4 month old not sleeping?? HELP PLEASE!!

jkm2002

My son is 4 months old and was doing really well with sleeping at night.  I was putting him down at 9am and he was sleeping until 6am.  He would eat and then go back to sleep until 8am.  Two weeks ago, this all changed.  He now wakes every hour or less, and screams when put down.  If I nurse him to sleep, then lay him down, he immediately wakes and screams.  Best case scenario he sleeps long enough for me to stumble back to bed and laying down before screaming.  If I lay him down, drowsy but awake (as we read everywhere) he immediately starts screaming.  I have always responded to him immediately but am so incredibly exhausted and need some help.  Any advice??  Oh and this has extended to naps as well.  I have discovered that tummy sleeping helps somewhat (he will sleep 50% of the time) but am so worried about SIDS that I really don't like the idea and what him to sleep on his back or side. 

Please help me!

BubblyToes

***backs slowly out of this post***

jkm2002

It wasn't meant to be inflammatory.  I genuinely need help.  I used to be a lurker when my dd was little (she is 3 now) but thought I could find help here.

 How do I lay him down without the screaming??

Kapalua

1) it's not a myth-4 month olds sleep likeshit.  He's probably going through a growth spurt

2) there's not much "sleep training" you should do with a baby that young.  I would just do whatever you have to do to get through it.  Co sleep, feed him, rock him, make your hubby get up, let him sleep in a swing or carseat.  Whatever works.  These are the days when his needs rise above creating any good "habits".  That comes much much later.

jkm2002

I guess sleep training was the wrong wording to use.  I am not letting him cry, just am looking for help on getting him down to sleep.  With my dd (she is 3 now) I always nursed her to sleep, but that doesn't work with him.  I will get him asleep, then lay him down and he immediately wakes up screaming.  I pick him up right away and rock him and he goes right to sleep.  I barely make it to the chair in his room.  He is clearly exhausted, but for some reason he won't sleep in his crib anymore.  I was just hoping to get some advice on how to get him down again.

Kapalua

I definitely know how frustrating that is.  I would try the swing, or a pack n play/bassinet in your room.  Are you opposed to co sleeping? Just remember, it's a phase-it won't last (but will be replaced by another!)

veloelle

Kapalua:

1) it's not a myth-4 month olds sleep likeshit.  He's probably going through a growth spurt

2) there's not much "sleep training" you should do with a baby that young.  I would just do whatever you have to do to get through it.  Co sleep, feed him, rock him, make your hubby get up, let him sleep in a swing or carseat.  Whatever works.  These are the days when his needs rise above creating any good "habits".  That comes much much later.

DH feeds DS a bottle once, so I'm getting up once a night instead of twice. Makes a huge difference. But, I'm also huge on babies being able to take bottle, even if they are BF'd. Situations like these are good for the baby to be able to feed from a bottle, kwim?

If DS has a hard time sleeping, we typically co-sleep, or I have him sleep in the bouncer next to the bed. He's 2.5 months. About 2-3x a week, we end up co sleeping half way through the night.

soontobemomma

I say don't even worry about drowsy but awake now.  Get him to sleep however you can, so you can sleep.  I could have never laid dd1 down drowsy until she was 1yo and she didn't have a choice.  Rock him, if that works.  Put him in the swing and transfer him, if that works.  He will be okay.  It is more important to get some rest, for both of you.  Happy mommy = happy baby.

 

 

lindac1

Oh boy, this could have been my post!  We're going through the same thing.  We have one of those snuggle nests, and some nights I'll just nurse DS lying down in bed and just slide him back up into the snuggle nest if I'm just too tired to keep going back to his crib.  He tends to not wake up when I do this so it allows a little bit of sleep before he decides to wake up again! 

I know it won't last forever, so I'm not worried about him not wanting to sleep in his crib if I do this.  Good luck!!

Sleep Coach

Hello!

This is a common problem. You are not alone. It is simply due to his development and that he is now more aware of his surroundings and the world around him. We all wake up during the night and have partial arousals and then go back to sleep. It's a function of nature. Unfortunately, he is having full arousals and not partial ones and finding it difficult to go back to sleep without your assistance.

I get google alerts so that I can reach out to people like you to let you know that there is expert help available. I am a professional sleep consultant that has a 100% succes with private consultations. I can help solve your sleep challenges for LIFE.

 I hope to hear from you. My website is www.sleepsense.net/kelowna and you can call for a FREE no obligation 15 minute consultation anytime. My phone number is 250-575-6988.

Sleep Well!

Pam

 

CubbyMama

soontobemomma:

I say don't even worry about drowsy but awake now.  Get him to sleep however you can, so you can sleep.  I could have never laid dd1 down drowsy until she was 1yo and she didn't have a choice.  Rock him, if that works.  Put him in the swing and transfer him, if that works.  He will be okay.  It is more important to get some rest, for both of you.  Happy mommy = happy baby.

I totally agree!  I totally tend to obsess over whether I'm creating bad habits, doing the right/wrong thing when it comes to the girls' sleep b/c after colic with DD1, I'm just paranoid about not going through anything like that again.  I really had to smack myself upside the head a few times when DD2 was younger and force myself to just relax and focus on surviving THAT DAY, not worrying about whether doing XYZ would "form bad habits" or what the books said I should be doing at this certain age.  It's hard, but the PP's are right: it is just a phase.  It will end.  There's a bazillion dollar industry full of books, DVD's, womb sound simulators, etc. to try and help parents "solve" their babies' sleep "problems," and I finally reached the conclusion that if everyone has this "problem," perhaps it's not a problem at all--it's just normal and not worth the effort to fight.  Once I learned to just go with it, it got 1,000x easier. Hang in there!