my son wont sleep?

Question

during the day my 4 monthold wont sleep during the day. ive done everything, from a warmbath, driving in th car, letting him cry, walk in his stroller, feeding til hes to ful, patting on the butt, rocking him, everything. he wakes up at 5;00 in the morning and doesnt go back to sleep til 8 at night.does anyone have any sugestions.

Answer 1

Wow! My son was exactly like this at that age...still hates naps at 22months! I had to actually darken his room, then rock him to sleep and either let him cat nap on me or lay down with him in my bed. It was awful and frustrating but you have to get him to sleep during the day or his night sleep with be bad too-it's called "overtired" and their bodies gear up to fight off sleep if he's not getting enough. I suggest to do what it takes to get him to sleep at least 2 hrs during the day and put him down for the night much earlier...like 7pm or even 6:30! You'd be surprised how long he'll sleep! If you have other kids it's going to be super hard, but that's the only way to get him back on track. Then in a few months you can do sleep training(I liked Baby Whisperer books). Sorry I don't have a magic answer for you...I searched high and low for it but it never came to me. Good luck!

Answer 2

I'd put him to bed later and not let him get up at 5 am--or try putting him right back down after you feed him at 5. You should get another two to three hours out of him. Just make sure that you make the bottle, go in with the lights still out, feed him and put him back down. Don't talk to him too much. Then, make sure you're really giving him a lot of stimulation throughout the morning and put him down at 1 for a 2 or 3 hour nap. To make his room darker, I'd purchase the rolling shades and put them underneath whatever blinds he already has. Attach velcro to the window pane and to the sides of the shades so that when you pull it down to close it, you can stick it to the window frame and the room is pitch black. If he's still not sleeping, then I'd take him to the pediatrician. A 4 month old baby should be getting 15 hours of sleep and he's only getting 9. He may have some sort of sleep disorder that should be checked into--his development could be delayed due to lack of sleep--I've seen this in kids often. Good luck!

Answer 3

I am having the same problem with my almost 8 month old. As long as she is sleeping 11 hours in the night, I am happy. She will only sleep in the car or carriyng around, she only sleeps naps for 20 minutes or so. He will start sleeping more when he is more active, when he starts crawling he will be tired more often, so right now, just hang on, maybe have him more active. Some babies just do not need too much sleep and you are lucky enough that he sleeps at night.

Answer 4

I had the same problem with my daughter when she was two weeks old. She would fuss all day long, take short catnaps of 2 minutes in total for a whole day. At night, she would wake up every thirty minutes and cry, scream and this drove me crazy.

My grandmother, who is an expert in child raising, told me to put a little cereal in her bottle because a child that's full, dry and clean, will sleep. I tried this and it worked... I only put cereal in her bottle when it was time for her to take naps and I haven't had a problem with her sleeping since then and she's now 16 months old.

Answer 5

I too had this problem with my baby, he would not take more then 20 minute naps or sleep at night. We are now napping better during the day but still not sleeping at night. What I used to do to get him to take naps during the day is put him in his swing and run the vacuum. For some reason that put him right to sleep. Good Luck

Answer 6

If he sleeps from 8 at night until 5 in the am you should be happy that he sleeps through the night....mine never did and I would have rather had that then being up every two hours at night. I would say that there is nothing that you can do about it. He is getting all the sleep that he needs at night...which is a great thing.

Answer 7

try regulating his sleep patterns more, like keeping him up until you go to bed, then during the day, i'm sure you already tried this, but put him in a dark room (with a night light maybe) and some quiet sounds like one of those nature cd's. also, try some warm milk right before you put him down. if that doesn't work, about the only thing you can do to survive is to force yourself to sleep when he does.

Answer 8

As long as he's sleeping at night real well I wouldnt press it. He will nap when he needs to. Make sure he's well fed and has opportunity to nap, and leave it at that. He'll cat nap from time to time, and that might be all he will need.

A 4 month old does really need a super long day time nap, theyre so much more alert and interested in their worlds. As long as he's has opportunity to nap he's fine.

Answer 9

At 4 months old a babies sleep pattern is different. He might just not be tired. If you are worried about it I would take him in to his doctor.

Answer 10

Maby do the same routine that you do at night but in the afternoon. Also let him cry it out. I know that you said you let him cry, but did he cry himself to sleep? I know that that sound cruel but it works.