o/t 4 month old suddenly waking during the night

[HeatherLF16]

I have been one lucky momma, my son has slept all the way through the night since about 6 weeks old.  When I say sleep through the night it's not the typical 5 hour stretch it is about 8-10 hours all the way through.  Occasionally, we have had a night here and there where he stays awake.  But, this week it has been every night.  No fever.. each time he does have a wet diaper, and is hungry too.  But, he starts off waking himself by playing.  Kicking his feet, and practicing his vowels (oh oh oh oh he says lol).  I have read about growth spurts, teething too.  My question is if I keep his bedtime routine the same will he go back to normal sleeping soon?  It seems to be hard to get him back to sleep in the middle of the night even after a bottle it can take hours.  He will fall asleep for 10 minutes and wake himself again.  We did give him some rice cereal the other day, but haven't since he got a tummy ache so we decided to wait a few more weeks.  That is the only thing that changed.  Any thoughts or help would be appreciated.  =)

[Ashelen]

LOL my kids are like that too...they'll wait patiently as long as they think you're moving fast enough, but if they think you're being too slow it goes from "calm, waiting baby" to "I'M STARVING TO DEATH HERE HURRY UP WOMAN!!!" in no time flat.

I'm lucky too Kahlan (at 2 yrs) never wakes up before 9AM..NEVER>..which is rare for a toddler. Grey will sleep until we wake him up, whenever that is. For instance today Kahlan slept until 1030 (she goes to bed between 8-9 every night..well we put her in at 8 every night and she falls asleep between 8-9 lol) and I had to wake Grey up at 11 because his lazy bum was still snoozing....he really sleeps a lot still at 4 months...I'm always shocked when I see people saying that their 4-month olds don't nap, but then I remember that Kahlan didn't either...Grey's just a slug-a-bug LOL.

I'm so glad that Franky slept well for you..hopefully it's a sign of things to come!

[HeatherLF16]

Oh how they switch things up they just like us to be on our toes... last night was a success he slept from 8pm to 6am which is back to his typical routine.  Let's hope he keeps it up.  You are so lucky she sleeps until 11am.  Even though I worked for years before and have always had to get up early I am not much of a morning person, so I would prefer to sleep later like Ariana lol.  I am not too patient, but for Franky I am he changed me haha... so funny though because he doesn't have any patience will go from happy to screaming in about 1 second if he has to wait for the bottle or wants to be held... everyone says he gets that from me... impatient and fussy just like momma lol =)

[mom2ariana]

acutally there was one point where she changed her pattern and wanted to eat around 7 am when she normally wakes at 11 am...and i changed my pattern to fit hers because she went 3 or 4 nights doing this.and i finally decided to cave. i should have mentioned that before..
she was about 4/5 months old but this only lasted 2 weeks and she was back to an 11 am waking time again

[mom2ariana]

well ashelen is right in that all babies are different and i can see how some would need to be fed
im glad he fell back asleep though; i think you are doing great. 10 minutes sounds fairly reasonable to me and you are a good mommy and it sounds to me like you have a lot of patience! :)
i just wanted to share what works for us and what my pediatrician said. he is an older man and tends to be very old fashioned!!
i hope your little man continues to fall asleep on his own!!! keep us posted :D

[Ashelen]

I know and like I said...if your favorite person in the world was with you, you wouldn't want them to go away either...so it totally makes sense, even if it makes you want to rip your hair out at 4AM , LOL...I think you did a fantastic job Heather..he'll get it, just hang in there momma girl!

oh btw our house is hard to control the temps too :(....one setting on the heater is too low so it stays chilly and the very next temp up is too hot...go figure. Generally I err on the side of caution because I don't want to overheat him (SIDS risk) so I keep it cooler and just bundle him up...it's a constant guessing game in our house too what the temp is going to end up. our units all have thermostats but what a joke, LOL.

[HeatherLF16]

Thanks for your input... I am with you about the bottle.  I tried to hold off and just cuddle him and he through a fit he was hungry.  What mom2ariana said made some sense ... I thought I would try.  But, I can't go without feeding him if he wakes up doesn't work for him.  I am not for crying it out either... if he was full blown crying I would have heard because his room is right next to mine.  But, I use the monitor and usually go in every little sound that is why I chose to turn it off for the 10 minutes to see if he would fall asleep without my rushing in.  I always turn it on because I am scared I will not hear him when I am dead asleep so I put it next to my pillow.  It's hard to control the temps in my house since our rooms are upstairs.  If the heat is off it get's too cold if it's on it gets too hot.  So, on a night when I don't think it needs to be on I put him in a thin sleeper with the sleep sack.  If it's a night when I do have it on I will put him in a fleece sleeper with a tee under and no blanket because I think he will get too hot.   Like I mentioned I wake up myself several times during the night myself.  So, I am not surprised a baby would and I am more than happy to do whatever he needs.  But, the struggle is getting him to go back to sleep...lol.  Little stinker just wants to play with mom all night. =)

[Ashelen]

Oh I wanted to add I wouldn't walk out of the room if he was crying, PERSONALLY, but I don't do the cry-it-out method so that's why...some women do and it works great for them. I would calm him down and THEN leave. even if he starts fussing again when I walk out it rarely re-evolves into a full-blown cry.

