4 Month Old Son Not Sleeping Good

Hello S.,

I understand how you feel. My 18 month old daughter is still getting up every 2 to 4 hours. It drove me crazy. Here recently I asked the doctor if there was anything else I could do because when she is at her nanas she sleeps the night through usually. He said that she is attatched to me and knows I will get up with her or put her in to bed with me. He said for me to let her cry it out. He said it will be rough at first but to let her do it a couple of nights and she will learn to go back to sleep on her own.
As for your 4 month old. He may be wanting more to eat. Probably going through a growing spurt. I would try feeding him an ounce more at his feedings. We had to put cereal in my daughters milk at that age to get her full. It takes time. No all kids sleep the night through and some kids do. My son slept the night through since he was brought home and now he is 4 years old. My daughter on the other hand is a night owl I am thinking. :) I really hope some of this helps. Good luck and remember your not alone.

S.
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Maybe as he is getting older he's not getting full as he was when you put him to bed, i know with my kids and i have a friend who is a foster mom...when they start taking more milk and acting like they aren't full at night she puts a tiny bit of cereal in their bottle and it works wonders.

I'm sure you'll get alot of wonderful responses to give you ideas to try.

Marc Weissbluth in "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" says that at four months, around the time the baby develops a social smile, is when babies also start fighting sleep. They've learned that there are fun people to interact with and they want to stay up and play! But your job as a parent is to help your son learn that he should sleep when it's time to sleep, and that he can fall asleep on his own. This is no less part of good parenting than is making sure he eats his vegetables or doesn't run with scissors.

We sleep trained both our kids starting at 4 months. Our eldest was falling asleep on his own with no trouble at 4.5 months (after one absolutely miserable week for all of us). Our second had colic and therefore had a harder time self-soothing, and still will scream a bit at bedtime, but he is even more social than our eldest and dislikes bedtime even more. (He's like me - I'd rather stay up and talk than go to bed.) However, he still is able to fall asleep on his own with relatively little trouble (and the trouble he has is slowly diminishing) and to stay asleep most of the night.

So - read Weissbluth's book. It was given to me by another mother when I had my first, and I've shared it with several friends who have also found it invaluable. His book is the most helpful I've read about getting a child on a regular sleep schedule, and also reassuring parents that their child can and will learn to sleep soundly through the night (at least 6 hours at 4 months, up to 12 hours by 6 months!) - and that there will be no long-term adverse effects from it. Promise. :) Good luck!

i know what you mean my daughter is 4 months also and shes started to fight sleep once i get her to sleep its fine but she fights bad. i would maby try putting a little rice cereal in his last bottle of the night. not a lot just a table spoon enuf to make it a little bit thick. it help my daughter to sleep though the night now if i could just get her to stop fighting me everytime shes tierd. hope that helps good luck glad to know im not the only one with this 4 month old sleep issue.

I'd check with his doctor just to be sure that there's no medical reason for the waking.

The Sears Nighttime Parenting Book is great for sleep issues. It's a nice, quick read, too. Highly recommended! SO is Elizabeth Pantley's No-Cry SLeep Solution. Great, great, fantastic tips.

Hang in there :)

probably no need to go to the doctor. Either a growth spurt or maybe starting to teethe. Hang in there!

you don't say whether you are breasfeeding or bottlefeeding...he is probably getting ready for a growth spurt. he may need to eat more often, please don't introduce solids too soon. they really don't need it before 5-6 months. most babies go in cycles like this,eating more when they need it. it shouldn't last more than a week or two if you feed him when he needs it.

Has he been congested at all? When my son did something like this, it turned out to be an ear infection. I would NEVER have thought of it because he was not running fever or tugging at his ear. However, I was telling a friend about it, and she said that her son showed no other symptoms w/ his ear infections - just frequent wakings during the night (pressure is worse when lying down). If it doesn't go away soon, it might be worth a trip to the dr. to find out. Good luck!