STTN question....

Barbie&Kevin

my son was sleeping 10-12 hours straight most nights (id say 5 out of 7 nights) from the time he was 2 months old until he was approx 4 months old.  A few weeks ago he stopped STTN.  Im not sure if it was just a coincidence or not, but now he wakes up every 4 hours.  Any advice?  Or should I just deal with it?  It honestly isnt all that bad getting up every 4 hours - that part that kills me is knowing that he CAN sttn.

EastCoastBride

What does he do when he wakes up, what do YOU do?

DS pretty much STTN but occasionally he wakes up in the middle. BUT- he barely opens his eyes if at all and DH will go in, change him, reswaddle him and put him back down.  And he goes RIGHT back to sleep. 

DH goes in so that DS doesn't smell me and think "oh- FOOD!".  If DS were really out of sorts and it waws obvious he was hungry, DH would of course come and get me - but as long as DS goes right back to sleep, we figure he's good to go! 

Barbie&Kevin

I remember reading several posts where I women said the same thing you said, but i couldnt remember the age of their children - so thanks!  I always get up with him and feed him.  He never eats for long period of time.  He normally eats  for a few minutes then falls asleep in my arms.  The problem comes when I put him back in his crib - he wakes up again.  He needs to be held for 15-ish minutes before he will fall back asleep in his crib.

Barbie&Kevin

to answer your other question - im not sure what he's doing other than crying.  I just sleepily pick him up and attach him to the boob.  I will be sure to look closely to see if his eyes are open etc.  thanks

MrsAmers

It's the 4 month sleep regression.  Feel lucky that you know he knows how to sleep through the night and when the disturbance passes he'll probably go back to his old ways without you needing to do anything.

My daughter slept through from 9 weeks to 4 months, then she started waking 2-3 times a night with the regression.  Her sleep gradually improved and we were back to one wake-up a night by 5 months, and it was a roller coaster ride after that.  She had periods of waking for teeth, growth spurts, other regressions and illness.  And in between the disturbances she slept well.  We never sleep trained her - we know that she can sleep well and if she's not its because there is something outside of our control that is preventing good sleep.  But she also hasn't had a "wake-up every 2 hours" night since she was a newborn, so her sleep was never bad enough for us to consider sleep training either.

More information about regressions: 

https://moxie.blogs.com/askmoxie/2006/02/qa_what_are_sle.html

https://moxie.blogs.com/askmoxie/2005/12/quick_and_dirty.html

https://www.askmoxie.org/2007/10/4-month-olds.html