another sleep question

stepper1725

We're in the midst of the 4 month wakeful. DD is up every hour on the hour. So for the past few nights we've just put her in bed with us. She snuggles up to my side, sleeps, and then nurses when she needs to. It's working for us for right now, but I don't really want to be a bed sharing family long-term. Someone tell me it's still too early to start a habit! For others who have bed shared, how hard is it to transition back into LOs own bed? For those who have survived the 4 month wakeful, when does it end?? Did you LO just start sleeping longer stretches one night, or was it a gradual progression?

RedRose87

I know every baby is different, but we bed share and he hates the crib. Though I got him to sleep there for the first time on his tummy yesterday for a nap. Sadly now he has a cold, so he won't even lay down anywhere. We are in the middle of 4 month wakeful too, been in it for almost a month now, still waking up almost every hour. It's been one thing after another keeping us from getting him back to a normal sleep schedule. Teething, cold, growth spurt, another cold, reflux, etc. It's exhausting. Bed sharing definitely helps though, everyone gets more sleep.

acbfreire

According to Baby 411 habits may start to form at 4 months. But, with that said, do whatever works for you and LO. You can always transition him out if your bed.

LO is sleeping in her crib, but is fighting her naps. Yesterday she only took 2-30 min naps and only went to "bed" on the couch with me at midnight (then I waited one hour to put her down).

I was about to have a meltdown. This 4 month wakeful is kicking my butt too.

seansgirl2006

I have read the same as PP, that habits are starting to form now.  That being said, I do agree that you have to do whatever works for you and you're comfortable with.  For me personally, I wouldn't have as much of an issue with the bed sharing as I would with the nursing every hour.  That sounds like a sleep cycle and normal wakening.  By now they don't need to eat for nutritional value.  Your LO is just nursing for comfort and to get back to sleep.  I would maybe try to get them back to sleep some without that and see if that helps some.  It may be more difficult with you right there though.  I know whenever we bed shared in the past, it was hard for me to try not to always do that too because when I was half asleep/half awake that was the easiest thing to do to quickly get them back to sleep.  I'm curious to see what others have experienced with the 4 month wakeful ending.  For us, with DS #1 it wasn't ending and he started getting worse and regressing with sleep.  I started doing some sleep training to fix it and that helped a lot.  So I'm not sure what would have happened if I had just rode it out?  Not to scare you, but I do have a friend with an 18 month old who still bed shares and nurses every hour.  Not saying you should stop right now but just maybe think about how long you want to do it because at that point it's become really, really hard to break for them (obviously!).  Hang in there!  Sleep issues suck.

futuremrspadawan

Agreed - baby doesn't NEED to nurse constantly or through the night.  Babies naturally wake up every hour or two and may even open their eyes or fuss, but they need to learn to go back to sleep.  First, don't pick her up right away - give her a chance to go back to sleep.  If she is, indeed, fully waking up, try to get her to sleep without feeding her.  You're teaching her to eat many times through the night when she doesn't need to.  If you woke up in the night, you'd be hungry too, but you, as an adult, know how to fall back into deep sleep as you go through cycles.  Try googling infant sleep cycles or even read Bringing Up Bebe - it's more of an observational book on French parenting, but it's really interesting.

stepper1725

Thanks ladies! We had a better night last night. She woke up every 2 hours instead of every hour, which feels like a win! And she slept in her pack & play, rather than in bed with us. I know that if she slept in bed, she'd go longer stretches, but as I said I don't want to get into a habit. Personally, I don't feel comfortable doing any sleep training at this age, but we are going to try letting her fuss a little bit before getting her. I can't do the crying thing yet, it's just not for me right now.

futuremrs, I really liked 'Bringing up Bebe', hopefully letting her fuss a little bit on her own will help her start "doing her nights" : )