4 month old Infant won't sleep through night?

Question

My little guy started sleeping through the night at 3 months old and did this for about 2 weeks. Then all of a sudden he stopped. Now I am lucky if He sleeps for 3 hours. He does eat when he gets up but I am not sure if he does this because he is hungry or wants comfort. he is breastfed. i have tried just rubbing his back but this does not usually work. I don't want him to get to upset so that he cannot fall back to sleep but I don't want him dependant on me coming whenever he makes a peep. He is a large baby in the 95th percentile. I don't know if that makes a difference.

I wanted to add after getting some responses, when he takes a nap during the day I lay him in bed and he falls asleep on his own. also Sleeping through the night to me means 5-6 hours I don't expect him to sleep long just not wake every 3 hours. And yes I took him to the doctor no infection they said maybe separation anxiety! at 4 months I don't know, his crib is in my room I am right there maybe that is the problem?

Answer 1

I would look into gripe water. He might have major gas or sensitive stomache. We had that for most of my daughters life until she was 2 years old when I asked some one it stopped as soon I got this stuff. Its all natural stuff and so good for your baby.type it on the internet you will see what I am talking about it. Gripe water. good luck!

Answer 2

um more then likely having the crib in your room is the problem, cause he can hear you breathe and he knows u are there to get him when he crys. But like i said in another question babies will do their own thing until they are comfortable doing something else. I was luck with my son he has been sleepin in his own room thru the night (1030pm-8am) since he was like 4 months old, with maybe like 2 weeks total he will do a quicke wake for something to eat every 3 hours. The doctors have told me that p art of the reason why he wakes sometimes is the fact that he is having night terrors, or lack of oxygen to the brain so the waking up screaming is the fact that he is scared, or his way of oxygen.

Dont get to frustrated, he is still a little baby(even tho hes big for his age) Hes still young, and he might not be ready to sleep thru the night just yet. Give him time, your day will come. :-)

Answer 3

Oh finally a subject I know well. My son is 4 months old as well. For about 3 weeks he was going to sleep at 9:30 with me rocking him and would sleep until 5:30 am without waking. Then it went to 7:30-8:00 without waking. Aahhh. I love it!! NOW! Beginning lastnight, he wants to wake up every 2 hours. I do give him a pacifier because he just likes to suck so it's easy to rock him back to sleep.

I let him lay there for about 10-15 minutes. He's just whining not crying to anything. If he won't fall back asleep I pop the pacifier back in his mouth and he's fine and falls back asleep. I was just letting him sleep with a onesie on and a blanket over him. But now I put him in a sleeper that way if he gets cold his legs and arms are covered. Giving him a bath before bed with a warm bottle only wakes my son up. My son takes a bottle and he takes 6 oz. I do give him cereal in his formula so that he's full. And he eats every 3-4 hours. I don't know about breatmilk but maybe he's not eating enough. Maybe if you pumped and made sure he was eating the right amout for his age. Not saying he doesn't!! I'm just saying you could monitor it.

Also, he could be teething. My son is! That can be a rough time for them. I'm giving JD Tylenol when he gets too fussy to help. OraGel doesn't seem to help right now.

Well, hopefully I've helped out some with what I do. I hope everything gets better. I really know how hard it is to deal with that!! Good Luck!!

Answer 4

As bad as it sounds, get him off the breast at night. Get a pump and use bottles. Babies are smarter than you give them credit for. It's probably an attention thing, but you have to show the baby that you are mommy and mommy needs to sleep too. This is still a little early for them to be sleeping completely through the night. My son did this and that's what I did and he realized that he wasn't going to get mommy all the time. Please don't start letting him sleep with you either. One, you could roll over on him or drop him off the bed. Two, he needs to know that he sleeps in his own bed, not with you. I also put Gerber rice for infants in my baby's bottles and it made him fuller and he slept longer. There is nothing wrong with a chunky baby, but be careful. You don't want him to get too big. Also, if my boy wasn't going back to sleep, I would let him cry for a bit in his crib. U would stand over him and rub his belly and pat his back. Then after about 10 minutes, I would move over to the chair in his room where he could see me and try to soothe him with only my voice, like singing lullaby's. Then I would move the chair where he couldn't see me and do the same. Then I would quit singing. Usually by this time he was asleep. Try that and gradually work your way down from 10 minutes each time to 7, 5, 3, and eventually, he'll get the clue. Good luck hun and I hope this helped, and by the way, I got that last part from doctor phil, so it's not something I made up, but I know it works!

