Mother in Need of More than 4 Hours of Sleep

Hey mama, this sounds like my little guy! Four months was a BIG time for my son too. There is a growth spurt around this time, plus he started rolling over (your little guy might be working on this, hence the rolling and wiggling at night). My son also hated the swaddling and we transitioned him to a sleep sack. Finally, my pediatrician suggested that he might be getting too big for his co-sleeper and needed to transition to his full-size crib. Moving him to his crib in his nursery was much harder on me than him. He loved it. This all happened within a 2-week period around his 4-month birthday!

As far as the sleeping through the night, it varies with each child. My son slept through the night for the first time at 7 months. You mention "leaning over the co-sleeper." I kept mine right next to my side of the bed with the side dropped down. This way I could just reach my hand in to comfort him without having to get out of bed. You might want to reposition your co-sleeper for the night.

Good luck and best wishes for sweet dreams for both of you!

I know it sounds simple, but don't get him when he stirs. Let him put himself back to sleep. It was about this age that we took our daughter out of her co-sleeper and put her in her crib. It was time for both of us. We also swaddled her until she was about 7 months old, she loved it and slept through the night almost EVERY night. She is now 20 months old and a GREAT sleeper. I think it's because we let her learn how to fall asleep on her own. Good luck!

Oh also, if she did wake up wanting a bottle, we would put water in it, and she'd stop waking up for it. She certainly didn't want water in the middle of the night. :)

I found help from a book called "The No-Cry Sleep Solution." Good luck.

Hello D.. I sympathize with the lack of sleep. My first didn't sleep well until about 1 year.

I have read about a 4 month sleep regression that can cause any baby, good sleeper or not, to start having a tough time. Hence, so do the parents.

http://moxie.blogs.com/askmoxie/2007/10/4-month-olds/comm...

Check out the link for more info. The good news is that you will get through it and it is not forever. My DD really sleeps well and my DS started sleeping really well right after the 4 month regression. Good luck!

Hugs.

I would speak to your pediatrition about any other food options at4 months old, but my soon to be 1 year old didnt sleep through the night until about 1 month ago! He would wake up every 2-4 hours for the longest time and do the same thing, just fall asleep really fast after I fed him. So with lots of advice from other moms, at 11 months I let him cry it out and it worked, but I believe your son is too young, but speak to your ped. about that too. My son has always been in his own room since he was a newborn, and we stopped swaddeling him around 6 months because he kept busting out of it. We use a sleep sack now instead. Good luck!
S.

I think its normal, but maybe he is getting hungry and is too tired to take a full bottle. Try adding a little baby cereal before bed.

What does your instinct tell you? My son didn't sleep through the night until just before his 2nd birthday. Sometimes he sleeps better with us in bed with him, sometimes he needs u there. I have found that I just need to try and be in touch with his needs, and not be a stickler with a specific process or ritual. Bringing him into bed with you can help a lot, since at least you can rest while your helping him relax back into sleep. Check out what Dr. Sears has to say about nighttime parenting, if you're interested. It's totally normal for a baby to be waking frequently through the night, and 4 months is a time of great leaps in development. Babies process all that they have learned throughout the day during their sleep, so it can make their sleep more disrupted.
Good luck! Take naps!