4 month old won't nurse in bed anymore!

[Bethw85]

My DS just turned 4 months old this week. I always nurse him to sleep sitting on the couch and then put him in a rock and play sleeper next to my bed until I come to bed/until he wakes for the first time of the night. At that point I bring him to bed with me and he sleeps there the rest of the night. About a week ago his sleep habits changed drastically. He was only waking one to two times a night to nurse before and now he is up all.night.long. The problem is he is refusing to nurse laying in bed all of a sudden! We had 6 bad nights in a row...2 good nights where he went mostly back to normal, and nursed in bed. Now the last 2 nights have been bad again. Last night I only managed to get him to latch on in bed once and he nursed for about 3 minutes and started crying and wiggling. The only thing I have found that works, is to get up, nurse him to sleep sitting on the couch, and then put him in his swing. And even then he only sleeps for 45min-an hour before we do it all over again. Sometimes if I just sit up in bed and hold him in my arms he falls right back to sleep. So I can't figure out if he's uncomfortable sleeping next to me, or what the deal is. I haven't tried putting him in a crib yet...I may try tonight and see if that helps at all. Has anyone experienced anything like this? It stinks...cause I love nursing in bed/co-sleeping! :(

[Xerxella]

My first thought was ear infection.  With an ear infection certain positions combined with drinking can be very painful.  I would get him checked out for that first. 

My second thought was this is the age when kids start looking around a lot and are just too interested in the world to do much nursing when they should.  I remember having to do the completely dark room trick just to get them to settle in for a long daytime feeding. 

My third thought was a funky growth spurt where he would need to nurse more often. 

But, overall, I would get him checked out for an ear infection first and foremost.  Good luck! 

[Bethw85]

He just had his 4 month checkup on Thursday, so no ear infections. I'm happy to say though that last night was better and he did nurse in bed all night. I found that a few times when he was refusing to latch on and fussing, I just pulled him closer to me and had his cheek against my breast and he fell right back to sleep. So maybe something is just causing him to wake up a bunch and he's not necessarily hungry...I did have to put him in the swing twice last night when he wouldn't stop squirming, but overall it was much better. hopefully this too is just a phase that shall pass...

[EuroMama]

Is he teething? My 3 month old is, and he does that too.