How to Get Her to Sleep Longer!

Try to keep the baby up till 8, give a bath, bottle and then put the baby to sleep. Don't rock the baby to sleep because then they get use to it and then that is the only way they will fall asleep.

If the baby wakes up in the middle of the night, don't feed the baby but instead give her a pacifier. My baby who is 5 months sometimes will wake up in the middle of the night and I just give him a pacifier which soothes him and then just tuck him in. Babies love to suck because it soothes them and not necessarily are they hungry.

I hope this helps

Swaddling really works, but for a 4 month old, she may not take to it. I started bundling up my baby at 1 month and she slept through the night every night. I did it until she was too big to wrap a receiving blanket around her! Try giving her a bottle at 8pm and see if that will last her until morning.

Since she is 4 months old and previously sleeping longer, maybe she is teething. My oldest daughter started teething REALLY early, had her first tooth at 4 1/2 months! It drove me crazy, she went from colic to teething, with no break in between! (Looking back, I wish I could've just relaxed and enjoyed the stages she was going through. They REALLY DO grow up faster than you think they will---my daughters are now 23, 20 and 17, and I feel like I just blinked, and they were grown.) It's really frustrating when you're in the middle of it, though, and you are SO TIRED, all the time!! If you are a stay-at-home mom, just sleep when she sleeps, when you have to; if you work outside the home, make an agreement with your husband, like alternating nights with who gets up with her, or you get to rest whenever you want on his days off. Get creative, everyone has a different work schedule/arrangement, and YOU know what will work best for you! You HAVE TO ask, however; husbands are NOT mind readers! If you are a single mom, ask family and friends to help on their days off, so you can get some rest! I am a firm believer in bringing the baby into bed (unless one or both parents uses alcohol or drugs), as EVERYONE gets more sleep this way! I know that this is not too popular, but I did it with my three daughters, and my sister did it with her three kids. (Many cultures have "family beds" as well.) I have worked with children for 25+ years, and I'm currently in school to get my preschool teacher permit, just 5 more units! The current research on infants is to RESPOND to a crying baby, up to about 7 months old. If you don't, they WILL give up (sleep through the night) but then they have learned that their needs might not be met. I know that a lot of people will tell you to "just let them cry it out" (my mother-in-law and my aunt told me this---told me that I was spoiling them) but the truth is that you CANNOT spoil a baby under seven months old!!! Hope this helps! Just remember, this too shall pass, and you and your baby will have a stronger bond if you comfort your baby when she is upset! Please contact me if you need to talk; I care!

I am a mother of 2. My first woke up every 2 hours for 7 months she had colic her first 3 months so she was cranky alot. I never seemed to sleep. My youngest slept through the night right away but then at around 5 months would wake up. Having a full tummy helps but it is perfectly normal for babies to wake up at night. You may not get much sleep but that is part of being a mom. Don't worry you baby is only 4 months and will do things then stop doing them for years to come. Just relax and try your best. Not everyone gets the good sleeper. My daughter is now 7 and can stay up til 2 in the morning if I let her! But she does sleep through the night when she has to and goes to bed at a normal hour. This to shall pass.

check out sleep topics, just last month there was a post very simmilar to yours. My daughter would wake every 2 hours until she was 3 so that she could nurse. I ended up giving her a big bottle when I was ready to sleep and she would sleep for a little bit longer, but never throught the night. I never let her cry it out at all, always a co-sleeper while nursing.

Oh, and the thing with the rice cereal is ok as long as she is on solids, otherwise it would gum up her tummy and cause cramps and more crying and wakeing.

Teething could be an issue. I started my daughter on home made mashed yams when she was 4 months old. You will know if she is ready if she is able to open her mouth in response to food, make a chewing/sucking motion and swallow some of it down. If she starts vomiting or getting colicy she may not be ready. You may even be able to feel her tummy before and after meals to check for distention. If there are no problems then she's an eater!

If it's not any of the above, then give it time, sleep when she sleeps and you will have enough sleep. Don't do chores while baby sleeps if you are not getting enough sleep.

Sorry B., but my daughter did the same thing, she is the youngest of three and the only one that did this, the doctor assured me that it was normal and that she would eventually go back to her normal sleep pattern.Well she did, after she was seven months.Hang in there and if possible nap when she naps,as she gets older the naps are short and farther in between.

Well first thing please do not give your 4 month old rice cereal, her body can't handle it may give her tummy problems later. It's a myth that cereal will put her to sleep longer, and the american association of pediatrics recomends no solids until after 6 months. That being said, at 4 months babies are going through a growth spurt, and her sleep patterns will change often through the first year. Do what you need to do to make her fall back asleep, whatever you normaly do, rock, nurse, feed. She will normalize and start sleeping longer again. 2 times is not too bad, my oldest was up every 2 hours until he was 16 months. I know it's frustrating, but try to relax about it, she'll be fine and you'll be tired, but that is why God invented coffee. :) Good luck. ~V

All I can say is give it time, time time...My 8 month old (third child) has been sleeping throug the night for about 2 months now, finally! He was not the best sleeper as an infant. (He woke up 3x/night every night.) Your baby is still very young and probably needs to eat so just hang in there! In about two months, you should notice a huge improvement. Babies are also finding their schedule too...so give baby some time to fall into sleep schedules. Also, it hepls to make sure they are sleeping enough during the day. Baby should start taking 2 naps/day. Try putting baby down 2-3 hours after waking and then up for 3 hours and back down for an afternoon nap. Good Luck

