4 Month Old Waking up Every 1-2 Hours at Night

my girls sleep through the night at 2 months. (all three of them and it is not a fluke or because I am lucky) Once he is 10 lbs he is big enough to sleep through the night. CIO will NOT work on the first time! It takes 3 or 4 nights. and he may still cry for a few minutes every time before he goes to sleep. If he starts crying wait 20 minutes before going in there. Then go in an put his paci in but don't pick him up. wait another 20 mintues. I know it's hard now but when he is sleeping all night consistently it will be worth it. Try it on a weekend when you have time to commit to it! good luck.

Sounds like he's hitting a growth spurt and probably would benefit from nursing at least once at night. 4 months is a bit young for rice cereal, although I know people do it, but it could be that his stomach is upset, or it's just that he's hungry. I breastfed all 3 of mine and none quit nighttime nursings until about 6-8 months at the earliest. So, my suggestion is to nurse him in the middle of the night, about 1/2 way through if you can wait that long and see if that helps. Also, I did somewhat let my kids cry it out, but usually when I was putting them to bed, not in the middle of the night. The only time I've let them cry in the middle of the night is if I've tried holding, rocking, laying in bed with them and they are just fidgeting, etc. Then I might put them in bed and let them cry, but that's more of an 18-24 month old thing, not a 4 month old thing.

he is still on breast milk...every 2 hours is normal for a breast fed baby, it's easier for them to digest and an hour and a half is not bad at all

I don't like the term cry it out, who came up with this anyway? By giving him the paci you are creating a dependency on it for sleep. I always rocked and sang my baby's/toddlers to sleep at night then put them down and along with the rice cereal they sleep through the night. In my daycare I had a mom who was still getting ups all house of the night because her sons paci came out of his mouth, he became so dependent on it that one time in the middle of the night she was crawling around the floor looking for it cause it feel out of his crib. I know this is hard, but if you go to him ever time he wakes up that will also become habit, he will wake up automatically cause he knows you will go in. yopu have to break that cycle. Hope this helps a little. J.

I use the CIO method with both of my kids, but I agree, four months seems too young for that. Is it possible he is going through a growth spurt and needs to nurse? I remember more than one sleepless night in tears while nursing...I just needed the sleep so bad. Is he teething?? My kids were both early teethers. New teeth ALWAYS disrupted their sleep more...my son got his first teeth at 4 months and my daughter had hers at her 3 month check up. Ear ache, cold, hot, reflux??? I am sure there will be people who disagree with me, but at 4 months old, there is probably a reason for the crying...he is trying to tell you he needs something.

I read the Ferber book - just the part about babies. Basically you put the baby down and let them cry. After five minutes, you go in where he can see you - you don't talk or hold him. After he sees you and knows you haven't disappeared you leave again for 10 minutes. Then come back. Then you leave for 15 and so on. In our house we learned pretty quickly that if our kids cried for more than 30 minutes, they were not going to go to sleep - we had to figure out what they needed.

The other thing to consider is that although it is possible for him to sleep through the night, he may just not do it. My son did not sleep through the night consistently until he was over one year old (and we started the CIO method at nine months, eight months with our daughter). Now he would surprise us occasionally and have a great night here and there and tease us sometimes with two or three nights of sleep in a row, but it wasn't consistent until after his first birthday. My daughter started being consistent at around ten months of age. I know it's probably NOT want you want to hear right now. No sleep is so h*** o* everyone. Hang in there mama!

From what I understand at 4 months a lot of babies go through a "sleep regression" for a bit. Plus babies sleep less when they are learning/just learned a new skill (i.e. rolling over, sitting up, crawling, etc..) If their teething it can also cause them to sleep less than normal (which is what my 3 1/2 month old is doing right now). At this age they really don't understand why they are being left to CIO. They just know they need something and nobody is responding. I feel the CIO method is for when they are a little older and can grasp the concept.
I say just hang in there and things will change. Does he sleep with you or in another room? If he's in another room you may consider researching what you need to do to make your bed "safe" and having him sleep there. You might get a lot more sleep if your not getting up as much and he may feel more comforted knowing your right by.

We did do the crying it out method. I read the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child. I learned so much. How critical sleep is to a child. The signs to recognize when a child is tired. 4 months old is when the child's brain has developed enough to start to sleep through the night. I read this book when my daughters started doing the same thing at 4 months old.

http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Sleep-Habits-Happy-ebook/pr...

My 9 month old still awakens during the night and I am just now starting the CIO method, but only during the 4 AM feeding. I think 4 months is still too young. I know your exhausted, I am too, but I just keep telling myself each time I nurse him during the night, that this will all be over before I know it, and I'll miss it. So I cuddle his little body close to mine, breath in that sweet baby smell and thank God for my blessings. Then, I get him back in his bed and I hear my 2 year old because she lost her paci!!! Agh!!! We WILL get to sleep again; in probably 20 years!!!

CIO is necessary for some children but not at 4 months old. He is too young to grasp the concept you are teaching with CIO. You should wait until 6 months at least. Waking every 2 hours is normal for a breastfed baby and he could also be going through a growth spurt. Hang in there, it will get better!

He is too young to "cry it out." He may be going through a growth spurt, which is common at about 4 months. If so, he may be hungry. He may not have been ready to give up night nursing. My guess is growth spurt and he's hungry. Try a bottle in the middle of the night.

I used the CIO method with both of my children and they were fine, worked well. However, you have to understand that one night won't magically fix sleeping or any other issue in a child's life. It might take a few nights. For us it took about 3 nights.

I think that he is too young to CIO. Has he rolled to his belly yet? This was the turning point for mine to sleep better. Also-have you considered reflux at all? checked his ears for infection? These are conditions that worsen when you are lying flat.

Good luck on this-nothing worse than the sleepless night. IMO the very worst thing about having babies and the main reason I only have 2!