[Ashelen]

Actually some babies DO need to eat at night, no matter how old they are...there are several studies that prove that because babies have different metabolisms, some babies are actually needing to eat at night for blood sugar purposes...but if your baby can make it through the night then that's absolutely fine, there's nothing WRONG with going the night without a bottle...but if your baby is waking up hungry, your baby is hungry! they don't know how to manipulate at that age, so if they're saying "i'm hungry" then they're hungry...and you can choose to skip the bottle it's not going to kill them, but I personally wouldn't...Grey wakes up once a night and I'm perfectly fine with that...at 4 months old, that's dang good and I consider myself lucky. Last night he didn't wake up at all, but if he had, he would have been fed and gone right back to sleep....the thing that helps the most is keeping the room dark, cool, and not turning on the lights or talking to him when I feed him. I literally make the bottle put it in his mouth, feed him, and walk away and he always goes right back to sleep...I keep the lights off the whole time.

I mean you can try to skip a bottle it's obviously worked great for mom2ariana (go Ariana :) ) but personally I wouldn't....he may have a harder time sleeping if his little tummy is empty and he's hungry than he would if he woke up to eat even if it took 10 minutes for him to fall asleep.

Also...since it's winter now...does it get cool there at night? I've noticed that if Grey is too chilly at night he wakes up several times but with his sleeper sack on he'll wake up MAYBE once at night, sometimes not at all. And walking out of the room to let him put himself back to sleep is EXACTLY what you should do...because he WILL keep himself awake if his favorite person in the world is standing right next to him..wouldn't you? lol

[HeatherLF16]

Update: Franky woke up at 3:30am after sleeping 6 hours... he doesn't hardly nap during the day just a cat nap here and there for 15-20 minutes after a bottle sometimes.  So, he needs his 10+ hours at night he usually gets and hasn't gotten it this past week since he won't go back to sleep when he gets up during the night.  I changed him, swaddled him and tried to cuddle him/rock him for a bit.  He threw a fit and a half because he wanted a bottle.  It had been 8+hours since he ate, so I gave in and gave him the bottle.  He still wanted to stay awake, I knew he was fine so .... I told myself I would let him be alone for 10 minutes to see what happend.  I turned off the baby monitor.  Turned it back on 10 minutes later and he was knocked out.  Went in his room he was fine and slept until 8am.  It was hard for me to leave him be because he was fussing for my attention (he has learned and caught on how to fake cry...lol), but I think that is what he needed.  I wasn't going to let him cry for more than 10 minutes I was going to go back in if he was still crying and hold him. I don't mind if he wakes up ... I wake up during the night several times even as an adult, but he has to know he needs to go back to bed if it's not light out.  Thanks everyone  =)

[HeatherLF16]

smjmekg- thanks now I don't feel so bad about letting him be for a while... since I am so spoiled with the 8 hours of sleep this past week I have been a zombie like when he was first born (which no sleep for me equals crazy women where everything is 100X more dramtic than reality...lol).  I too don't do the lights or talking in the middle of the night.  I keep night lights on in his room very dim, and I don't say a word to him because I don't want him to think it's morning..lol.  But, I will do everything else hold him or rock him.

mom2ariana- thank you so much for your input I would never think you were saying I was doing something wrong... I asked so I can get different ways that others moms operate.  I really like your idea about not feeding.  I don't feed him until he is changed and there is still something wrong.  But, I think I will hold off for a bit longer with the feeding he eats his limit during the day and he is certainly not starving weighing 17lbs at 4 months old...lol.  Also, the rice hurt his tummy the other day constipating him.  So, I bought some oatmeal and am giving it a try at dinner.  Hopefully, it will help him sleep having a fuller tummy!

Brit- I sure hope our babies snap out of this.  Sorry KayKay is keeping you up at night.  If I get something to work for Franky I will for sure let you know.  

