Waking too much?

GIJoLana · February 2013

My son is almost 4 months and was sleeping about 5 hours, waking to eat, then sleeping another 4. He usually slept about 2 hours in our arms before we put him in his crib and would nap a few hours about 2 hours after getting up in the morning. This started at about 6-8 weeks, but stopped at 11 weeks. Since then, he has been sleeping around 3-4 hours, then waking every 1.5- 2 hours. I BF and can't settle him without feeding him each time because he smells me. If I try walking, rocking etc. he wakes more and is harder to put back to sleep. Once fed about 10 minutes he's back to sleep easily. I just would love if he could sleep longer again! We've moved bedtime earlier and don't hold him long to sleep, he goes into his crib. He is swaddled and won't stay sleeping without it. The room is dark and I don't talk or sing to him when feeding. I turned down the sensitivity on the monitor so I'm not up at every grunt. I thought it was a growth spurt, but it's been going on a month now. And he doesn't seem to be in pain, so I don't think he's teething. I've read it is still "normal" for his age to wake every 2 hours to feed, but he was sleeping so well! I want my good sleeper back! Any suggestions?!?!?

tortuga47 · February 2013

I got a white noise machine and this has helped my LO.

Jimsgirl5821 · February 2013

I wrote a similar post a few posts down. DS sleep issue started around the same time. He used to do a long stretch but lately has been up after only 3 hours. I don't know if its a coincidence, but I tried giving him a few extra ounces of formula yesterday (usually drinks 6 oz but replaced a couple bottles with 8 oz) and he did a 6 hour stretch followed by a 4 hour stretch....now he's sleeping on me the last hour

maybe try increasing daytime feedings?

jennamd122 · February 2013

I feel like I could have written your post myself!!! I am experiencing the EXACT same thing! My daughter was sleeping 6-9 hour stretches at 10 weeks. She would wake up once, eat and go back to sleep for another few hours. But for the past two weeks, she has been getting up twice to eat. I have tried just settling her back to sleep without feeding her, but then she wakes up again in 10 minutes and I end up being up half the night just trying to get her to sleep without nursing. Whereas when I nurse her, she is back to sleep in 10 minutes and we both get some rest! She, too, is still swaddled and is almost 5 months. I want to get rid of the swaddle, but she will not go to sleep or stay asleep without it. My husband keeps saying, why take it away if its working, but I feel like she is too old for it! Anxious to hear some suggestions...I want my good sleeper back, too!

GIJoLana · February 2013

Jennamd122 As far as swaddling goes, I have been using Swaddle Me, not blankets mostly from being paranoid he'd suffocate if it fell off. He grew out of them so I had to buy a new one, but I too want to ween him soon. I bought the Halo 2 in 1 sleepsack swaddle. You swaddle them, then transition the swaddle around the waist to be a sleepsack. Perfect for us, so it wasn't a waste of money. We try every few nights to use it as a sleepsack, but he flails his arms and wakes up. You should try it for transitioning. :

GIJoLana · March 2013

Took baby for his 4 month check up and think we found the problem. He was born in the 24th percentile and is gaining weight but only is 8th percentile now. Poor baby wasn't getting enough to eat! Doc recommended feeding formula 2x a day. I decided to do both at night so he would feel more full and sleep better. I've been doing this a few nights and last night he slept 4.5 hours before his first waking then 5.5 hours after!!! My doc told me to nurse about 5 10 minutes before the formula, to stimulate my milk, but I do a few minutes after also because he falls asleep quicker. We go back in a month to see if supplementing helps his growth.

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