4 months and not even close ..... : (

stacymartz · March 2009

I am just looking for some feedback here. : ) DS will be 4 months on Sat, and we are still up feeding 3 times a night. I EBF so this may have something to do with it, I'm not sure if he is just not getting full enough or what. He is in his PNP next to our bed, and is usually up about every 3-4 hours.

I have considered trying his crib, but then if he is just getting up because he is hungry, it is just going to be more of a pain to go in and feed him in his room. I know that some babies just don't STTN until they are a little older, but I would love a full nights sleep. Any advice is totally appreciated ~ TIA!

Mjmksb04 · March 2009

Have you tried clusterfeeding right before bed or dreamfeeding? I don't have experience with having baby in my room, but I have read several ladies on here who had a great experience moving their LO to his own room and seeing his sleep improve. If all else fails, I would give it a try.

JessMil10 · March 2009

DD is 4 and 1/2 months old and she is up every 2 hours, EBF. This may not be what you want to hear, but we are going to start the Ferber method on her because it will pay off for everyone in the long run. She needs sleep just as much as we do!

krismtg · March 2009

My DS still doesn't STTN either. He was waking at 12, 3 and 5 to eat. At the 12 and 5 feedings he eats 5 ounces but at the 3 he wasn't really eating more just nibbling. So we started doing the paci at the 3 and he would conk back out without eating. Now he only wakes for the 3 every other night or so. I FF so it is easy to tell how much he is eating. I would offer the paci and see if he is satisfied if not then he just needs to eat. I figure he my DS eats 5 ounces he is obviously waking up for hunger and no amount of sleep training will change it, IMO. Eventually he will be able to hold more and STTN. GL

andre07 · March 2009

My baby is the same way and she just turned 4 months. Also, just like the poster above, sometimes I give her her paci now and she will go back to sleep, other times, she continues to fuss and so I try feeding. Sometimes I know my baby wakes up just because of gas, a bm, a bad dream?, or she dropped her paci, and when I give it back she is okay. She just needs some comfort sometimes. GL, you're not alone!

Mikeysbride2b · March 2009

Has he always been this way since day one? If yes, it could just be him.. some babies will not sleep well for a while. Also, does he nap well during the day? This is important! He may also be teething and you are not aware of this? So many things can wake a baby up at night.. if he is hungry, the Dr may tell you to add some rice cereal to breast milk, but some believe that doesn't help them sleep. It helped with my baby a lot! By 6 months you can do some sleep training and try reading some books.. GOOD LUCK, my 4 month old is finally waking up once a night now and it is getting later and later which is good! It went from 1am, to 2am, to 3am now.

pixiedustie · March 2009

Does he nap well during the day? My DD takes a couple long naps during the day but when she is up I make sure she is engaged and playing, to distinguish night from day. Then during her night wakings I will pretty much ignore her as awful as that sounds. I don't talk or make eye contact with her and she now sleeps a good 8 hour stretch at night, wakes up eats for about an hour then goes back down for another 3-4 hours before she is up for the day. I also have her swaddled tightly. Oh and I EBF also.

shari_rngleson · March 2009

i pump a huge bottle for an 11 oclock feeding (she will drink about 4-3 oz) and the rest i store away for a 3-4 am feeding then she is up again around 7 am. i am way too tired to breastfeed at night so a bottle is great to have on hand.

Echowysp · March 2009

No advice, but I sympathize. Ds eats 3 times a night. I've just accepted that he's not going to meet this developmental milestone as early as I'd like, but it's not like I'm not going to feed the guy. He's a happy baby and is growing like a weed, so if that's my only problem, I'll take it.

The pedi didn't seem to be concerned when we saw her this week. She said that most BF kids just don't sleep the night through at that age (despite what you read on this board).

trinandgabe · March 2009

4 months is when they are developmentally ready to start STTN. DS was EBF at 3 1/2 months and eating every 2-3 hours, and we had our friend who is a pediatric nurse come stay with us to train us:-) Guess we did a modified Ferber.

I BF him at 10pm and put him to bed. Anytime he woke up between then and 6am, we would just go in and pat him on the back and reassure him. I didn't feed him though. The only way I was comfortable not feeding him was because he had a lot of wet/dirty diapers during the day so I knew he had enough to eat.

Since then he's been STTN like a champ! It took maybe 2-3 nights to train him and now he sleeps from 7:30pm to 6:30am.

Good luck!

mieuxmieux · March 2009

I'm sorry! I don't have much advise as my LO is younger than yours. One of my co-worker's kids didn't STTN until she was over a year old. Some kids start early, and some kids take a lot longer. As of right now, I sleep with DD in a chair because it is so hard to get her back to sleep if I put her in her crib, and I need as much sleep as I can get.

true_norskie · March 2009

I have EBF both my girls--my first STTN starting around 2 weeks old! Still waiting for #2 to be consistent at 5 mos! She's slept from 8-5 a few (think 3-5) of times, but usually she's up 1-3 times per night.

I hate to say this (mostly because I want to be able to do something to help my DD), but he'll do it when he's ready.

We talked to DDs' ped about it and she said, "aren't you glad this is your second and it's happening to her rather than #1? That way you know it isn't anything you are doing, you KNOW it is the kid."

She's right. I'm glad to know we aren't doing anything to cause her to sleep poorly--but I also wish I could get a full night's sleep!

Does he take a paci? I start with that to see if she's hungry or just needs help to get back to sleep. If she keeps fussing, I know it is because she's hungry. Lately she'll make it from 8 pm until 5:30-7 am without eating...but that doesn't mean she sleeps that whole time!

stacymartz · March 2009

Thanks ladies, yes he does take a paci, and I usually try and give it back to him before I actually feed him.

Coleslawcat · March 2009

I have 2 different experiences. At 4 months old both of my children were still terrible sleepers. My daughter never did get over that on her own. When she was 9.5 months I used the Ferber method. It was very successful and she has been a great sleeper ever since.

My DS was sleeping just like your son at that age. Last week out of the blue he started only waking once at night and I was thrilled, thinking how I could live with that. Then Saturday night he STTN. It was seriously out of nowhere, I did nothing different. He has STTN each night since then.

There is hope.

Want a personalized experience?

4 months and not even close ..... : (

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