4 month old baby won't sleep, HELP!?

Question

My wife and I are at our wits end. We have a 4 month old baby who for the most part is a great little guy. Problem is, he never sleeps! Not more than an hour or so at a time, no exaggeration.
He is not bottle fed, so it's hard to say how much he is actually eating, so now it seems like he is using the feedings to help him sleep.
Any help is appreciated, we need some sleep!

Answer 1

Hang in there! As a mother of a one month old baby with reflux, I feel your sleep deprivation pain! It will get better.

Perhaps a warm, relaxing bath with a baby soap especially scented with lavender will send your little one off to the land of nod. I think Johnson's make a good one, that is advertised saying it helps them to sleep.

You could also try downloading and playing some 'womb sounds music' from the internet. The sounds mimic what your baby may have heard in his mothers belly, and may help to soothe him. Otherwise you can try a repetitive noise, which is often said to calm babies - the hair dryer, vacuum cleaner etc.

Often a ride in the pram/car seat sends a baby off to sleep. You could also think about investing in a vibrating rocker. It works wonders for my little girl, who is not generally a settled baby at all.

Do you wrap your son when you put him down to sleep? Some babies like to be wrapped snugly, because they like to feel tight and secure, and also because as they have no control over their movements, they often bump themselves with their little hands, and shock themselves into waking up.

Your wife could also consider supplementing with formula. My formula fed baby generally only wants to eat every 3 and a half hours during the day, and often goes as long as 5 hours at night time without wanting to eat. It's worth a try, and you can still primarily breastfeed. Just check with your pediatrician first, and see if this is the best option for you. If not, then your wife can always pump some breastmilk, and you can take in turns to get up in the night to feed.

Have you tried a sleep positioner? You can put your baby in that, and they can co-sleep in your bed with you. That way, your wife needn't get out of bed to breastfed, and it will be easier for her and the little one to get back to sleep at night time.

Some babies like to comfort feed, and use their mothers as pacifiers. Perhaps you could try introducing a dummy, and see if that helps to calm your baby.

I would also recommend your wife pumping a little bit, just to see how much milk she produces. Perhaps the little one is not getting enough. Has he been weighed lately? Is he having at least 6-10 wet diapers a day?

Also, be aware that as babies have growth spurts, they may like to eat more often, and it may just be a phase that your son is going through.

Good luck, and I hope you both get some sleep soon!

Answer 2

Hang in there man, Been there and done that. Here's a few things I lerarned during those few (yes, only a few.) months.

1. get a mirror and mount it over his crib. make sure its mounted really well so it has no chance of falling on him. Seems to make them sleep or at least occupy them. I used a truck mirror.

2. Go for a ride. Mine would fall asleep before I could get out of the neighborhood.

3. something that makes a chirp or similar noise about every 5 seconds. Hide it under the crib. Will tire them trying to find it.

hope one of these helps. If not, just remember that it wont last forever and you will look back and laugh. They ARE great memories.

Answer 3

babies are notorious for having adjustment problems. he could be getting over stimulated during the day hours. some kids dont do well with being bombarded with lots of things at once. i would try narrowing down his exposure to new things people etc. for a while during day time, also not letting him nap as often in the daytime sometimes helps. make sure there is nothing really wrong with him like illness etc. discuss this with your dr at his regular checkup time. also i have found that having a sleep routine also helps alot. it takes a little while to get it right but the child should be old enough now to be able to conform to a schedule. here is one that helped us. we started about 2 hours before we wanted baby to go to sleep. a light meal, then a moderate bath about 20 mins to let him play a little after that rocking quietly without distractions like tv etc. then into the crib. it doesnt hurt baby to let him cry a little. put him down and let him cry. check on him every so often to assure him but dont pick him up unless he is dirty or wet or needs another bottle. it is terrible for the parents at first cause i hated letting mine cry but you have to sleep. if you follow the same routine for several days in a row baby will get the idea that after certain things occur it is time to sleep and in a month or so you should both be sleeping fine. also parents can take turns sitting with baby for a few hours at a time or checking on baby etc. we have 9 children and everyone of them had horrible sleep patterns exspecially the younger ones due to so much activity in the house. but this helped us alot, dr can also suggest a good healthy sleep routine. hope this helps.

Answer 4

have your wife try and pump...so then you can see how much milk she is producing. My son would wake up everyhour and then we got him on a schedual and he is now almost 4 months and he sleeps about 5-6 hours at night. Doing the samething over every night helps them know that ok after my bath i am going to get a bottle or nurse and then go to sleep....but i would have your wife buy one of those cheap had held pumps just to make sure he is getting enough food

Answer 5

I know my son had to be nursing to go to sleep and would only stay a sleep for a few hours. i would call a doc b/c you can never be to sure if your wife is nursing... if he is getting enough to eat... that could be why he isn't sleeping that long. Also i know alot of parents hate binky's.. but if he won't sleep unless he is nursing.. could be that he needs to suck on something to help him sleep.. i would try that also to put get him to sleep longer. But I would call your doc to make sure your babe is getting enough to eat... hope all works out well.. good luck

Answer 6

You have to build a routine with your baby. With me, every night I would go to bed around 1030 or 1100. He wouldn't go to straight to sleep when we first brought him home. But around two months, he started getting the jiff of my sleeping habits so he decided to the same. It's all about having a routine. He fusses before he goes to sleep, but he knows the deal. and now, he's going to sleep around 11 or 1130.

Answer 7

At least your 4 month old sleeps mines awake from 3pm till 6am and then only sleeps for an hour you think your sleep deprived.

Answer 8

This will sound CRAZY!! but someone told me this because I had trouble with my baby (now 16). A vacuum cleaner. Record the sound of a vacuum cleaner and play it low (volume) in his room. It sounds weird but I was willing to try anything and that seemed to work along with a warm bath just before bed time.

Answer 9

Maybe try a dummy to content him instead of your wife, or maybe now might be a good time to change to formula to feed him, maybe a bath in the evening, a bottle, make sure that he is properly burped maybe you might get some sleep. My 4 month old sleeps 6-8 hours of a night , but in saying that all bubs are different, mine is also teething at the moment maybe check his gums

Answer 10

my sister had this same problem with my nephew this boy would not sleep that long he would stay up to 4am, he got enough food (breastfeed) the doctor said he was fine and you could tell in his weight, it was just he was adjusting to sleeping longer, sometimes now which he is nine months he will sleep long than sometimes he will stay up to 4am now, so you just have to be patient as parents and try to wait it out until your baby adjusts to it