My second son is 3 1/2 months old. He was sleeping through the night for many weeks and now all of the sudden he is up every 3 hours through the night again or at least up at 3 or 4 am. I want him to sleep through the night again! Help!
Google 'wonder weeks', it explains a lot! I have a 4mo. old and she does the same thing.
Good luck!
Growth spurt! Feed him and ride it out... He will sleep again. I know, tough to do, but he will. Good luck!
Sounds like a growth spurt and he's waking up because he's hungry Mom. Be flexible. What we want and what we get are three different things. This time in his life and yours is so short in the big picture of things. Get up with him, feed him, rock him back to sleep and catch your next 'nap' until your oldest wakes up along with Dad. You're teaching this baby that he can depend on you to be there for him and that's a good thing. Pretty soon he'll be opening the refrigerator door to get his own milk or grabbing a carton of yougurt. Take good care and enjoy this time, this amazing time of their lives. It goes by all too fast.
I'll bet it's a growth spurt and he's hungry. Feed him, love him, and put him back to sleep. Soon enough he'll be a teenager and you won't be able to get him OUT of bed.
two words - GROWTH SPURT - he's probably hungry, feed him quickly and quietly, change his diaper and he'll be back down before you know it. After a couple of weeks if he's still demanding a wee hours feeding, cut the feeding amount/time until he's weaned off it. I truly used to cherish the wee hours with my second child, I would rock her and just look at her - those months go by so quickly!
I have been told that 3 months is a growth spurt time. Is he hungry, or just waking up? Are you willing to let him cry for a few minutes before soothing him?
Do not feed him at night! The reason so many babies wake at all times during the night to eat is because we train them too. My Ped assured me that babies do not need night feedings after the first 2 weeks of life. I would wait 5 minutes and see if he can comfort himself back to sleep (mine usually did). If 5 minutes passes and he is still fussy than go and comfort him, but do not use food, try to not even pick him up, just touch/rub him and talk or sing softly. The reason so many have to sleep train and night ween is because they teach bad habits early. It sounds like you have taught good sleep habits thus far, so give it a few days and he should go back to sleeping normal.
the vast majority of babies have a sleep shift around 4 mo. i would be happy your baby has slept so well thus far and be even more thankful that waking up once or twice per night is what you consider a "bad" night. my son shifted at 4 mo. to waking every 2 - 3 hours and that lasted for much of the next year. be thankful.
Wow..you are lucky. I was lucky with my first boy, he started sleeping through the night at 3 months and I never had a problem since. But my 2nd didn't sleep through the night at all till he was going on a year! I agree with Workinmom, he's probably going through a growth spurt or maybe even teething. I would try letting him cry for a few minutes (if you're okay with that) and if that doesn't work, then go in to sooth him. Is he hungry or just upset? If you don't know, try figuring out if he's just upset/hurting (from teething) or if he's really hungry. If he's hungry, then it's just a growth spurt and it will pass with time. If it's teething, and you want something to sooth him other than Tylenol, Hyland's makes homeopathic teething tablets. They're awesome! I love them and so does my 6m.o.! Wish I would've had them for my two older boys!
Hope this helps! Good luck! :)
Dear sleepless mom~
i can totally relate! my second son, who is now 7, used to wake up at 4:30am every morning from 7 months til he was 1 1/2 yrs old. I use to dread it, but i thought, hey, he's been waking up every 2 hrs to breastfeed any way. Well, psychologically that is the way I handled it.
What is his diet like? What I tried to do was to make sure he had just enough of a full belly before heading to bed. maybe 3 to 4 oz. of rice dream or formula or ??
good luck ;-)
would love to hear about the progress!!
~L.
Whoa, that he was sleeping through the night for many weeks in itself is a miracle at 3 and a half months! Most babies don't even do that until they're about 6 months at best! In any case, put it down to a growth spurt or developmental milestone. Within the first year babies tend to wake in the night periodically looking for more food or when they start to crawl, sit up, etc. They go through growth spurts at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. And that's when they'll be looking for more food. If he is going through a growth spurt, it won't last for more than a month. Another reason is teething. My first son started teething around that age. Doctors and sleep books will say that teething doesn't cause wakefulness, but they haven't met my kids!! In fact, most parents I know will tell you that teething causes sleep disturbances... Anyway, ride it out, I'm sure he'll go back to sleeping through the night again soon! Just be thankful that he was doing it so early!
S. - That's normal. Actually, it's not normal for a 3 1/2 month old to sleep through the night, so you've had it good, and now you need to get used to getting up again!
My third daughter started sleeping through the night at about 6 weeks old and I was the envy of every mother I spoke to. But then at about 8 months she started waking up to nurse and did until she was just over a year old. You just have to roll with the schedule changes . . . blessings on that!
I'm going to say growth spurt. I notice it in my son every few months, and that's usually what it is.If it lasts more than a week, it might be something more.
