how can i get my son to sleep for a few hours at a time...?

Question

my 4 month old sleeps most of the night, but he wakes a lot. not because he is hungry but it is somthing else. i cannot fugure out what he wants. he sleeps in our room in his own bed with a pacifier and music pplays somtimes. i try to keep him awake during the day but somhow he wont sleep at night. he screams so much if we jsut try to ignore the grunting. i try cuddling him and he just thinks its time to play. i dont like taking him out of the crib because of that very reason. he eats a formula that has rice cereal in it already adn plus it dosent help the lenght of wakings. he wakes every hour or so. hwat can i do? should i just let him cry to sleep or what? what would you do? any suggestions...?

IM NOT DRUGGIN HIM OR GIVING HIM RUM!! HE IS A BABY!!!

IM NOT DRUGGIN HIM OR GIVING HIM RUM!! HE IS A BABY!!!

i just started to use the music because it relaxes him. he mostly sleeps between 9 and 2.. in the afternoon.

he might be teething but i cannot find a way to keep him content thourgh the night.

i dont GIVE him rice cereal in the bottle, i use enfamil a.r.. it already has it in there. its a rice whey thing

Answer 1

First of all, just relax. I know that can piss new mothers off, but it is true. Next, allow your baby to sleep when he needs to, if he needs to sleep during the day, let him. Don't try to keep him up, you are upsetting the natural rhythm and routine his body is trying to set.
If you have him in the room with you are there distractions, like the TV going on or you and your husband getting ready for bed and such? I would turn the music off, for one thing it won't hurt anything, he's not sleeping well anyway. Finally, he is only 4 months and at the go through stages so fast, by this time next month he'll probably be in a whole other pattern.
Good Luck. And believe me, this too shall pass.

Answer 2

I don't think there is an easy answer to this and certainly do not take sleeping pills as that will only add to your problems . The fact that your son has cancer is awful and any parent would be shattered by that sort of issue . My only real suggestion is to try and rest when you can and make sure you can be available as much as possible to spend maximum time with your son and hopefully be able to do some normal things that families do like outings etc .From the way you put your question the inference is there that the medical people have told you time is limited and if that is the case I am truly sorry , but please try and put your full efforts into making sure what time that is left is as full and happy for your son as possible .

Answer 3

Hi there - be careful with the cereal, especially if he is really young - they really should'nt have the cereal until they are 5-6 months old....unfortunatley, all newborns do that, and lots of them have trouble getting settled at night...because they are bron on an opposite schedule...they live in the womb for 9 months, and while you walk and move they are essentially being rocked to sleep during the day - and at night, your lay down and are still, but you can feel them moving in your tummy - they are awake being they are no longer being rocked and lulled to sleep! So they are finally born, and guess what - they are still mixed up! They do not sleep all day in the womb - you move around - they sleep - you are still for a while - they wake up - and they are still on the same mixed up schedule that only time and routine will fix. Give your baby time - in the mean time you will have to be very patient as he get used to sleeping through the night....don't let him cry...remember that he is confused, he has his days and nights mixed up....he takes a nap, and wakes up in the house, wondering why it is so quiet - looking for you, as he cannot readily smell you near - and he cries....he wakes up every hour because he is still mixed up...so cereal isn't going to help with his times of day being confused - it is a slow adjustment that he will make over a period of several months. - On a side note - my cousin , when she had her first baby many years ago decided that she was going to outsmart her first born...she would stay up all night - she did not have to work, so she would basically get up about 9 pm and stay up, cleaning and doing all the things that folks normally do in the day - and then at day break, go to bed - guess what - it worked! The kid was born, and it had it days and nights right on target - worked like a charm!!

