Cry It Out Method - Seattle,WA

I know there are differing opinions about this...but in my experience with two breastfed children, 4 1/2 months is too young to expect to not be breastfed AT LEAST once sometime in the night. I would expect that if has been 5-6 hours since he last ate, I would feed him, especially if he is having a harder time going back to sleep. Also, when babies go through growth spurts during different times in their lives, they breastfeed more often, so keep that in mind as well. I'm thinking that somewhere around 7 or 8 months and my little ones were eating solid foods was when they could sleep throughout the night...but, this also seemed to come and go...I think they go through cycles or sleeping better and then waking in the night depending on growth, teething, illness, hunger, etc. So trust your instincts on what your baby is wanting/needing when he wakes and I believe you'll figure it out! Good luck! I know how good a solid nights sleep feels when you haven't had one for months! :)

Yes feed him - he probably is hungry. At 4 months or even later I wouldn't expect a kiddo that young to go without eating.

I myself did they cry it out at that young - but always after eating and change - so it was when all needs were met. What I think you'll find is once you feed him at either 12:30 or 2:30 or 4:00 he'll sleep for longer periods of time. Right now he's probably waking that much because he's hungry.

If he's waking and breastfed, he's probably hungry. Breastmilk is digested very quickly so it's perfectly reasonable to feed him rather than expect him to sleep through. Some kids do at his age, most don't. My daughter did from 6 weeks until 4 months, and then not again until 18 months. Maybe try nursing him when he wakes at 12:30. He might be able to go 5-6 hours (9:30-2:30) and it might be easier on you if he did that from midnight to 6am. He might drop the 2:30 or 4:00 waking if he eats at 12:30. It's a bit of trial and error.

Have you read the book Babywise? I wouldn't call it the "cry it out" method, I don't know what that is, but it teaches that with regularly scheduled feedings throughout the day -- 3 to 4 hours apart, your baby will naturally sleep through the night for 10 to 12 hours. Occassionally allowing a baby to cry it out is recommended, but that is the exception, not the norm. I used this book with both my babies and they did sleep through the night by 10 weeks. I breastfed them both so I can tell you with authority that that line "breastmilk digests very quickly" is utter nonsense. It is all in being very consistent with your feed times so their stomachs and expectations know when to expect their next feeding. I don't know WHY regular feedings and naptimes during the day contributes to sleeping through the night -- but it did! I highly recommend this book!

As for your questions -- again, I don't know the cry it out method, but I will just say, if you ARE feeding them every three hours during the day AND you know he is sucking 20 minutes each side (some babies are quicker) and he is gaining weight -- I would not feel bad at all about letting the baby cry at that early morning time -- because it is SOOOOOO nice to break them of that habit and get them to sleep in until 8 am! I can't say if he's hungry or not but even if he is I believe stomachs adjust to what they are given habituallyl. With both kids I did have 1 to 3 days of letting them cry at 5:30ish then they stopped -- and it was SOOOOO nice! For two years my girlfriends are complaining about having to get up to feed their babies and I'm just like, nope, I got some reading done, some laundry done, all while baby was still asleep. Personally I preferred that, but of course you could say they were the superior mothers because they SACRIFICED so much to make sure their babies weren't hungry.

Your baby is hungry. Many infants at 4.5 months that wake up during the night, especially if they are breast fed are hungry. Breast-fed babies often eat every 2-3 hours as the breast milk is easily digested, they are growing rapidly so they need to eat. If your guy is wet, he needs to be changed. I'm not a big fan of CIO, I didn't do it with my 3 kids, I picked them up, rocked them, nursed and they fell asleep and stayed asleep. Their cries were their way of communicating some need. It will pass, he's growing and his mind is developing, so he's dreaming. Provide him the assurances he and you both need that he's ok. By the way, your profile says your son was born in Dec '06 and that you're due again n Feb. (congratulations!), but Sawyer is older than 4.5 months, he should be more like 2.5 years old. If he's getting up during the middle of the night, go in and see what's wrong. If he's hungry, make sure he's ate well before going to bed. It could be that he has a food allergy that is causing him discomfort and is waking him. Is he night time potty trained? Maybe he's wet and needs to be changed. Making sure that he empties his bladder before bed tme will help him stay dry through the night as well as limiting the amount of liquids he has after 7 pm. I hope all goes well.