Waking every 20-90 minutes

[bostonmummy]

My daughter is 4 months old, and she hit her sleep regression a couple of weeks ago. She'd been waking every 3-4 hours to eat, but now she's waking up every 20-90 minutes. I am definitely not going to do CIO with her, and I'm not trying to wean her at night because she's one of those babies who snacks all day long and loses interest after just 3-4 minutes. But I'm also a horrible candidate for co-sleeping because I am such a light sleeper and I deal with extreme insomnia as it is (as in 2.5 hours of sleep is often very common for me). Last night my daughter kept waking up every 20 minutes after an initial 2-hour stretch, so I finally brought her into bed with us, but of course I barely slept the entire night. What do you do if you can't bear to let her CIO and co-sleeping leaves you feeling like you've gotten 20 minutes of sleep the entire night?

[Banana731]

I usually just grin an bear it. Sometimes during those phases I would find that if dh took them and could get them to sleep, he would just lie down with baby on him and baby would stay asleep a little longer. I also still swaddled them, or at least their arms at that age if I was trying to get more sleep time.

Have you thought about side caring your crib, or using a co-sleeper? Baby is close but not in bed with you. I co-sleep, and I am also a light sleeper. If you look in the best research out there about co-sleeping (mcKenna) mother and babe actually begin to sync sleep cycles, so you may find that if you give it a try in some form, after the initial adjustment period, you actually begin to sleep well. I have always been able to sleep/nurse quite easily in the infant stage.

Some babies love baby hammocks. I made one for myself, my baby didn't care for it, but I have friend whose baby LOVED it and wouldn't sleep any other way. There are several different types but here's one http://miyobaby.com/

Ultimately, while it sucks to have a baby who does this, it is usually just a phase. Growth, cognitive/motor development, teething, illness- can all disrupt sleep. So hopefully it's just a short phase for your little one.

[jgallagher66]

Hang in there. I agree that it will get better but it's so hard while you're going through it. I sleep better with my babies so I'm not a lot of help on suggestions. I agree that a co-sleeper or having the crib right up next to the bed are good options to try. Definately try to get someone to help and take the baby while you get a little sleep either at night or during the day. The napping when your baby naps is still good advice especially during these sleep regression periods. 4 months is definately too young to night wean so your instincts are right on. Keep trying things and hang in there. The no cry sleep solution has lots of ideas that you can try that may help for different babies.