Answer 4

NEVER give rice cereal in a bottle! That's likely the cause of his wakefulness...gas! It does NOT make babies sleep longer...that's an old wives tale. If he is not hungry, then it is likely seperation anxiety he's experiencing, it starts to happen around this age. Simply put him in bed with you and cuddle him. If he falls asleep, great, sleep with him. Don't worry about all the hype about co-sleeping and SIDS, all mothers (not drugged or alcohol induced moms) know that the baby is there and you won't suffocate him. Just be sure the blankets are not over him and that he is not too hot or too cold. You will both sleep better and best of all he will feel safe and secure and less anxious which will = more much needed sleep for the both of you!

Answer 5

As they say babies cry for a reason, is he wet? cold? could he be getting a first tooth? ( i know it seems early, but if u or your husband got your teeth early he will also) I noticed you said he grunted a little is he constipated maybe? Have you tried cutting his day naps down , you could try giving him a warm bath at night before bedtime- do you warm the formula up when you feed it to him, if not then try that-warm milk/formula helps everyone sleep!Maybe he has gas? Try just rubbing his back when he wakes up real gently that sometimes helps push the gas out and try this on his tummy also, when you first hear him don't let him know your there-you really should put him in a room of his own also, the older he gets the harder this will be- sometimes if they think they are alone they will go back to sleep-but if you rub is tummy and/or back to reassure him that your there without picking him up maybe that will work-but answer all the first question and then see what happens ok?

Answer 6

I had this problem with my first child my grandmother from the south told me to get up and check him if he is not wet then give him a bottle of water. (NOT what he wanted) She said after a few days of this the baby will realize that if that all you are going to do for him its not worth him waking up at night. Bottom line is get him on your schedule or you will be on his. It took me about a week and a half to get my son to sleep all night after taking Granny's advice.It was hard though I felt like a bad parent but it worked. He is 9 yrs old now and still sleeps through the night. Another thing is that your baby maybe having some tummy aches. Rice cereal may be to heavy for him at night.

Answer 7

My baby used to wake up every hour when he was sleeping in his own crib. Both baby, myself & husband ended up tired the next`day. So I made him sleep with us and he slept through the night! He would fuss a bit when he's hungry and I will nurse him lying down. He won't have to wake up fully and goes back to sleep right away. All of us are happy with the arrangement and we've been sleeping peacefully since he was 2mths old. He's 3.5mths old now.

Give it a try. All the best!

Answer 8

My daughter used to do it and my mom told me to do the gas wrap thing with her. Wrap her like a baby because they feel scared or cold. Try giving him a bath and rub him down with the sleepy time lotion then try feeding him a thin mixture of cereal. If all else fails move him out of your room and ignore him unless he cries hard for more than 5 minutes. Good luck. Hope something works for you soon.

Answer 9

Please check his ability to breath out of his nose.
He will not be able to sleep if he cannot.

Mine did this and did not let me get any sleep- I realized his nose was completely blocked past what saline can clean up

http://store.darisimall.com/357731.html

This is the baby version of nose drops- this product saved our life.

Now- if the nose thing is NOT the problem:

That is the time (4-6 months) that infants want to do this.

major growth spurt because crawling time is coming.

You can either give in to his demands, or let him scream and pacify himself.

There are 2 schools of thought on this:

1.) The child needs to learn to pacify himself or You will be always "on call" to his every whim.

or

2.)The child would not wake unless he had a need, and not satisfying the need will lead the child to feel unsafe.


I will be honest, I breast fed both of mine during this time, and I just brought them into bed......

Then I could NEVER get them out.

Both schools of thought have very valid points- but you need to pick the one that fits your personal beliefs and fits the needs of your child.

If it helps, buy earplugs. They do wonders.

Answer 10

he liek to play with you at night time all the baby are like that.. 4 months are still to new for you to adjust i know that is must be difficult..
how about if you change the formula with something else .. maybe he just doesnot feel comfortable with the milk he has right now.. because my son was like that.. for 6 mo.. he use powder and i mix with breast feed.. he wake every 3 hours at the night time.. was drove me nut.. but then when i change the milk with similac liquid.. it was so magic moment he sleep the whole night.. so good luck
ps: at this time you might be still have the postpartum so don't drug him like that stupid advice on the top