Answer 5

He might be going through a growth spurt, which would make him wanting to eat more. He doesn't care when, he's just hungry : )

Could he be teething? That can disrupt the sleep schedule as well.

My little guy is also in the 95th percentile; I found that when figuring out how much to feed him, I can't go by his age; I have to go by size and feed him more like a larger baby. So far that keeps him satisfied and he's still maintaining his weight well.

Answer 6

My oldest did the same thing. Four months old and WHAM! No more sleeping through the night. This after 12 - 6 since 8 weeks old. She, too, was a big baby.

At four months, he wants what feels good. He's waking up and doesn't know where anybody is. Being held feels good and lets him know that you are there.

At that age, too, both my girls fell asleep after 5 - 10 minutes of cuddling and nursing. Breastmilk digests really fast. A late night snack is okay.

Keep going to him at night, pick him up and nurse him. He'll fall into his old pattern soon enough. (My girls are now 5 and 3. When they wake up crying, I go right to them to comfort them. Only difference is, they can tell me what's wrong.)

Answer 7

My son didn't start sleeping through the night until he was 18 months old. It is very important to keep them awake during the day so they become conditioned to day and night. In the morning, open the curtains, let the sun in, go outside for fresh air and encourage wakefullness. That he slept those 2 weeks was probably a fluke.

P.S. My son was also 95 percentile, makes no difference. Do NOT run to him in the night for every little peep. You may be waking him up.

Answer 8

He is only 4 months and i'm pretty sure he is still hungry at night, he still needs his food. My son started sleeping all night with about 6 months, now he is 10 months and when he got his phrases that he is growing he still wakes up at night every now and then, whenever he is ready to sleep all night he will again, just be patient:-)

Answer 9

NORMAL.

I don't know how many times per day I see a question like yours. This is SOooooo normal! It is normal for a baby to not sleep through the night for the entire first year. It is normal for them to have periods where they sleep through a while and then they stop and start night waking again. It may be due to teething, a growth spurt, distractability during the day when nursing, working on a developmental milestone, a million things!

Honestly, how many adults really sleep through the night? We don't. We wake up because it's too hot/too cold, partner stole the blankets, dog next door won't shut up, we have to pee, we're thirsty, etc. We are just big enough to take care of our needs on our own. Babies aren't and they need us to help them. They cry to communicate with us and we need to respond.

Nurse him back to sleep. It won't hurt him, I promise. It will be good for him. Remember too, that he is trying to double his birthweight by 6 months. That's a tall order! He NEEDS to eat around the clock. Remember that breastmilk digests in about 90 minutes. At this age, he SHOULD be dependent on you. He is a 4 month old baby who can't do things for himself. There is NOTHING WRONG with you responding and giving him what he needs.

Answer 10

I would suggest topping him up before you go to bed at night and if he still wakes at night then he is probably only looking for comfort. I found with my twin girls that I had to let them get upset (controlled crying) to teach them how to get themselves back to sleep without me doing it. I would do what you are doing now but going in and rubbing his back, popping his pacifier or dummy in if he uses one, make sure he is dry and then leave him - if he keeps crying give him 5 minutes before going back in again - the next time give him 10 minutes and so on. He will learn pretty quick to settle (he will exhaust himself from crying) its hard to do but just remember he is safe and really there is nothing wrong with him and just likes you to be close to him. The problem with picking him up is that he will smell the breast milk and want to feed so try to keep him in his cot and don't pick him up unless absolutely necessary. This will take a few nights to sort out - don't give up or in to him. Be strong and it will work. Good Luck