Getting 4 Month Old to Sleep!!!

Hi S., I wrote about the same thing about 2 weeks ago, my daughter Alexis was born NOV 6th. She was sleeping throught the night and now is up several times. My Dr. says she is teething and that they go through growth spirts, I have stopped swaddling her because she is always getting out of the swaddle now. The Dr. started me on solid foods and I noticed it does help. Alexis usally falls asleep at 7:30 -8pm but wakes up at around 9:30pm (I give her a bottle at about 9:40pm) and put her right back to sleep. It is so hard, I know. I wish I could help more! Im going through the same thing!

Good luck (to both of us)!

http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/4mo-sleep.html

try this link above....sorry can't type more... i'm NAK!!

By going into her room constantly that might be making it more difficult. That is conditioning her to know, if she keeps crying a little louder, longer, mommy or daddy will come in here and give me attention!. Have you tried playing soft, low volume music, soothing..like waterfalls, etc? Do you have a night light on in her room?

Hi S.,
Sleeping is such a difficult task. My husband and I sleep with the TV on because neither one of us sleep well. He has sleep deprevation and had the surgery, he still snores and still wakes up about twice a night. So, to see the little one sleep so well now makes us both jealous. But, I was asked by my Doc how I put the little one down to sleep and I told her I hold her until she is asleep. I was told, "No". She said to hold her for a few minutes and then lay her down. Tell her it is bedtime and walk away. She expected she would cry and said to let her for 5 minutes and come back and comfort her so she knew I was there but then lay her back down and walk away. Repeat every 5 minutes until she is asleep. She said eventually it will get better. The crying carried on for about 2 days and then she would just lay down and go right to sleep. I was amazed. I did not believe it would work. My husband was shocked that it worked so well.

Today, we did have an issue because my husband broke the nap routine. I had to let her cry it out and she is finally asleep. But do also check to be sure gas is not an issue. Check the tummy for a hollow sound when you slightly tap the tummy. Sometimes milk bothers the tummy if you sub. Best of luck.

If a 4 month old continues to cry for 1 1/2 hours, something is bugging her. Crying is exausting work.

There are a few possibilities.

1. She may be hungry. Try adding some baby cereal to her diet. Every baby is different and some need added food sooner than others.

2. It is probably not teething, but possibly could be. Try teething tabs or gel. My first son was born with a tooth, so I had teething issues from the beginning.

3. If that does not help, I would suggest that you take her into the doctor to make sure that there is nothing wrong, for example with her ears.

I was happy to read that co-sleeping is not an option for you. I know it is very popular, but I don't know how people do it. It would drive me nuts, and imagine that it would be stressful on a marriage.

Do yourself a favor, and throw the pacifier away NOW! There is no rule that says babies need them. She is only 4 month old so it will be easy to break the addiction, if she even has one.

Also, make sure that she is mentally prepared to sleep. Make sure the routine right before bed, remains the same. It is the only way babies can tell time.

I hope that some of these ideas help you.

Good Luck

D.

Hi S.,
My daughter is now 7 months old. Since the day she was born she has been one to snuggle. She slept with me for about 2 1/2 months then I started her in her bed, and slept through the nite at 3 months. When she was about 4 1/2 months she started getting up every 3-4 hours and would want to snuggle. So I would put her back to sleep, lay her on her side (the way she likes to sleep)and place a blanket right up against her back then cover her. This way she felt like she was still snuggled up with me. It has worked ever since then, until now since she is teething. Give it a try if your daughter likes to snuggle.

Good Luck!

Hi S.! My husband and I had a lot of problems getting our son to sleep and on a schedule (it was exhausting). Then I read the book BabyWise and it totally helped! My son was sleeping through the night at four months. You should give it a try, we didn't stick to the book completely, you can use what you want of the information. But it is hard at first because it teaches the baby to soothe themselves. My son is almost 2 years old and now tells me when he is ready to go to bed at night because he is on a schedule and knows that bed time it 8 p.m. I believe this book saved my sanity! I hope this works! Good luck!
T.

Hi, my daughter was born November 14th also, so we have alot in common. She was sleeping through the night and started to wake up as well. It is usually because they are going through a growth spurt. I personally do not believe in leaving them to cry for long periods of time. I have 4 other children, 20, 18, 15 and 11 andI have tried all ways. I bet if you just get her up when she cries at night, keep it dark and do not talk to her, nurse her and let her fall asleep, in no time she will go back to sleeping through the night. Do not worry before you know it she will be a toddler and you will miss those late night moments cuddling with her. I use the time to just hold her and let her know she has safety in my arms and that when she cries that I am there for her, and 99% of the time she is back to sleep in 5 mintues.

