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4 mo. sleep patterns?

2K views 45 replies 19 participants last post by  blairinargentina 
#1 ·
has anyone noticed a change in sleep patters with their babes once they get about 4 months old? i have a friend whose baby has gone from sleeping all night back to the 1-3 hr stretches again. isa seems to be doing the same thing too (but we are soooooo hoping its just this sickness, and not a pattern).

i read something in the sears book that made me wonder. it said, "most babies sleep well from 1-4 months, then the honeymoon in over". huh?

we have ruled out all the other night waking (illness) reasons, so what gives? anyone else going through this?
 
#2 ·
Yes, I've experienced this with both my boys. I thought it had something to do with my going back to work (reverse cycling) - maybe not though? Ds1 was 12mos old before he sleep through the night again (but he had fairly consistently slept 5 or more hours straight from 2-4 mos old). We didn't start cosleeping with ds1 until he was about 18 mos old, so I lost a LOT of sleep back then. Now, it just a quick feeding and back to sleep or a quick rollover to the other side and back to sleep.
 
#3 ·
Nate wakes to eat around 1:30am (but it could just be my husband coming to bed and waking him). And he wakes up and plays with his hands around 4:30 and then goes back to sleep. Don't know if that counts or not. He's 5 months old as of yesterday.
 
#8 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by SummerTwilight View Post
MOHAHAHAHA! Aria didn't start sleeping well until 4 months! As of Dec 30 (4 nights now) she has slept from 9pm, waking around 12 or 1 and then sleeping to 5 then sleeping to 7:30 or 8! I am a new woman!!!
Oh that's GREAT news!!!! So happy for you!
 
#10 ·
We had 6 weeks of waking only once a night, then 3 weeks of sleeping all night (8 pm-6 am), then well, the fun was on.
It started at 3 months for us.

Last night, he got up 4 times between 7pm and 6:30 am--twice before we went to bed, twice after. And, yes, they are all quick eat, go right back to sleep, but I'm still sleep deprived at this point.
 
#11 ·
Booker was sleeping almost 10 hours up until month 3 hit. Now he is up for a quick snack and back to sleep 2-3 times a night. He is also sleeping in our bed more and more. He started out in a crib in our room. He still starts the night there, but from first waking on, he is in bed with us. It seems he really is a cosleeping child. DD hated to sleep with us from day one. She slept in a crib in her own room from week 2 on. And slept through the night from then as well. Booker is a totally different animal. But a very sweet and cuddly baby. Just wish I could get some more sleep!
 
#13 ·
Unfortunately, after our new routine seems to be getting later, and later, and later...dd is now up to 11-midnight or so. She sleeps later in the morning, so she's still getting good sleep, but dh and I are desperate to get her to sleep earlier. We need to adjust her "night time". Any suggestions??
 
#14 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by NewAtThis View Post
We need to adjust her "night time". Any suggestions??
I'd just slowly start a bedtime routine 5-10 minutes earlier every few nights until it's where you'd like it.

Nate had a few night recently of nursing for 5 minutes, sleep for 15 minutes, repeat this 4 times until mama gets annoyed! Usually around 4am. But he seems to be back to what he was doing before, and even slept an hour late this morning.
He still sometimes wakes once before I go to bed around 10pm or so, but he nurses back to sleep really quickly. He usually goes to sleep at 7:30 at the same time as his brothers now, and wakes around 7am just after they get up.
He even took his first nap in "the big crib" yesterday in their room.
 
#15 ·
Isa is nowhere near the "sleep through the night" snoozer she was for the first 4 months. but, after almost two weeks since posting this thread, we are seeing some small improvements. i think most of her sleep troubles are from teething now, so who knows how long that will last.

at the moment she is still waking every few hrs all night but atleast she can be soothed easier now... basically just give her a paci and she zonks out again... as opposed to the screaming fits of last week
.

we added a running water cd last night and i think it did help with getting her back to sleep as well.
 
