Baby Waking up Every Two Hours at Night

First off, not every baby sleeps through the night (there is nothing wrong with Paul). Mine did not and what made me feel better is my pediatrician said hers did not either!

Is Paul going through a growth spurt? Whenever my son ate more it was because of a growth spurt.

Second, you may be feeding him when he does not need to be fed. Since he is sleeping with you, I am sure you wake up to every noise. That was my problem for awhile, every little peep I fed him. I finally had to move him out of my room.

Does he take a pacifier? He may be using you as one.

As far as sleeping with him, do you have a cosleeper? They are life savers. The baby can sleep next to your bed, it makes nursing easier and no risk of rolling over on baby. Trust me, there are wonderful benefits to cosleeping. You do what is best for you and your baby - but you will want to get a cosleep or something that you can put next to the bed as it is the safest.

Can you pump and have your husband feed him in the middle of the night? This is a great way to see if he is truly hungry or using you to pacify.

I wish you the best of luck!

Good Morning M.
I also have a 4 month old and she is a very good sleeper but she wasn't always. Right now, she's sleeping for about 8 to 10 hours at night however, she takes very short naps all throughout the day. About 4 weeks ago she went from taking 4oz./feeding to 6oz./feeding and my body couldn't keep up so I I had to start bottle feeding her and that's when I noticed her sleeping for longer periods of time. Maybe if you fed Paul a bottle at night before bed @ 10pm and pumped at that time (that way your body keeps producing milk) Paul would sleep for 5 or 6 hours. Also, you can start him on rice cereal now so I would try that at night time also that way little Paul has a full tummy to sleep on. Last night was the first time I fed my daughter the rice cereal and it was hilarious. My husband and I laughed all through dinner because the faces she was making were priceless.
Good Luck to you and I hope you get some unbroken sleep in the near future. You'll feel like a new woman after 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep, I know I did.
Take Care!

It sounds like a growth spurt? Have you checked in with your doctor? Perhaps he needs additional supplementation (like an extra few ounces of formula if you are nursing - he may not be getting enough?).

My son when through this as I started back to work when he was four months. The stress of the change, being away from the baby and everything made my milk supply decrease. Even though I still gorged myself in water and everything I could find to keep it up! I finally did manage it increase it a bit, but I did have to supplement feed at the same time afterwards. We mixed the breast milk and formula together. (and I researched every formula out there at the time... I was VERY picky!)

In doing this, it made the transition from the breast to bottle easier when I had to stop 'cold-turkey' breast feeding my son due to my health and medications.

Good luck, and do not fret... You'll figure it out! ;)

Have you tried to pump and add baby cereal to the breast milk, I know that sat heavier in my sons stomach and helped a great deal with his sleep patterns. I see that co sleeping is becoming a big thing with people now adays, it may be harder to get you child to sleep in his own bed after he has slept with you for so long creating a dependency on you. I know it is hard to get them in their own crib but after a few rough nights he should get used to it and the fussing should subside. Sometimes we have to use tough love. Also when he wakes at night and you are rushing to him and giving him milk he may be eating cause you are putting it out there for him, give him a min, sometimes they just wake and will fall back asleep. I hope you can return to you land of slumber with you, your husband, and own bed soon.

There isn't anything "wrong" with your or your baby. I nursed my 4 year old and my twin sons and often co-slept with them, at least for part of the night, the first few months of their lives. When they were not in bed with my husband and me, they were in a co-sleeper next to my side of the bed. It made life a lot easier for me. When they would wake up, I'd put them on the bed next to me, lie down on my side and nurse them in that position. That way I could go back to sleep and they would just stay in bed until I woke up or, in the case of the twins, until the other baby woke up to nurse. If you have to sit up in a chair to feed them or go to another room, it just means you are that much more awake, that you have to stay awake until the baby is done eating, and it takes you that much longer to get back to sleep once you are done. Some babies sleep through the night at an early age, and some take longer. If you feel that you can't function or produce enough milk or your health (mental or physical) is suffering from the lack of sleep, maybe a night nurse can help you out. In my experience with all three of my kids, solid food in their diet did not affect how long they slept at night. Your baby might not really be hungry at night, he may just want to be comforted and to suck. You can try just rocking him for a while to see if that will help to meet his needs.

Try giving him a little formula. You can either pump and mix 2oz of breast milk w/2oz of formula, or nurse and then give him 2oz of formula after.

Neither of my kids slept through the night until they were almost 2 years old, some kids are just different. We cosleep and nurse as well. My husband sleeps in the bed too, however. My 4yo got her own bed last summer and loves it. I think it's pretty normal for a breastfed 4 month old to wake up every couple hours. You could try feeding on both breasts each time to make her tummy a little fuller. When she's a little older, you could have your husband put her down to sleep after nursing. I find that my kids sleep more soundly when they are put down by my husband, but I think that's more for 8-9 months and older when their stomachs can hold more milk at night. Not sure if that helps, I know it's hard to lose sleep! My 18 month old was waking every two hours in the last month or so, I'm sure he was teething, so we'd give him motrin before bed and my husband started comforting him at night instead of me nursing him. I've been sleeping on the couch for a bit to get him used to it. At any rate, don't know if that helps, but you're not alone! I know it seems like everyone's babies sleep through the night, but that's just not true. There's a great book called The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley that has great ideas for getting babies to sleep well. It really worked for my daughter and now we're using the techniques for my son. Good luck!

Many babies need to eat through the night or just nurse for comfort. You were smart to bring him in your bed. You'll lose less sleep that way. Breastmilk is digested quickly and that's the way it was meant to be. These months will pass very soon. I wouldn't try to hurry your son. Don't worry about what other people say. Do what you know in your heart is best for your son. He is counting on you! I don't know why parents of babies think they have a right to uninterrupted sleep. It's a round-the-clock job! I am so happy you are breastfeeding. What a wonderful gift you are giving to your precious little guy! G. B.