My 4 Monthy Old Stopped Sleepuing Through the night...help!

I'm so sorry that you have been having problems. Have you tried using Oragel on his gums right before he goes to bed? I have never heard of the teething pills so maybe that would help?

Good luck!!

TWo things to consider:
1. He may have an allergy to dairy based on his symptoms of irritability and nite waking. Also, if he wasn't a good napper when BFing, he may have been reacting to dairy in your diet. This was a problem for my oldest son. Fortunately, I had stopped dairy by the time my youngest was born and he was a fantastic napper and nite sleeper.

2. You've gone back to work, so he's not getting nearly as much time with you during the day, so he's making up for it at nite. This is exactly what happened with my oldest and for us, the easiest and most effective option was to bring him into our room. If you room is large enough, you can put his crib beside your bed. We had a king size bed and just put him between both of us. They also make beds "sidecars" just for this purpose. I know this approach isn't popular with alot of folks, but it is a fantastic way to get some time with your son AND if he wakes at nite, he's very accessible to night-time nursing, which is really important to maintain your milk supply if you're away during the day.

IMHO, he is definitely a good boy that just wants to regain some quality time with Mom. Believe me, the real monster period will come later.

That is very typical of babies around that age. Usually between 3 and 5 months their sleeping patterns change and they go thru a growth spurt and everything gets thrown off! Sounds like he *may* be teething, but no guarantees until you see his gums get bubbly and can actually feel something underneath.
Just keep on trucking mama, things will get better!

(And just flat out avoid the Babywise book... There are better methods out there for children- http://ezzo.info/)

http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/4mo-sleep.html read this article at kellymom about wakeful 4 month olds and see if that helps

good luck!

Hi, i am a first time mum too of 4 month old boy . he has never slept over 4hours since he was born i feed him formula and now am mixing formula rice cereal his teething too but will not take any teethers any advice

Definitely sounds like teething to me. When this happened with our girls, we used the Nighttime Oral Gel (It lasts longer) and Tylenol when we put them to bed. When they woke in the night, I'd put more oral gel on them and they usually went right back to sleep.

Also, do you rock him to sleep or does he go to sleep on his own? If you rock him to sleep,(we did this with our son, big mistake!!) he may not know how to go back to sleep on his own when he wakes in the night and relies on you to help him go back to sleep.

Hey my son is three now but when he was 4 months he started getting all of his teeth and everytime a tooth was trying to break through he was irritable, and his sleeping patterns changed then after it broke through things went back to normal (until the next tooth) We really didn't do anything about it just tried to make sure he was comfotable and we just waited until things got back to normal

C.-

I have a 7week old baby who is on a wonderful schedule whick allows me to sleep at night, due to a God send of a book. Walmart carries it and it's called Baby Wise. IT's about $11.84 but worth every penny maybe it can help you too.
Good Luck
T.

I nursed my daughter for a year, so I don't have much first-hand experience with formula. However friends and family members have given their children formula. I think that 4-months is about the age when doctors will recommend cereal. Perhaps he is not full enough. Just ask your pediatrician if it is time to start putting cereal in your son's bottles.

Both my son and daughter did this around the 3mos old timeframe. there is a BIG growth spurt around then and they need the calories and they both were GETTING teeth. (so the teething and hunger combo will wake them up) This is the hardest time that I can remember, keep w/it and it will pass. good luck.

My first daughter was exactly the same way. She was a great sleeper until about 3 months old. The she did the same drooling, waking in the night, and she just seemed uncomfortable a lot. It was teething for her. I started giving her Tylenol before bed and it made a world of difference. Occasionally she would wake-up in once it wore off and I would give her another dose. I hate giving my kids medication, but nothing else was working. Not only was I not getting enough sleep, but the poor baby was obviously hurting. At 5 months she had 2 teeth and think babies that young can do anything when they are hurting except cry for attention. Even just simple discomfort is something they are not used to, so they cry for mommy.

Giving her Tylenol just seemed to calm her down and ease her discomfort enough so she (and we) could sleep. After she cut the teeth & stopped drooling and we never gave her Tylenol before bed again (except when she was sick). Hope this helps because I know that you must be at the end of your rope.

I really wouldn't get to worried or focus in on it being teething or anything else. 4 months is a classic time for a growth spurt. Growth spurts typically come around 7-8 weeks and again at 4 months.

My son went through the same thing - was sleeping through the night fine and then suddenly for a week or two he wanted to eat in the middle of the night again. I found it was best to try and add an additional feeding during the day... ie feed more often and get as much food in them during the day. This greatly reduced our chances of having him wake up at night.

Hope that helps. It does pass.

You're probably seeing 2 big disruptions at once--teething, or the beginning of teething, and a growth spurt on it's way (probably about to reach some big developmental milestones, too.) Also, at that age baby becomes aware that you don't just "disappear" at bedtime--you're actually still around, but not where he can see you. Taking all that into consideration, here's some things that worked well with my daughter at that age:
1. Start slowly introducing solids, starting with very thin rice cereal.
2. Spend at least an hour each day in the fresh air and sunshine. Helps reset a messed up baby-clock!
3. Be sure to have a predictible schedule each day; babies thrive on it.
4. Give baby some Tylenol before bedtime.

You didn't mention if you baby wakes up crying, screaming, cooing, jabbering, or whining. Your response will depend a lot on that. No response required for the jabbering and cooing. Tylenol for the crying hard or screaming, and if it's whining, time to up the caloric intake throughout the day.

Best wishes to you all!

A few things. One, Hang in there!! Two, buy a book. Called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. It is wonderful!! Im an RN and my pediatrician recommended it. My MD at wk said they usually start that about this age. And teething is NO fun for any party involved. The book is very very direct in sleep problems and is for those serious about getting some sleep. I am a scheduler myself and my daughter is put down twice a day for naps and stays for 1.5 hours sleep or not and then in bed by 7p.
I love love love this book!!! True lifesaver. I used with Babywise book.

My baby did the same thing when she started teething. I just kept telling myself that this too will pass and enjoyed ever moment even at 3 in the morning. I would becareful with the natural teething pills they have belladonna in then and that is a form of opium.

C.,
sounds like our little ones are twins! My son is 4 1/2 mos and he was doing the exact same thing! Prior to 4 mos he would sleep 6-8 hours a night, wake up to feed, then be down for 4 more hours. All of a sudden, he stopped! He was wanting to eat every 3 hours @ night, not during the day, just at night! He is breastfed, but I don't know if that matters, honestly. Even his pedi said to make sure he was good an full, but that didn't matter. We started thinned out rice cereal mixed with breast milk. He took to that w/o hesitation. Now, he would eat a full serving, breastfeed on both breasts and still wake up after 3 hours. I assumed it was a growth spurt or something, so I fed him. Hate to break it to you, but he did this for about 2 weeks. I would strongly recommend shifts, if it weren't for my husband, I would've gone mad! He just recently (past couple of days) stopped getting up every 3 hours and goes down for about 6 at a time (we're still doing the cereal plus breastfeeding both sides). Hang in there!

Also sounds like he's teething. Mine has been severely drooling since he was 3 mos. We put his teethers in the fridge (never the freezer) and we wet a washcloth and put it in the fridge as well. He liked that. We don't use teething medicine, the stuff we do seems to work on him. Now, be prepared for a possibly long teething period (I have friends whose children "teethed" for 3 mos. before cutting a tooth). Sorry this is so long! Hope he feels better!!!