Getting a 4.5 Month Old to Sleep Through the Night

Hi N.,
First of all, be sure she is getting enought to eat during the day. Be sure to record how many ounces it is if you are bottle feeding.
Secondly, do not feed her between meals. Feeding should be every four hours at this age. Even if you need to carry her around for the last half hour. This way, she will be very hungry when she does eat, and will fill up and get enough to hold her over till the next feeding.
At night, try getting up and giving her a pacifier rather than a feeding. Pat her untill she goes to sleep. Alternatively, you definitely can let her cry it out, starting with the middle of the night feeding. It only takes three days to change a baby's habits and schedule. Babies as well as adults benefit greatly from a regular schedule.
Once she gets a good 6 hour stretch down pat, you can tackle the next feeding you wish to eliminate. Some families like to give a "power feeding" before they go to bed, even though it hasn't been four hours. i.e. if she ate at 8pm, you could try feeding her again just before you retire, i.e. 10pm. I have been involved in Baby Nursing for the past 14 years, and have run a nanny service for the past 24 years, and there are consultants who can either come over for a couple of hours and advise you or even do it over the phone. Alternatively, you could hire a baby nurse to come at night for one week, and she could train the baby within that time. The Baby Nurses have lots of "tricks" they use to gently ease the baby into sleeping 7 pm to 7 am, usually by 7-8 weeks. Once the baby has doubled in birthweight, she is ready to start sleeping through the night.
The best gift you can give your baby is a well-rested Mom!
Recent research has shown that a Mom who gets 7 hours of sleep uninteruppted will regain her pre-pregnancy weight by the baby's first birthday. Sleep is more important than food.
Also, babies who learn to self-soothe grow in confidence and happiness, and homes and babies on a good schedule are happy, quiet & pleasant & when they get older, they do the best in school academically.

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N.,
She is only 4 months old! She needs to be getting up and eating. Do not let her cry it out, I think that is ridiculous. My children are 2 and 5 and they still get up in the middle of the night. I don't believe in forcing a 4 month old on a schedule.

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I have four well adjusted, loving kids... but were very poor sleepers. I took them back to bed with me and snuggled up. Everyone slept well to face the new day. If you do some historical social research, this is exactly what was done for ages.

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No child is the same. I am not a believer to let a 4.5 mos old cry it out either. They are young, need lot's of cuddling and reassurance not to mention they are so in "need" at that age. My son ate every 4 hours until he was 10 mos old. My daughter didn't sleep through the night until she was 13 mos. Each child has it's own internal clock. Really, be there for her, comfort her, after the 8 mos mark then maybe let her fuss a little longer each time but at 4.5 mos she is still so young and needs mommy/daddy. Until a baby is older there is no way to gage when their tummies are full enough. Hang in there, be patient. I think after a year that is when to not form habits or jump when they cry at night, however she is just an infant and her feeling secure is the best.

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Feed her/him rice cereal before bed. At least then you'll know if he/she is waking because of hunger.
I had wanted to breastfeed solely for as long as possible, but then Doc said that I should start feeding my babygirl solids 'cause her weight was dropping off the curve. The first night I gave her rice cereal with breast milk, she slept all the way through.

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Every baby is different, and you can't expect one to do what the other did. Also, if you let your baby CIO, they think no one is there for them, and they just give up. They don't actually sleep though the night, they wake up as often, they just don't cry out for you because they think no one is there for them, which is not only really sad, but also not the way to teach them this world is a trusting place. Babies rarely slept through the night that young, until we started getting impatient and seeing it as a inconvenience, instead of a time to love and bond with our child. They are only little once, and it won't last forever. Also, don't forget that babies have emotional needs, just like we do. You don't want to ignore those. Their tummies are also very little (the size of their fist), and they don't stretch like ours do, so they empty very quickly.

I helped my son sleep better (1 or 2 hour stretches of sleep at night to 6 or 7), by using very gently methods found in:

The Sleep Book by Dr. Sears
The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantly
Sweet Dreams: A Pediatric's Guide To Your Child's God Night Sleep

Here's a few helpful websites:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070100.asp

Hang in there!

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At 4.5 months I don't believe a baby should be sleeping through the night. You do what you are already doing. Your baby obviously needs comfort and food still through the night.

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