Sleep disruptions...any ideas??

[migirl]

Our little guy will be 4 months old in a couple of weeks, and went from sleeping like a champ (5, 6, sometimes 7 hours straight!) to frequent night wakings, usually every couple of hours. This has been going on for a few weeks now, so I've ruled out a growth spurt because it seems like that would be over by now and he's not always hungry when he wakes. I don't think he's teething, and nothing else has changed. He's just started taking a regular morning nap (usually 2 hours, give or take 30 minutes), maybe it's a nap issue? Does anyone have any ideas what could be going on and why? What makes this extra-frustrating is that he was sleeping so well and now he seems to be regressing... Aren't I supposed to be getting more sleep as he gets older?? :z

DD got her first tooth around 5 1/2 months but I swear she was teething for a month before that. Has he been sick lately? Could he have an ear infection?

When this would happen to us, I would try some Tylenol before bedtime to see if that helps.

My kids just did this sometimes. I noticed it especially before a development change (rolling over, walking, etc).

Sorry...sleep is a lovely thing!

[Flynn]

If I had to guess I would say that your little guy isn't used to previously waking up at night and doesn't know how to get himself back to sleep yet. Sometimes a snack helps (but that is a SLIPPERY slope -- be careful with this) but you mentioned he's not really hungry a lot of times.

He's more active and mobile now so maybe he's waking himself up with his movement and annoyed with the surpise of waking up? Possible.

If you know he's not hungry, he's thriving and not needing a meal, I would let him cry. Comforting him at this point might create a bad habit that is hard to break later when he's more alert.

Set a timer of what you think is reasonable (start with 15 minutes if you can), let him try and "deal with it himself" and if he dosen't go in and comfort him without feeding and then leave.

We tried this with DD and it worked like a champ. She was back on track in three days. My son on the other hand is a whole different story. We "battled" together for months. Now he is an awesome sleeper though and has been since he was a little less than 6 months. DD was easier -- never woke me up after she was 10 weeks old unless she was sick.

Every kid is different. Test the waters with your son but keep in mind the patterns you are creating, positive and negetive, are hard to break if you change your mind later.

GOOD LUCK!!!! Infants are so frustrating when they do things and you can't immediately change it to your whim!!

The same thing happened with us around 12 weeks or so....about the time when Andrew learned how to reach for things. At the time I suspected teething, but it turns out that it was due to the developmental changes that he was going through. Many mothers that I have spoken with have told me that their babies also regressed a little at that age. That said, your little guy could be teething...my friend's son got his first tooth at 3 1/2 months.

When we went through this phase, I just went in and comforted Andrew whenever he needed comforting. I worried that by doing this I would never get a good night's sleep again, but Andrew is a great sleeper now. The night awakenings were VERY hard on me since I'm the type of person who would sleep 12 hours a night if I could, but I have to say that many of my favorite "mommy memories" are of rocking Andrew to sleep in the middle of the night.

I know how tough it is right now, but hang in there. Just keep in mind that these baby days will pass by in the blink of an eye and you will eventually get more rest...I promise!

I agree, every kid is different. I guess I have nothing new to add other than to keep in mind that it is a phase. DD went through a good number of them and remembering that helped a lot.