I would love to talk to you more
email me at ____@____.com
D.

I don't know if you are giving her formula or not. I would try to give her formula right before bed instead of nursing her. I took away all my daughter's blankets when she was 4 months old because she was rolling around and I was scared to death that she was going to strangle herself. Also, try and find a position that is comfortable for her to sleep in. My daughter's most comfortable position is her stomach, which my doctor says was ok to put her on because she is able to lift her head up. And then maybe try keeping your daughter up an extra hour or so. My daughter hardly takes any naps during the day either (like 20 min here and 20 min there), and she stays awake until 10 and then she sleeps until 9 the next day.

Hi S.!

My son, Eoin, is almost 4 months and I know the feeling. He also is not sleeping through the night. I have gone on the internet, spoken to many pediatric nurses, moms, and ofcourse my pediatrician. They all tell me similar things. EVERY BABY IS DIFFERENT AND REQUIRES DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF SLEEP. Bah! What I do know for sure is that when my son takes less naps during the day he sleeps longer during the night. The second thing I know for sure is if a baby goes to bed hungry they will wake up more often. Since you are breastfeeding, here are a few questions to consider (1) are you ONLY breastfeeding? (2) Do you pump your breasts to see how much milk you are producing? Maybe your daughter is going through a growth spurt and is requiring more feedings or she's maybe one of those early babies that require to start on rice cereal. I would check there first. Second issue which is what is happening to me. (3) Is your baby already teething? The discomfort on the gums maybe what's waking her up. If that is the case you may want to try with the Hyland's Teething tablets. You can put it in a bottle for her with some of your breastmilk OR let her nurse for a few minutes then feed her the tablet, let her suck it from your finger, it dissolves with the moisture. The dosage for my son is 1 tablet every 12 hours. He weighs about 12.5 lbs and I sure the same dosage would go for your daughter since they are almost same age.

Good luck and let me know what happens! :)

She may be teething, try a little oral-gel and maybe some Tylenol. Her mouth probably hurts. My daughter went through the same thing, the oral-gel stops the pain right away allowing her to fall asleep and the Tylenol works for 4 hrs at a time so she can stay asleep, and you can too! Hope this helps!

Hi S.,
My son (my 1st baby) was born November 16th, so he is the same age as your daughter.
I personally would just let her do what she feels she needs to do, although it may be frusturating to you. Babies go thru phases and I'm sure this is one of them. I also don't believe in letting the baby cry it out- at least at this age. It is important for them to feel secure. My son will wake up anywhere from 2 to 4 times a night and takes small naps during the day. I have also been told to give him cereal in his milk to help him sleep. I don't believe in doing that- it is NOT a good reason to start on solids. The point of giving solids at this age is so they learn to swallow it and EAT. Maybe you could try supplementing with some formula at nighttime. It does keep them from getting as hungry. When my son started formula it was like he was drunk- it was just more filling than breast milk. Also, she could be teething- my son just got both his bottom teeth at the same time. Baby Tylenol helps and also helps him sleep( I try not to give it to him whenever possible though). Also, my son uses a pacifier ( I swore I wouldn't give him one) and there is NOTHING wrong with that. If she likes it, let her have it. It isn't as hard as people think to take it away when they are bigger. There are a lot of tecniques out there for that. One other thing you could try is taking her for a drive at night after she eats - it has worked for us in the most desparate of moments. Whatever you decide, just know that it is a phase, she is still very young, and above all you know your baby better than anyone else- do what feels right to you. Good luck!

S., hope this can help, I to have a baby girl, she is 14 mo now. From 4mo to 9mo. I gave her formula w/ baby cereal before bed every night, her bed time has allways been at 9pm dispite my efforts, she did most of the time sleep through the night until 6-7am, also try to get her on a nap schedule 1 0r 2 naps a day at the same time every day, also try the cereal before her naps, you can put in in breast milk if you perfure, also if you have started on baby food, I always make shure my little one has a full tummy, before I lay her down!

Mrs. Finicum

Try putting a super fluffy blanket on her, then a stiffer thick one on top--tucking it under her or even rolling it around her. I sympathize--my Charlotte used to do that like crazy. If this fails to keep those legs down, wait till she's asleep and add a second blanket afterwards! =p

Take her to her dr to make sure she doesn't have an ear infection. She may also be teathing. 4 months isn't an unheard of age to start this. My son was the same way when he started to get teeth. Try giving her some motrin your dr can tell you how much to give. Or just a couple teething tabs. Don't let her cry, you wont spoil her. I tryed to do what you are doing with not picking up with my son and he would just get more and more worked up and that just makes it harder for them to fall asleep. I wish I had better advice for you, but listen to your daughter, she is trying to tell you something. Use your intuition, at that age she is going through a growth spurt as well and will need to drink more in each feeding so she is trying to work your milk supply up and is most likely still hungry at night. Don't give her food yet, it's not recomeneded until 6 months now. And giving food or rice cereal to make them sleep never worked for us, my son just needed the extra love and comfort of nursing, don't worry it wont last forever.

