just to amazing to waste time sleeping... Just give it time.

Babies wake up at night. When their digestive systems are more mature they will stop. Four months seems early to me for solid food unless your son voluntarily eats it (not through his bottle).

How long has this been going on? He may just be having a growth spurt and may need the extra feeding...try squeezing in an extra feeding/bottle during the day. You might also give him a little time to get himself back to sleep.

My daughter did the same thing and come to find out she was teething. This may be your problem. Good luck!

The joy of babies! Once you think you have their schedules figured out they change them on you! For years we have been hearing that adding cereal to our babies bottles will help them sleep but recent studies have shown that this simply isn't true and it can actually lead to overeating and obesity. Here is a great article from Dr. Greene who is a noted expert:

http://www.drgreene.com/21_861.html

Your baby is probably just going through a phase or growth spurt and may need a few more middle of the night feedings until he passes through this one. When my daughter was two she was still getting up in the middle of the night and wanting a sippy cup of milk and she wanted it warmed up...ugh...I thought that stage would never pass but it did!
Here are a few great articles I found on getting your baby to sleep through the night and maybe you will find something in here that will help.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/baby-sleep/FL00118

http://parenting.ivillage.com/baby/bsleep/0,,40rf,00.html

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070200.asp

The main suggestion I have for you now is focused on getting you the sleep that you need! Is it possible for you and your fiance to take turns getting up to feed the baby? I know a lot of new moms are hesitant to ask their spouse to help out when you are staying at home caring for the baby (I am assuming, I apologize if this isn't the case and you are actully working too) and he has to get up and work but if you only had to get up every other night it would make a world of difference to you. Before I got pregnant my husband and I discussed how we were going to handle this situation and he agreed to take every other feeding from the time we brought our babies home from the hospital until they quit waking up in the middle of the night. They are afterall, his children too and it really helped him bond with the kids and to appreciate what I was going through. If you are working as well then I really believe he needs to share in this duty until this phase passes....which it will even though it doesn't feel like it right now!
Another thing that helped us was creating a plan. We put the bottle in to warm and while waiting on it we changed the diaper so we didn't have to do it after they fell back asleep and risk waking them up again. Also, keep the lights low and resist the urge to talk to your baby. Too much stimulation will wake him up further and possibly keep him awake and then you are stuck up with him! Pacifiers were also life savers for us and at 4 months old it may be worth a try even if he hasn't taken to one before now.
I hope one of these articles has something in it that will help out. Just keep telling yourself that this too shall pass :-) Good luck and enjoy your baby!

I recommend reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Weissbluth. I also got good sleeping tips from "Baby 411". Basically, at around 4 months a baby develops his first social awareness, and sleep interrupts the fun time. Your job as a parent is to teach him that certain times are for being social, and other times are for being asleep. A four-month-old is capable of sleeping around 6 hours without food; a six-month-old is capable of sleeping 12 hours without food. Generally, when a baby is developmentally capable of sleeping straight through the night, but isn't, then he's either ill or he's waking up to play. You'll KNOW if your kid is sick. He's usually waking up to play, and your job is to not respond to his invitation. (It's really hard for about a week, and then he adjusts to the routine and is perfectly happy. It worked with us.)

when learning new things like rolling over etc, it seems their sleeping habits change. of course, it is most uncommon that children sleep through the night from 6 weeks old so consider yourself lucky with that. i personally don't think rice cereal in his bottle will help. is he waking up hungry since he is growing or is he wanting some attention? you can try one of two things, let him cry it out to get him back on track or see if it will work itself out. my son was 9 months old before he slept completely through the night and my daughter was over 6 months old. your son waking up twice a night at his age is not unheard of and i always welcomed the extra snuggle time..but that was just me :-)

good luck.

Some babies just don't sleep through the night. He might be going through a growth spurt which would make him want to eat more and more often. Welcome to parenthood, a life of running on empty....lol

he's probably teething. my little boy got his first tooth at 4 months.

Hi I have a 3 year old boy and an 18 month old girl. My son never did sleep through the night until he was about 20 months old, and my daughter has only been sleeping through the night for a few months now. You are really lucky that your son has slept through the night this long! You may check to see if he has any teeth pushing through. My children always had more trouble sleeping when they were teething. With my daughter, she will not sleep if her diaper is the tiniest bit wet. I guess every baby is different. You just need to hang in there. It is always difficult when they can't tell you what is wrong and you are deprived of sleep. Keep trying diffent options, and you may figure out what the problem is. It could be growing pains as some of the others mentioned or a stomach ache from the rice cereal.
Hang in there, and God Bless!

This happend to me when my son started rolling over. His dr said it is normal for them to start waking again in the middle of the night when they get active. He told me that if I have a baby monitor to throw it away :-(. He said not to go into the room (as long as you know he is okay and there is nothing wrong with him, obviously), to just let him continue to cry and he will go back to sleep......eventually. I did this and he began to sleep through the night again. It did take a few nights of me not being able to sleep because of him crying, though. And yes, it is hard to let him lie their and cry, but you do have to do what's best for him....and for you! Also, if he is teething, teething tablets seem to work well, but what works best for my son is giving him a wet was cloth to chew on. It helps soothe his gums.