I have twins & they seemed to do the same thing for about a month. The doc told me this was probably a growing spurt, which made sense, as they were both waking druing that time. When this happenned I fed them in the night (nursed) until about 6 months, then when they would wake, I would go tell them it's okay (check diaper) and leave them to go back to sleep (sometimes a few winpers and cries, but that stopped after 3 days). By that age, they really just needed to learn to soothe themselves back to sleep without me. Hang in there- sounds like if she was sleeping 7 hours at 4months- you're on the right track. -K

Hi B.,

I have 2 kids, age 1 and 2 and both went through this at this age due to the fact that they were teething. They did it again at 7 or 8 months. Try getting her to go back to sleep without feeding her. If you use a feeding to get her back to sleep she will become dependent on this. You may have to rock her etc. but this will be much easier to break her of then a mid-night snack. Good luck!

my son is also 4 months and i am going through the same stuff. i make sure to feed him at 10 when i am going to bed. then he usually wakes up at 12. i just rock him back to sleep, but he is up again at 2. i feed him then and then again, two hours later, i rock him back to sleep, then he is up again at 6. at that point, i just bring him into my bed so i can get my last 45 minutes. we have been doing this for a few weeks now and it is seeming to get better. he falls asleep faster when i have to rock him, and he occasionally sleeps for 4 hours. tonight when i am up, all of those times, i will think of you and continue to wish you the best of luck!

B.:
My 4-month old daughter wass doing the same thing. She was sleeping really well and then all of a sudden she started waking up several times during the night. She goes to sleep at 7pm and wakes up between 1-2 am - and then 3am, 5am and finally 6am for the day. What worked for me is at the 3am and 5am waking, I rocked her to sleep. Eventually she just slept through and didn't wake up at 3am. I read that babies go through "wonder weeks" and just before they hit a "wonder week" they go through a fussy period and their sleeping habits change. I would recommend reading this book "Wonder Weeks". It's been really helpful for me. Hope this helps.

Dear B.,

How about trying to comfort her when she wakes up at night, that let's her know that you are there. Then go back to bed and let her cry. She will learn how to comfort herself, and go back to sleep eventually. If you do not do this now, you will be very sorry later on. She will learn to have confidence in her surroundings, in you and herself. It is really hard to listen to them cry, but , comfort yourself by listening so that you will know if she chokes . It will work out. C. N.

When that happened to my little guy, my pediatrician recommended that he may be trying to tell us that he needs more food. He recommended that we start solid foods but not to put rice cereal in the bottle which would encourage poor feeding habits and obesity. So we started with the rice cereal and oatmeal and for the past month he's slept 11 hours through the night! He is also an 8o'clock sleeper which is fine for us because we get some couple time and 7am isn't too early! Good luck!

B.
How funny - good name! Anyways, when my daughter was 4 months and would still be waking up, we just stopped feeding her in the MOTN and then patted her back to sleep. Sometimes we had to let her fuss for a little while (which was hard) but I would let her fuss and then I would go in there and touch her gently and walk out again. She'll get used to sleeping if you do this - hopefully. So far my daughter sleeps through the night.

Good Luck - let me know how it goes,
B. S

Hi B. -
Our little boy sleeps through the night when his tummy is full, so we give a full bottle (8 oz.), 2-3 jars of food and sometimes a piece of bread. This works really well. Also, melatonin in small amounts (less than 1mg) is a good trick and is totally natural. Good luck! - L.

Hi B.,

I had the same problem with my daughter, and I found that moving her bedtime to EARLIER instead of later actually helped her to sleep longer. I started putting her down at 6:30 or 7pm, and she would still wake at 11pm for a nurse, but since I had peace and quiet for that extra hour or two, it didn't seem so terrible. I would feed her when she woke and would go to sleep after she had that feeding. She dropped that feeding around 6 or 7 months, and then only woke at 3 or 4am. I know that you might still have to live with the 3 or 4 am feeding for a few months (or until this growth spurt is finished) but that extra time in the evening is a godsend. I found the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child really helpful regarding earlier bedtimes and normal sleep patterns.

I would hesitate to put solids (or melatonin!!) in her tummy if you are solely breastfeeding, or even bottle feeding. People who do the cereal in the bottle thing swear by it, but I really think that your daughter is just going through a growth spurt. Rather than supplementing with solids, why not just give her the extra nourishment she seems to be asking for. Some babies do sleep through at this age, but it's really common for nightwaking (especially in breastfed babies)to continue for another few months. I would hesitate on letting her cry it out until she's 5-7 months old and starting solids when she's ready to take them from a spoon.

good luck!

This is beyond a late response but I just joined. I used the book "growing up gods way"! You don't have to be religious I am not! It was great for scheduling, sleeping, playing eating etc. My 3 all did it and my two sisters totaling 4 more did it and tell all there friends. It's awesome!! To make a change it should be under 3 days any habit takes 3days or less! Honest it works!!

Hello. I have 10 month old twins and I swear by the book "Baby Wise". It has worked for me and my friends. She will do this again in a couple of months. You can find the book at any book store. It gives you advise on how to get your baby on a good sleeping schedule and what to do when these things occur.

Beth

P.S. Sorry I just saw the date on the question. I am new so I didn't look. I don't know how to delete this. The book does have others. Baby Wise II and Toddler Wise. Anyway, take care!

hi B.
i am going through the exact same thing right now. my son is 9 days away from being 4 months and from 2 1/2 months slept 7 hours at night until about a week ago. now he wakes up in the middle of the night sometimes two or three times. i don't want to feed him and give him the habit of a midnight feed but sometimes even if it is something else that wakes him once he's awake he wants to eat and cries till he's fed(nothing else works). i wondered if he's teething or if it's a growth spurt i don't know what to do. if you find something that works post it so maybe it'll help us too. good luck to you,
T.