Dear S.,

I am a pediatric RN and what I think might help your baby to sleep is to mix rice ceral in your breast milk and feed that to her before she goes to sleep at night. She is going through a growth spurt at 4- 5 mo and getting ready to teeth believe it or not. The rice ceral will make her sleep longer because it stays with her longer9 longer to digest) Breastmilk stays in the digestive tract about 2 hours - so she gets hungry . Try the rice ceral in the breastmilk in the bottle OR if you think she ready just try a little in a bowl mixed with your breastmilk with a spoon. It works ! Good luck!

Hello S.,
I am a mother to 3 wonderful boys. It sounds like you and I have very similar ideas on bed time so I thought I would give you a couple of ideas that might be going on with your little one not sleeping.
First question~ Are you feeding her any baby cereal yet? She is getting to the point where breastmilk is still great (I nursed up to about 5-6 months) it is just not keeping her belly full enough to sustain her for longer then a couple of hours. I started feeding all 3 of my boys baby cereal on the spoon at 3 months. It is so cute to watch the look on their face when they realize what is going on! Make sure it is thin enough until she gets the hang of it, but not so runny that you can’t keep it on the spoon. Another option is to add a little bit of cereal in her bottle if she is being supplemented at all with that.
Second idea~ Feel her gums. I know you think it is too early to be teething, but my 5 month old has two teeth already. He cut them 2 days before his 4 month birthday. So even if they are not visible yet, they are growing and that could be waking her up. Get some baby orajel. (I have found the liquid works better then the gel) Also try some infant motrin or Tylenol.
Good luck and I hope you and your husband get some sleep soon. Let me know how it goes.

~S.
Mom23boys

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http://www.babycenter.com/bigstory?scid=momsbaby:20070319...

Maybe she is still hungry. Try giving her some baby food or baby ceral that stays in her tummy longer than just nurseing. Another thought, maybe she is hot, get your house a couple of degrees cooler,swaddle her and try that. Hope that helps.

S.

I have read the other suggestions and agree with the others about making sure she is full before bed and that she doesn't have gas, but I whole-heartedly disagree with the idea of throwing the pacifier away! Both of my babies needed (and need, as my daughter is now 5.5 months old) their binkys. Some babies just need to suck to self-soothe. Also, it has been documented that the use of pacifiers lowers the risk of SIDS (a definite added benefit!!!)

I know everyone has their own ideas on how to get a baby to sleep, weather to let them cry themselves to sleep or to comfort them. Personally, I think that at 4 months, it is way too long for a baby to be crying for over an hour. If she cries for longer than maybe 20 minutes or so and shows no signs of falling alseep, than something is wrong and she is trying to communicate that to you. Check her diaper, make sure she doesn't have gas, give her opportunities to burp (especially if you where just nursing or feeding her before you put her down.) If none of this works, you may want to try some white-noise. and personally, I think that there is nothing wrong with rocking a fussy baby to sleep.

This period of uneasy sleeping will pass. Just remember, no one is perfect and no one has all the answers. Try what seems like a good idea to you and do your best to let her know she is loved.

all my best,
C.

Try this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Sleep-Habits-Happy-Child/dp...
it worked wonders for me and everyone else I know. You have to follow the advice and be consistent and it will work.
L.

Hi S. C,

I tried the Chiroprator with my daughter when she was young like that. She had Colic. I was raised like that so it made sense too me. I had to do it with my son who is now 24 years old. It helped his ear infections when he was 3. I didn't give him any medicine unless it came from the health food store. He was non stop until I took him to a Chiropractor. He didn't see a reg. doctor until he fractured his leg sliding into 2nd base when he was 13 years old.
Good luck and I hope this works for you.
R.

At this time your daughter is really not old enough to put herself to sleep. Swaddle & nurse her to sleep in the evening and 15-20 min after she has fallen to sleep put her in her crib. If she wakes, go to her. Remember, you are your daughters comfort. She knows that you make her feel safe. I have nursed two children past a year, it is an amazing experience but can also be a big challenge. You won't believe how fast it goes and soon she will be drinking out of a cup and starting pre-school. Last thing, and I'm sure you have heard it a thousand times but these are the words to live by...Trust your instinct. If you want to go to her, go to her. If you aren't ready to leave her, than don't. And put her to the breast whenever she wants it..

