Sleeping at Night - East Falmouth,MA

I would recommend the book The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. Excellent book and it also explains sleep cycles. It worked wonders for my son!!! Good luck.

At this age he might not be ready to establish a set bed time (SAME time EVERY night) but try to as soon as possible - and most importantly be sure to incorporate a routine. Do the SAME thing every night; perhaps a bath, put on a nightlight, lay him in the same position, among other things. In the longrun this should prove to be very helpful. As far as your situation goes now, it sounds like the little guy is still trying to figure out where the heck he is since the 'move'. I'll bet things will improve soon. Things ALWAYS change...and knowing that helps me get through the difficult phases and stages. Hang in there and EXPECT to be a zombie for at least a few more months. Before you know it, he'll be crawling around having fun, and sleeping better; and you'll be having lots of fun with him and feeling better too. Good luck to you :)

If he is not rolling over at this point, swaddling might be helpful. The Miracle Swaddler is somewhat expensive, but works very well to keep the baby swaddled. You might also want to consider trying to get him to have some sort pf security blanket or toy that might help him sooth himself back to sleep with. Finally, you might want to try Ferber or a modified Ferber to try and have him learn to sooth himself back to sleep at night.
Best of luck!

Hi, My child now 8 months went through what I called the 4 month crazies. Let me explain. When she was about 4 months she started waking every 45 minutes to 1 hour. This was happening at night and during her naps. It was as if she had a switch in her...45 minutes and she was awake.
I did some reading (Dr. Sears.com and Touchpoints (book)) that around 4 months their sleep cyles change. They alternate between light sleep and deep sleep. At this age, for some reason, they have a hard time going from light sleep into deep sleep and therefore they wake. It takes about 20 minutes for a baby to make the transition into deep sleep and some babies have a hard time doing that. There sleep cycle alternate every 45 minutes to 1 hour.
I know that I could no longer take my baby in and out of the car because she would wake. I was so used to her sleeping through everything (even a trip to the mall and back).
My suggestions to you...try and help your baby get back to sleep. When your baby goes down try and keep and eye on the clock and when his "switch" is about to go off...try and put your baby back to sleep by nursing, patting his belly, rocking (whatever it is that you do). Be consistent and have a plan...especially in the wee hours of the night. Ugh, I know.
As they get older their cyles change again and they spend more time in deep sleep (ahhh, a relief).
Other suggestions is that you swaddle your baby. I remember thinking that my baby didn't like it-I was wrong. Babies are used to being swaddled and snug. It was at 4 months I started to double swaddle her. I know you probably think I am crazy but it worked. I first wrapped her in a light receiving blanket then her kiddopatomus swaddle blanket. I wrapped her up so tight so she couldn't get out. This helped her sleep longer during this crazy time. Also, I used a fan in her room for noise and I put it up against her crib so her crib would vibrate a litte.
Those are the tricks that worked for me. Oh, one more...only during the 4 month crazies...when I nursed her at night...I would wait like 20 minutes (so she could be in deep sleep) before I put her back down in her crib. This seemed to work too.
Good Luck, Jessica

Hi! I am nursing as well but I keep my baby with me in my bed at night. I know, bad idea but I really didn't loose much sleep over this one (my second) because of it. I just nurse him and he goes back to sleep. He uses me as a pacifier and he too used to wake up a lot. He is now 7 months and almost sleeps through the night. He doesn't wake up to eat, I think it's just the reassurance that someone is there. Your baby sounds the same. Don't forget your baby might be teething already! It might also be just a phase and he will just grow out of it. The getting up part is the hard part. Hang in there and since you are using the crib, stick with it! My 5 year old still comes to my bed at night! If they make beds larger than King size, I would like to know about it!!!

Does he sleep with a special thing? He might be wondering where you are, try giving him something like your shirt or a special friend. that has helped my little ones.

According to Dr. Marc Weissbluth - 45 minutes is the normal sleep cycle - everyone wakes up at these intervals. If your son is needing you to get him back off to sleep, it means that he hasn't learned yet to soothe himself. However, at 3.5 months, it would say this is definitely to be expected. My son didn't begin to learn this till be was 8 months old. I know it is very hard at the moment to not be getting sleep, but he will learn in time and his sleep periods will begin to stretch out.

Don't be tempted to think that switching to formula or when he goes onto solids (minimum 6 months old) will change this - it's not a hunger thing as you correctly identified, it's a self soothing thing which he will get in time.

Best of luck!

Hi S.,
My son did the same thing to us right around 3 months. I got 2 really good pieces of advice. The first was to find something he would always sleep with, to comfort him and remind him that it was time to sleep. The second was that at this age, whatever they do to get to sleep they will look for when they wake up. So if you pat his tummy to help him fall asleep, when he wakes at night, that's what he is looking for to help get back to sleep at night. We had a sound activated bear that made sounds like the womb that we put in his crib. It ran for 15 minutes and would turn back on to soothe him when he woke. It worked wonders for us.

Good luck. And keep reminding yourself this will pass.

K.

Is he fussing and crying that you are rubbing him? If not, let him learn to go back to sleep on his own. Does he have a small light in his room? My newborn screamed the first three nights...all nights long ...and come to find out, he was afraid of the dark! Yes...afraid of the dark! once we put a nightlight in he slept wonderfully. Course it could be the opposite, too. Some babies need complete darkness. You may need to try a few things here and there to solve the concern. Are you standing over and watching him? Maybe that makes him wake up? I know he is new and precious and beautiful...but try to make sleep time important to sleep...because it is for healthy growth. Best of luck.

Hi S.,

I had the same problem with my little one. It has something to do with them having a hard time going into deep sleep. It takes about 45 minutes to reach that point. Very frustrating. I used the book Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child and it was a lifesaver. Hope this helps. They do grow out of it the worst is around 4 months.

I had a problem like this with my son who is now 1. We tried giving him a bottle with a teaspoon of baby cereal in it. It kept him full. And my son also had his days and nights confused. Make sure he isnt completely sleeping through the day. Try and keep him up somewhat. You might wanna try putting him on his tummy for a little while before bed too. I did that and after entertaining him he slept all night. Hope this helps!

I think you really don't need to do anything. At 3.5 months, your baby boy still doesn't have a day/night schedule. Every time my daughter woke up, I would get up with her and hold her so she wouldn't be "lonley". Now I realize - I was losing sleep and she was fine! Don't feel the need to wake up every time your baby does (unless he's crying and doesn't stop). The fact that it stays dark and you and hubby don't come running will soon indicate to him the difference between night and day - and it might encourage his inner clock to set to your same schedule. Good luck - I know you are exhausted, but it doesn't last forever!

K.

Hi ,
Does your baby sleep all day My son use to do this to and someone said to me to try to keep him up longer in the day and then he will sleep more at night . I did not breast feed but my son was feeding at night every hour and a half i was wiped out so I tried to keep him up longer more alert during the day and he seemed to sleep better at night . You could talk to his doc also . Good luck C. :)

Are you opposed to having the baby in the room with you? If not, you may want to try sleeping with him or putting the crib in your room. This may or may not help him speep longer, but it may help you sleep better. If he's right there, he may sleep better, but if not, at leaste you don't have to fully wake up & get out of bed to rub his tummy. My only other suggestion would be to take turns with your husband. One night he gets up & the next night you do. That way you each get a little sleep, which at this stage is priceless. And just remember that even the worst sleepers (which seem to be my children), eventually outgrow it. Good luck

Dear S.,
I had the same problem with my son around that age. Try swaddling him it's what always seemed to work for us. we also tried the cd with calming sounds. Good luck.