Sleeping Problems - Warren,MI

Margo, you mentioned that he was sleeping through the night until you moved him into his own room. He's so young to be alone all night, and it sounds like your current situation is upsetting for both of you. Have you considered moving him back into your room? That doesn't mean he'll be in your room forever, it just means you are meeting his needs right now. Clearly being near you provided a better sleep environment for him and better sleep for all of you. It's completely normal for a baby that young to nurse during the night. A baby that young needs human contact and needs nourishment. He may have done well in your room because he could hear you, smell you, and sense you...he wants to be near you...smart baby! He is also at an age of tremendous physical and development growth. It's very reasonable for him to be hungry during the night. I know parenting at night can be a struggle at times. It must seem crazy right now, but as others have mentioned you really will look back on this time and think of those quiet nighttime nursing and snuggling sessions as magical.

I think it's a fine idea to nurse him if he wakes in the night. At 4 1/2 months, he is probably on yet another "grow" and really is hungry. I would suggest only feeding him at that time, no talking, no playing, no new diaper unless he is poopy, don't turn the lights on...just feed him. At this time of night, you don't want him to think Mom is up and ready to play and visit, just that she is there! Good Luck!

I am a grandmother of 17. I am so glad that I breastfed my 4 children. Your little guy sounds very normal to me! He wakes when he's hungry, & his only option is to cry out for you to feed him. Breastmilk is digested pretty quickly because it's perfectly suited to his needs. Your baby is so young and will still need frequent nursings for quite a while to grow and thrive. It surprises me that you believe you shouldn't nurse him when he wakes up. How can he sleep when his tummy is empty? As you've suggested, he may also be lonely for you in his own room. I would not expect such a young baby to sleep alone. You're also right that teething sometimes interrupts a baby's sleep, but being hungry is likely his biggest reason for waking and crying, especially since he's so tiny and is "inconsolable" until you feed him. Babies grow up so fast, Margo, and, while caring for them 24x7 may be more demanding than we expected, our precious, little ones are wholly dependent on us during this time for every, single need they have. You'll never regret what you invest in your son's well-being, day or night!

G. B - Harper Woods

I have the same problem. My 5 month old is still waking up 1-2 x's a night. I used to nurse him everytime but I latley I just give him a pacafier and it seems to be working ok. You just have to be patient and realize that every baby is different. It's hard when you know other babies that sleep 12 hours streight for their parents!

I went through the same thing. I nursed my daughter as well and toyed with the question " Should I nurse in the middle of the night". I'm going to tell you what my pediatrician said and he was right....He said at that age, he does not need the breastmilk in the middle of the night. Nor is it a good idea to calm him with your breast. Have tou tried Hylands Teething Tablets or their teething gel(it tastes like water. There is no taste)?? Works like a charm. Within 15 minutes you'll see a new calm baby. It's homeopathic and I never was into that until I tried these tablets. My daugter woke up in the night like that after months of sleeping through the night. They do go through changes and that does happen. But if he's teething , there is your answer. Most likely that will cause them to wake up. Ask your doctor about Motrin for infants and how much to give. Guarenteed he'll give you the go ahead on this. That helps so much. I found that Motrin works so much netter than Tylenol. My daughter is almost 15 months now and has been sleeping through the night since 2 months old. Until now because the doc just said she is having all 4 molars come in at the same time. Here's a little FYI for ya.....If they are pulling on their ears or their neck or pulling out gobs of hair from their head it's most likely referred pain from them teething or a possible ear infection but you'll be able to differentiate the two. Good Lick... I hope I helped. If you need anything I'd love to help!

I used and recommend the Baby Whisper Book. By Tracy Hogg
It answere and questions, but be ready to follow her advice if you want results. Sometimes it is not pretty when they are crying in the middle of the night, but if you want solutions you have to make the right choice.
My kids all slept thru the night early, but their was many phase that needed help. Just beware of habits, they start very easy.

Good Luck

Hi Margo,
I have a 4yr old daughter and a 2 1/2yr old son(both cut thier first teeth at 4mths) and we are pregnant with our 3rd!So I have done the teething ,nursing, sleeping problems twice already.I dont know your parenting style but mine was pretty relaxed so I dont know if this will help or not...your son is still fairly new and leaving the comfort of mommy and daddy is a tough pill to swallow any ways and teething is soooo painful but your sleep is precious.However this just might be to much for your son at this time so my suggestion is you can try a very effective very safe holitic teething tablet.you can find the teething tablets at any store, target walmart rite aid.They dissolve the second they hit your babys mouth and it was a miacle pain solution for both my kids.Maybe you could give him one when he wakes up and just try to sooth him back to sleep if you dont want to nurse him every time he wakes up.But honestly if hes only waking up twice a night while begining to teeth that is a miracle in itself!Just remember hes only little once and this will pass alot faster than it feels.Good luck and the Best of sleep!!!!

How long has this been going on? Could he be going through a growth spurt and be really hungry? We just moved my 3 mos old to her crib in her room and this week she started getting up to eat -- but she is going through a growth spurt.

My advice: Buy book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Feed the baby in the night until 6 months and as long as his weight is normal, let him cry it out. should only take a night or two to train him to sleep.

I find it funny that people always rush babies to sleep through the night and advocate letting them cry at night because they "should" be sleeping through the night. We wouldn't ignore our baby during the day if he cried because he was hungry or hurting from teething or needing to be held, so why are we encouraged to ignore them at night? It just doesn't sit right with me, but I know most people I've encountered don't see it my way.

If the baby is teething it is not unlikely that the pain is waking him up, and if this is the case, then this will be a passing phase. You'll find that your baby may backtrack with sleep habits temporarily as he hits certain milestones. The "risk" in nursing him is that he may come to rely on this type of comfort to get back to sleep. When we ran into this with our first child, I eventually sent my husband down to comfort him because if I went, the baby wouldn't settle for anything short of nursing.

Ultimately you'll need to balance your needs and the baby's needs. With twins, I just got to the point where I could not personally respond to them and nurse them every time they woke up and still get enough sleep myself to be rested enough to produce milk well or to deal with them and our older son with any patience at all.

Good luck.