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February 2013 Moms
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four month wakeful at FIVE months

jely26jely26 member
in February 2013 Moms
Hi all! A question: has anyone ever experienced the four month wakeful period happen at FIVE months? My son is just over five months old and has started waking at around 1 or 2 am not fussing necessarily but just wide awake, almost like he wants to play with us. Up until recently, he was sleeping 10 to 12 a night. At first we thought it was a full diaper waking him, but after trying overnight diapers and rearranging feedings so that he pees one full dipe before bed, it doesn't seem to be that, either. I'm frustrated because it takes me over an hour to get him settled back down. A simple patpat or shhhhshhhh doesn't do it. I feel like I am enabling sleep issues where I should probably be sleep training, but letting him babble and toss around for over an hour without settling back down doesn't seem right either. I tried letting him resolve it himself the other night and eventually the lack of parental response DID lead to crying.

What are your experiences/thoughts/suggestions?
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Re: four month wakeful at FIVE months

  • blondehairblueeyeditalianbabyblondehairblueeyeditalianbaby member
    We have a white noise machine with a projector. When he decides he needs someone to talk to during the night I turn it on and let him talk away. After about 10 min he will usually put himself back to sleep.
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  • tiffanyptiffanyp member
    That does not sound like the 4 month wakeful at all. The 4 month wakeful is when babies start waking up every hour or so, whenever they get into a light sleep phase. However, sleep problems can occur at any age. Is he learning a new skill? Also, have you tried Motrin? He's at the right age for cutting his first tooth. How's his daytime sleep? If he's started sleeping more during the day, then it's possible he's in bed for too long overnight, even if he previously slept that many hours overnight.
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  • jely26jely26 member
    Hmm. .. you might have something there with a new skill. Just started rolling back to belly and is now a successful belly sleeper at night, but for this new wakeup thing and is finally enjoying tummy time during the day, a little more, too. I still wonder if it's the full diaper... even though it is less full with a pushed back feeding and larger nighttime diaper. Maybe any amount wakes him on his tummy? But he slept through even with a full diaper for a full week before this new wakeup thing started...
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  • jely26jely26 member
    Oh, and to answer the other question: no. He has never been a good daytime sleeper and if anything that has gotten worse recently.
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  • Karla CSKarla CS member

    I'd second the white noise. And for me, mostly out of my own laziness, as long as he's not crying, I wouldn't bother trying to soothe him back to sleep and see if he can get there on his own.

    We do this with DD, and most of the time, she just falls back asleep. Whenever one of us goes in there with her, I think it just reinforces her idea that it's time to play/interact. 

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  • RosebeanRosebean member
    Wonder week maybe? I agree with PPs that your LO is probably learning a new skill. I EBF DS and he never really did the four month wakeful, but at the 5 month period he did about two weeks of lots of night wakings. I checked it out and it was the 19-21 week mental leap. He was awake lots. Like 2-3 per night. After it was all said and done, he was rolling, had better control of his hand to mouth, discovered his feet and has more syllables when he talks. So just give your LO time. I am sure you will go back to less night wakings after a bit. I just roll with the punches with sleep. He normally STTN for up to 12 hours, so if he has a night here or there wanting to eat, or he has a week or so of it, no worries. I know he will come back to STTN when he is ready. 
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  • jd614jd614 member
    We have been dealing with this for about a
    Month and each night is different. Sometimes he's fussing in his sleep we rub his back and he's fine.
    Sometimes he's wide awake and even with the projector on he stays that way for an hour then cries. There is no rhyme or reason I'm at a loss as well!
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  • DublinMamaDublinMama member
    imageKarla CS:

    I'd second the white noise. And for me, mostly out of my own laziness, as long as he's not crying, I wouldn't bother trying to soothe him back to sleep and see if he can get there on his own.

    We do this with DD, and most of the time, she just falls back asleep. Whenever one of us goes in there with her, I think it just reinforces her idea that it's time to play/interact. 

    This. We've been dealing with this for a couple of weeks now. Just about every night DS wakes up at around 3 and just starts chatting and rolling around. I go in, turn on his projector and walk out. Sometimes it takes him 30-40 minutes, but he goes back to sleep. If we pick up him, he starts talking to us and trying to grab at us and play. No way, kiddo. If he's not crying, we let him do his thing on his own.

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