[Brittny27]

I also have been very lucky and Kaelynn has slept 8 hours ate and slept another 4 hours. The last week sh has only been sleeping 5-6 hours before eating and then another 5-6 hours. I think it's just a growing spurt. I sure hope so anyways.

There have been a few nights that I put kaelynn in her swing next to my bed and fallen asleep when she is still awake because I just couldn't keep my eyes open. I almost dropped her one night I was holding her to feed her and fell asleep sitting up on the couch scared the cr@p out of me. I now am breastfeeding and not having to pump every 3 hours so I'm getting more sleep now.

[mom2ariana]

this is my opinion but since you don't believe in letting him cry you might not want to do this!! but im just gonna throw my two cents in anyways since i have a 12 hr sleeper--i must have done something right!! :P

my daughters pediatrician told me this; when ariana establishes sleeping through the night as a regular pattern, do not feed her when she wakes up at random times. i took his advice, and there were a few nights where she would wake up. i didn't feed her, ever, and she slowly started sleeping longer and longer. now she sleeps 12 hour, sometimes 13 hour, stretches.

there are nights still where she wakes up crying. i always get up and offer her her paci and fix her swaddle if her arms have come out. and she'll go back to sleep 99% of the time for several more hours. sometimes i will pick her up if i think she had a nightmare and comfort her so that she knows everything is okay, but i never feed her, EVER. i know how cruel that must sound to some people, but when babies are 4-6m old they are supposed to be sleeping through the night and do not need to eat. if they want to eat, it's because they have formed a habit.

im not at all saying you are doing anything wrong, but when you feed him, it's encouraging him to start the habit of eating again at night. he doesn't need to eat but he is eating because you are offering it to him and he's going to think that is okay now and may not go back to sleeping 8-10 hours until you stop offering him the bottle. it might take a few rough nights, but he'll get back on his pattern.

please don't think im pointing fingers or saying you are doing anything wrong, cause im not!! im just trying to help...some people believe in the cry it out method/don't feed thing..i just happen to be one of those people but to each his own! if you don't believe in that method that doesn't mean you are doing anything wrong at all!!

i hope things turn around for you and your son! :)

[smjmekg]

Aww, don't feel bad. I had two nights where I was so exhausted my dad (stayed with my parents til Elijah was old enough to move to Korea to be with DH) heard Elijah from the other side of the house and came and got him, when his crib was at the foot of my bed.

Have you tried some kind of mobile, or a light up/music playing toy that can attach to the crib? I didn't let Elijah "cry it out" until he was 7 months old (it was never more than ten minutes), and then he'd whine for a few minutes and fall asleep. I personally never used anything as far as lights or sounds go from the day Elijah was born, I didn't sing to him or anything, and that may sound mean, BUT my intentions behind it were to get him to fall asleep without needing the sound or lights. So from very early on I'd hold him or rock him, when he wanted his binki I knew he was ready for sleep, he'd fall asleep on me and I'd put him in his crib. There were nights he wanted me to hold him, and after a few fall asleep, cry, hold, fall asleep repeats he'd stay in his crib and sleep.

If he's not hungry, burped, not wet or dirty, try just letting him entertain himself. Put something in his crib that he can watch or listen to...there were nights, I won't lie, that I put Elijah in his swing, and turned on the tv and played Baby Einstein (it does NOT make your child smarter but it distracts them with lights/sounds). If he fell asleep, he was fine in the swing, and if not he'd start to whine and I'd get him, but most of the time he was happy with it...and the way I look at it, I'd rather get a few more minutes of sleep and be a little more coherent than be groggy and try to stay up with him.

[HeatherLF16]

Anything that worked with getting him back to sleep quick?  
I don't believe in letting him cry I just can't do it.  But, I do feel sometimes he is playing me...lol.  My mother in law told me he has me so wrapped and to let him cry, and he will go to sleep, but I can't.  I even feel bad because this morning I heard him playing on the monitor so I let him play for a while I was so tired I fell asleep to wake up to him screaming fake tears.. I don't know how long he was crying.

[HeatherLF16]

Also, he sleeps in his own room in his crib.... so I will lay him back down after I change him, feed him, snuggle him for a bit, whatever I think he needs.  He will play... put his hand in his mouth and fall asleep ... then wake 10 minutes later and cry so I go back in... comfort him... sometimes rock him or hug him.  Put him back and process repeats!!

[smjmekg]

Elijah did the same thing, he slept soo much at first, and slowly started to wake up at night. It's probably just a phase he's going through, whether it be growing or whatever. Hopefully it goes by fast! Elijah only did it for a month or so, and then would wake up for a bottle and go back to sleep, and continued that until he was 8 months or so...