Am I missing something - 4.5 month old sleep

CountingUp

Our parenting philosophy has always been do what is the gentlest and makes the most sense for everyone. We were bed sharing until a month ago but then baby was nursing all night long and neither of us were getting the rest we needed. She was starting to get into a decent routine of in her own bed (next to ours) and sleeping from 9-4, then eating, then back in her bed for an hour or two and then back in with us for another hour.

The past few nights she's been in her bed from 10-12 and then up every hour or two - she's not hungry, not unhappy, just wanting to comfort nurse and look at me. I would be happy to have her back in our bed if she was just sleeping on her back between us but I cannot be nursed on for hours at a time. I am not sure if it happens to others but I end up getting "crampy" after a while!

I am not sure if I should just continue putting her back in her bed and accept needing to rock her every hour or if I should just keep her in our bed and accept being nursed on and still getting woken up every hour or two.

What would you do? What did you do? I've tried gentle removal but we can go back and forth for an hour and she gets spitfire mad every time!

tarahnpaul

DD used to sleep in a cosleeper.  Around 4 months, she became aware there was a difference between sleeping an arms distance away and sleeping right next to me.  I tried all the gentle approaches and she just wouldn't have it.  We got to the point of either letting her cry or letting her sleep full time with us.  So now she's with us.

I'm wondering if maybe she's having a growth spurt and that's why she doesn't want to let go of the boob.  Has she always been unwilling to be unlatched during the night? 

whitney1170

Sorry, I'm a total lurker on this board, but I had some ideas...

1. Do you know about 4 month wakeful? That age just throws them into fits of not sleeping well at night. It's pretty normal.

2. Do you use/does your LO take a paci? Mine didn't until recently, but what we do is co-sleep, and even at almost 9 months she'll nurse on me all night, so I nurse her to fast asleep and then quickly replace my sore boob with a paci when I know she's done eating and has comfort-nursed for a bit. We stay in the "nursing" side-lying position but I kind of trick her with the paci so we both get some sleep, and my nips get some relief!

pixieprincss

It sounds exactly like the 4-month wakeful. See the sleep post below for a mama with a slightly younger baby going through a similar normal (but tiring) thing.

CountingUp

Thanks. Yes, I suspected it was the wakefuls. Last night I had her tucked in by 9 and then I went to bed too and took advantage of the long stretch of sleep. As per sids Canada recommendations we are keeping her in our room until 6 months. At that point we will evaluate the situation.