#16 ·
Sean was going down for the night at 8 faithfully until last week. Now he is staying awake til 10 or 11. He takes three naps a day, so starting today I am dropping the dinner time nap in hopes that he'll go back to his earlier bedtime. I NEED that time to decompress, especially when I'm watching my neice and nephew from 8am-7pm.
: I know he's going to get really cranky tonight at dinner time but hopefully he will adjust quickly. Wish me luck!
 
#17 ·
Well, now that i've lost my original response, let's try again before I fall asleep on the keyboard.


I am a zombie. Cleo's sleep fell apart at 4 months, from a nice, steady, doable 9pm-2am, 2am-4am, 4am-9am. Now it's 5+ wakings and munchings a night, and sometimes she'll just decide that 6am is a great time to talk, kick or try to rip her own ear off with her razor-sharp talons.

Then, during the day, she refuses to be out of arms for 3 minutes before the whining, grouching and "fake" crying starts up, where she makes the noises but not he faces, like she doesn't mean it, just knows i'll come to her. So I feel like an awful mom, and i'm already sleepy, and I can't get anything done.

Not my favorite phase.
:
 
#18 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Robynee View Post
He takes three naps a day, so starting today I am dropping the dinner time nap in hopes that he'll go back to his earlier bedtime.
Nate takes 3 naps a day too, but he goes to sleep at 7:30, 8pm at the latest. But he's starting to also show signs of moving towards 2 naps a day. That will sure make our daily schedule easier around here, since right now he naps at very inconvenient times as far as preschool drop-off and pick-up is concerned; I've been having my husband do both and then go to work so that we don't mess with his naps.
 
#19 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by magpiedee View Post
Now it's 5+ wakings and munchings a night, and sometimes she'll just decide that 6am is a great time to talk, kick or try to rip her own ear off with her razor-sharp talons.
Nate had been doing this for a week before his 5th tooth came in. I thought it was cute how he'd grab at his ear as he was falling asleep nursing (or try to shove a finger into his mouth to chew on WHILE nursing
: ). So I guess it was just teething after all.
 
#20 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by veganf View Post
Nate had been doing this for a week before his 5th tooth came in. I thought it was cute how he'd grab at his ear as he was falling asleep nursing (or try to shove a finger into his mouth to chew on WHILE nursing
: ). So I guess it was just teething after all.
he has FIVE teeth now?!
:

how advanced
 
#22 ·
ahhh, the blur of nightwaking! know how that goes! isa has done the same thing two nights in a row... skips the evening (normally around 6ish) nap and then goes right to bed at 8pm and sleeps better than before... or atleast for a longer first stretch.

she is a little more cranky in the evening (no more quiet dinners!) but she is still happy enough with being awake. i dont feel like we are "keeping her up" or anything.
 
#23 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Robynee View Post
Yeah! It worked. Two naps, bed at 8. (I won't even get into how many times he wakes up at night because I honestly have no idea. Nighttime is such a blur.)
Yay!
I have no idea about the nightwaking too. Because sometimes I'll say he slept right through, but my husband swears that he woke up and ate when he came to bed later. It's totally possible, and thank goodness I don't remember having to feed him that many times during the night!
 
#24 ·
Lucas was sleeping 3-4 hours starting the first few weeks, then 5-6, then one night 8.5 hours at 3 months. I thought it was just a fluke but then he slept 7-8 hours the next few nights. Then the walls caved in. The last 6 weeks have been a mish-mash of sleepless nights for all of us. Sometimes he wakes up after 45 minutes to an hour, and about 50% of those times a binky or a quick soothe will get him back to bed. He's then up every 2-3 hours, could be up for the day at 6 or 7 or 8 or 9. Who knows.

We talked about this recently with our Ped and she seems to be in agreement that my period coming back (right around the walls caving in) and teething are the most likely culprits.

I have Elizabeth Pantley's the No Cry Sleep Solution though I haven't made the time to read it yet...
 
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