M.
Mother of Colin 3/12 & Logan 14 mo

Hi S., you sound exactly like me when my baby was 4 months old. From they day he was born up to almost 5 months, he woke me up so many times a night that I couldn't even keep track of how many times. It was that bad. I remember sleeping only 1 to 2 hours a stretch and was getting huge headaches and exhaustion from lack of sleep during the day.

I decided to order a sleep training book online. I read through the whole book and discovered what I was doing wrong. First of all, we moved him into his own room. I thought maybe my husbands snoring kept him up. I placed a small fan in his room to keep the white noise going. I started a night routine and kept his naps and bedtimes consistent. I had a good feeding schedule and before he turned 5 months he turned into a wonderful sleeper. He is now 10 1/2 months old and he sleeps 11 to 14 hours a night. Naps 2 to 3 times a day. About 1 to 2 hours each nap and I've been getting more than enough sleep since then. I was so grateful for all the tips sleep training gave me that now I'm writing my own book. I'm so glad that my son sleeps the same time every night with no fuss. He goes in around 7:00 or 8:00pm every night and wakes around 8:00am. My husband and I now have our evenings alone together and we couldn't be more happier and rested. Sometimes when a child hit's the 5 month to 6 month mark, they just sleep better automatically but to improve it faster, there's so many little tricks you can do. If interested, just do a Google search online for Sleep Training. They even have no cry methods. Good luck!

maybe she is not getting enuf to eat. that was the problem with my son who is now 5 months. i started solids. and since i felt like i wasnt making enuf breastmilk (since i was exlusively breastfeeding) i found this tea called "mothers milk". it tastes great, no caffeine, and it really works. with both of those combined, i now both breastfeed and feed solids intermittenly. he still only naps no more than 20 minutes at a time, but he sleeps thru the night with no problem.

let me know if that works for ya.

ps.(be aware that when you do start solids, constipation may occur. applesauce and prune sauce work great to help with that)

Hello S.,

I think your daughter is a little too young to get on a sleep schedule. At this point, you should follow her lead. When my son was four months old, he didn't go to bed until around 10:00pm. You can still have a routine at bedtime, but maybe just push it back a couple of hours. I agree with a previous poster, that letting a four month old cry four over an hour is a bad idea.

My son started sleeping through the night (sleeping 5 hours at a time) at 2 months. Around 4 months old, he went through a growth spurt, and didn't sleep for more then 2-3 hours at a time before waking up. He also started teething at 3 months, which also didn't help with his sleep routine. These may be some of the problems that your daughter is experiencing.

If she's teething, give her some tylenol or teething tablets. If she's having a growth spurt, unfortunately the only thing you can do is ride it out.

Dear S.,

Um hum , I guess you are getting pretty tired by now, and so is Camryn. A baby can get too tired, then have a hard time quieting herself enough to go to sleep. That is a skill that they have to learn and we have to teach them. She must have two naps a day. So dwell on that for starters. You have the job of quieting her for those two naps, but you may have to just dress her warmly and let her cry through the whole nap time. So that she can just kick and scream and have a grand old tantrum. Just stay close inside the house so that you can hear every breath and that way you will feel that she is save while crying. I did it, so can you. the first day he cried by 4 hours, the second day 3 the third day 2, the last day 15 minutes. It was just a nap too! Yikes. The doctor made me do it, and it worked.

You and your husband did the right thing about taking turns going in to quiet her and reassure her that you are still there.

She will eventually be tired and sleep. Good Luck and hang in there. Sincerely, C. N.

Hi, I have a 4 1/2 mth old daughter too! she was born Nov1, she has issues now and then, but we discoverd that she is teething. Is your daughter teething, this could be the cause for her not wanting to sleep.(if so then i suggest you get hylands teething tablets, you just put them in their mouth, its not meds of any kind they are like sugar pills, but it relaxes then and they go to sleep) I did this with both of my boys and it worked, now i do it with my daughter and its doing good so far. Do you lay your daughter to sleep on her back? mine refuses to sleep on her back, she was born a premiee and was put on her belly alot, well it came home with her. She is just getting over a ear infection and this too can cause pain when laying down. My daugher also wont sleep if its too quiet, she has to have a radio to have noise. there are alot of things that can trigger a baby not to want to sleep. I hope any of what i suggested will help for you!, If not i am a good babysitter!! so you can get some rest, i know its hard. take care and good luck!