My 3.5 month old isn't sleeping through the night?

Question

My 3.5 month old was starting to sleep for longer stretches (5-6 hours) but now he's relapsed to 2-3 hour stretches. He's also eating less and doesn't seem to have much of an apetite. Of course, these are probably related. He seems to be as happy as a lark most days and only gets really cranky at the end of the day. His bedtime is around 7-7:30 and he falls straight to sleep; however, he wakes up frequently (10, 1, 3, 5)...It's almost like having a newborn all over again. He doesn't seem to be hungry each time he wakes up because he's only taking in 2 ounces or so. He's never been a big napper but we try to make him nap when he's obviously tired. He's in day care and they say he does fine with eating and naps. ??? Anyone else survive this? Will he eventually start sleeping through the night (before he's in high school I mean :))...I don't want to leave him to cry but he doesn't care to be patted. Are we just going to have to wait it out?

Answer 1

This is very common at 3.5 months of age, There is a growth spurt at 3 months but the baby is also reaching a lot of new milestones and being more stimulated then at an earlier age.
Some baby's do sleep through the night at this age but most can not the 5-6 hour stretch you were getting before is considered sleeping through the night at this age
You could try waking him if he starts to drift back to sleep after 2oz he may be over tired and can not stay awake to eat enough to stay sleeping after first feeding

Answer 2

Take a deep breath... it's going to be okay!

My first baby slept through the night at around 4 months. But, every baby is different, and so all of the advice you'll get here is just advice. I can tell you what we did, but please feel free to take it as you like.

With eating and sleeping, she had a routine. She would eat about every 4 hours, and she would take probably about 3-4 ounces at 3.5 months (she was also a preemie and getting her to eat at all was big business for a while! :)). The trick is not to feed your baby every time he cries. He's not always hungry! That may be why sometimes he only takes about 2 ounces. There could be so many other reasons for his tears... he may be cold, hot, tired, have a headache, his foot is falling asleep, the tag on his shirt is itchy... you see what I mean. If you have a routine, it makes it easier for you and your baby to know when and how much to eat.

With our daughter, she slept in our room close to our bed every night until she was almost sleeping all night. We also made sure that she took regular naps. Babies become very accustomed to routine, and it makes the comfortable. So, even when it didn't look like our baby was tired, or if she fussed a little, we still put her down at the same interval for naps every day. The better she rested during the day, the better she slept at night. There were times when she did not sleep during nap time, but she got used to the fact that at around the same time every day, she would get at least "down time." Now, even as an older child, she still has regular nap times. She sometimes doesn't sleep, but she rests and is used to having the down time. Her bed time is 7-7:30, and she still is sleeping a good 12+ hours at night. If she wakes up early for whatever reason, she knows that I'll come and get her no earlier than 6 a.m. (unless of course she is in distress about something).

I've read a lot of research and most experts agree that babies, especially young babies like yours, need lots and lots of sleep still... somewhere in the range of 14 hours a day... at least!

So, just hang in there. My recommendation is to just keep a constant routine. You'll find that your baby will start to fall asleep on their own around the same time during the day and eventually sleep through the night. All night. :))

Don't forget, too, that soon (not yet probably) your baby will wake up during the night, but doesn't really need anything - not even mom :). It's okay to eventually let them cry a little and put themselves back to sleep.

But the BIGGEST THING TO REMEMBER is that all babies are different. There is nothing "wrong" with you or your baby. It's just a matter of discovering and working with your own rhythms.

Best of luck to you

Answer 3

Babies go through changes, so even if they start out sleeping great, they may wake up more frequently when they are sick or teething, or even once they have figured out that crying will get your attention.

I co-slept with my daughter for the first 5 months, then transitioned her to a crib, but would still go in and breastfeed her every time she woke up. Well, by the time she was 6 months old, she had me all figured out. So, she was waking up almost every hour and I would go feed her and put her back to sleep. I did that for a year, and finally just had to go through the "Cry-it-out" process, where you just cut them off cold turkey, and once you put them to bed, you don't go in there no matter what. It took about a week, but now she's sleeping through the night.

You don't do that if your baby is under 3 months old, or if they are sick, or if they are really hungry!!! Only do that if your child is healthy, and eating solids and just waking up because they are in the habit.

I would not recommend doing it before at least 6 months.

Read the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and it will explain this whole process. Believe me, it's easier to do it before they can say "Mama!" It's so hard to listen to your baby cry and say "Maaaamaaaa!"

Answer 4

My 9 months old boy isn't sleeping through the night yet. He still wakes up about 2-4 times a night. It really depends. I don't mind that he's doing that because every child is different. But I am looking into it to see if I'm doing something wrong.

Answer 5

Your wellbeing practitioner has given you terrible suggestion. Your infant is carefully widespread. His sleep varieties and his formula intake are widespread. very few 5 month olds are snoozing all evening. His daylight hours trend of small, primary feeds is widespread, and is in all probability extra healthy and extra physiolgoically suited than great, rare feeds. (Breastfed toddlers consume small quantities in lots of cases.) If he's waking, ingesting and going back to sleep, then he's hungry. you are able to no longer show him to no longer be hungry by skill of leaving him to scream for ninety minutes. he's snoozing 5 hours at evening, that's 'snoozing the evening', and is longer than many toddlers this age. you'll be able to evaluate getting a sparkling wellbeing practitioner. At minimum, discover ways to miss approximately something this wellbeing practitioner says approximately parenting practices/philosophies, and use his suggestion purely for clinical subject concerns.

Answer 6

My son is like that too & hes almost 5m. I feed him b4 bed, than i stay up till bout 10 and feed him b4 i go to sleep. However, i dont wake him up. He will than start "searching" for his food at like 2 maybe earlier. But his lil cries wake me up so i try to feed him b4 he wakes up. Than hes good to go till 5 and i feed him again. We finally wake up @ 7. Sometimes my son just wants to be held or needs a diaper change. All i think u need to do is listen and try to feed him b4 he wakes up bc sumtimes all they need is a lil milk/formula or the nuk. my son has acid reflux so he sleeps in his carseat & he sleeps so much better. If u try the carseat method i recommend puttin pillows underneath each end. Itll keep the carseat from rockin and the baby wont wiggle out.

Answer 7

Try giving him a later bedtime, that will make him more tired. Also we started putting cereal in my kids bottles before bed which helped them to sleep through the night. Also make sure that he is not napping before bed. Try to make him be awake for at least 2-3 hours before bed.Good luck, it will all work out!

Answer 8

the mere fact that your referred to him as your 3.5 yr old is enough to tell me two things this is your first child and you are wwaaayyy too outta control with the poor kid....babies are babies no two days will ever be the same and you will find if you relax and just go with it (him) you and he will be much happier.....geeze he is only 3 months old you expect him to have the schedule of a forty yr old person? Hes gonna change these eating and sleeping habits all the time so get ready for 18-20 yrs of unpredictable everything lol good luck....

Answer 9

At three and a half months he should not be sleeping through the night. At three months they go through a growth spurt, could be that.

Answer 10

Try him on Rice Cereal. When my children ate it they all slept better.