My 4 month old daughter has slept through the night ever since she was born. She normally wakes up at like 5 or 6am and then I can put her back to bed and then she'll wake up at like 9 or 9:30am. But recently its changed many times. She went from waking up at 5 or 6 and sleeping til 9 or 9:30 to just waking up at like 7:45 or 8. Now she's been waking up earlier and earlier. From 5 to 4 to 3:45am. From 3:45 am ill feed her and she will sleep til almost 8:30ish. She doesnt really take long naps during the day and i have tried to put her back to sleep without holding her or picking her up. It doesnt work. Help please!
Growth spurt! :) definitely. Either add cereal in her last bottle if your formula feeding or breastfeed her when she wakes up. IF you're breastfeeding you may need to keep her on longer than what you were doing.
It sounds like she may be having a growth spurt. I am not sure if you are breast feeding or not but if you are:
Your baby will be up more often at night. Even if your baby was sleeping for a blissful five- or six-hour stretch, during a growth spurt wake up for snack, or two. You may find your older baby waking up earlier from his naps, too.
Your baby will be crankier than usual. At the breast he’ll be extra fussy, latching and unlatching because he wants more milk right now, and your production might not be up to speed yet. Plus, all those late nights don’t help her mood (or yours!) either.
How to deal with baby growth spurts:
Since you were already struggling to get enough rest or do anything other than feed your baby, it’s extra-exhausting to have a newborn who suddenly treats breastfeeding like a 24-7 all-you-can-eat buffet. So make sure you’re drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated, recruit help from your partner or a friend to do dishes and other household chores, and settle in for the long haul. (A DVD can help pass the time.)
Whatever you do, don’t give up on breastfeeding now. When your baby seems hungrier and crankier than normal, you may worry that she’s not getting enough to eat and think about abandoning breastfeeding altogether. But those temporary round-the-clock feedings are actually your baby’s way of boosting your milk supply to keep pace with his oh-so-healthy appetite.
If you’re really concerned, keep an eye on two things: diapers and weight gain. If he’s packing on ounces (that adorable little T-shirt seem tighter today than it did two days ago, for example) and soaking five or six diapers a day, she’s doing just fine. Soon enough her hunger pangs will be over, the growth spurt will end, and things will settle back to normal. Until the next baby growth spurt hits, that is.
I agree with the other moms that she may be having a growth spurt . . . but it may not be just food that she needs. She may be waking up and wanting to be close to you! The nursing at that time may just be habit, but the real treat may be getting to see, touch, snuggle with mama. You could try holding her without nursing her and see if you can get her back to sleep and lay her down again--this won't "ruin" her! I promise! She doesn't have the capacity to remember what happens and recreate the situation night after night (someday she will, but not for a long time!). It sounds like she's great sleeper at night and there's no reason to assume that it's going away. There's a good chance she'll maintain sleeping most of the night, but if not, you can try other things besides just feeding. It's tough when a good thing changes, though--I can empathize! Good luck!
ug I know how you feel! my 4 month DD was sleeping from 8:30- 5:00, then down again till 9ish... then she started waking up at 1:00, and again at 3:00 every night (morning?), wanting to be up for an hour, then going back to sleep, and waking up at 7 for the day (If I work really hard to keep her asleep! lol) Im hoping that it's a growth spurt! I don't have any advice though, Im planning to steal any you get! just know I feel your pain.
we did a "dream feed" about 10ish at night. Pick her up, feed her, put her back to bed, all while she's still asleep. It would hold our dd over until morning.
