4.5 Month Old Is Waking up Every Hour!!!

hello K. i had a similar problem with one of daughters i could not get her to sleep in her crib for the life of me and like you i was going stir crazy due to a lack of sleep so i put the pack n play by my bed and she slept in that until she was a year and then she went and slept in a double bed with my other daughter who was 6 at that time they are still inseparable they are now 17 and 12
i hope this helps M.

Hi K.,

Sounds like someone is teething! My pediatrician recommended giving the appropriate dose of Tylenol the first time the baby wakes up. Then the next time the baby wakes up, you can put on the oral numbing agents, such as Baby Orajel. From then on, hopefully he will sleep, but will need some soothing to drift back off after the meds. My baby likes something soft next to his cheek, the pacifier and his back lightly rubbed before he drifts off to lala land. Good luck - it does get better!

Dear K.,

I hate to say it but i think you are going to have to let him cry it out a little and teach himself how to put himself to sleep. Work with your daycare and have them do it as well.
I own a daycare and i always let the parents know that we will sleep train if they want us to. We will always put a baby to sleep awake and even if they begin fussing we will rub their forehead for a minute or two walk away, let them cry a little come back and just gently rub their forehead until they put themselves to sleep. You should try this on a Friday night and do it at naps as well for an entire weekend. Just put him in bed awake and say night night and walk away. Come back and check every five minutes do not talk, do not pick him up just touch him gently so he knows you are there and leave the room. It will break your heart but I can guarantee you by the fourth night he will be sleeping through the night. Self soothing is a gift that we can give to our children to rely on themselves for comfort. I did it with my kids (now 24 & 19) and they did fine. I have done this along with the moms at my daycare and they are now happy to be sleeping. You and your daycare caregiver have to be on the same page otherwise you will be wasting your time if you are not consistent. I know it is hard but it does work. Good luck!!

Ahh! I know exactly what you are going through. The same scenario happened with my son- sleeping in the swing 10-12 hours a night. Once he went into the crib at 4 months, it was as if I had a newborn again- waking up every hour! Don't put him back in the swing. I walked in one morning to my son crying- he was hanging upside down. The whole lower half of his body was out of the swing. Thank God he was strapped in- he twisted himself around. He wasn't hurt, but needless to say I ended the sleeping in the swing. What worked for us was letting him cry it out. I know it really stinks but after a 6 nights he was sleeping 8-10 hours. I would put him to sleep and when he woke up go in and comfort him. Each time I would wait a longer period of time before going in to him- I would stand by the door and peek in though. He screamed for an hour one time! The crying did decrease each night and he was sleeping longer stretches of time. I hope you find something that works for you! Good Luck:)

Hi K.,
You are going through what my husband and I went through about a year ago with our little boy. He lulled us into a false sense of security by sleeping through the night starting at two months, then at four kept waking up in the night. We too had him in the swing to sleep (he wouldn't sleep anywhere else unless we were holding him- so I totally understand.) So what we did was brought in a chair by his crib and one of us would sit with him until he fell asleep and when he would wake up we would go back in and sit, rub his back, whatever. He eventually learned that we would not pick him up, but we were there to soothe him. It didn't take long before he was sleeping through the night again, unless he was sick or teething, or something new was going on. The sleep deprivation is tough, just remember it won't last forever and your son isn't doing it to drive you crazy. Try to take turns with your husband so that you both aren't totally exhausted. Also, have you checked the temperature of the room? Maybe he is too cold or too hot. Just some thoughts, hope they help.

I can't say I've had the same exact experience as you, but similar. My 2 year old daughter really dislikes change. Anytime I've changed where she sleeps it takes her a long time to get used to it. I would say try putting together a really strong routine that you are religious about keeping (eating at 6pm, warm bath, sing the same song like Twinkle Twinkle 5 times, and a little baby massage you can pick up a book at your library, and if you have a special teddy bear that he seems to really like snuggling with that). I've found that it's just a matter of time and trying to keep everything else to her liking that gets her back on track. Good luck! You'll look back & laugh 3 years from now (or give him a hard time when he's a teen)!

K.,
From what you describe about not settling down until you co-sleep, it sounds not like a food issue, but a closeness or warmth issue. Is the house too chilly? My DS co-slept until it got warm. Then he was only too happy to have his own space. The last week it has gone down to 30's and 40's out where we are (a change from 60's a couple of weeks ago).

He would go back to sleep, but be up in an hour. Or less.

We keep our home at 70 (used to keep it at 60, but there's no way he's going to get bundled that much!), but closer to the floor I'm willing to bet it is 64 or so.

Good Luck finding what works!
M.

He may be over-tired. (As are you, poor mama!) I would put him to bed very early (around 6:00), and ask his daycare provider to add in a 3rd nap. The earlier he goes to bed, and the more he naps, the better he'll actually sleep at night! Also, don't go get him if he's just a little fussy. I only get my son if he's crying hard, and often he'll just fuss a bit and then go back to sleep for a long time. The best thing you can do is teach your little guy to go back to sleep on his own! A little fussing or complaining is ok, and may be all he needs to work through this. Consider getting rid of the pacifier at some point, too. It's just another thing YOU have to do to help him sleep...

My daughter went through the same thing at about the same age. She was exclusively breastfed and I started giving her cereal at night and a bottle of formula instead of breastmilk before bed. After about a week that started to help. I've also read that when babies are learning something new, their sleep patterns often change. They go back to normal once the skill is acquired. I think this happened when my daughter learned to roll over. If that's the case, there's nothing you can do but wait it out. I thought I was going to lose my mind from sleep deprivation but she is back to only waking once during the night now. Hopefully the same will happen to you. Oh, and don't feel like you are judged about him sleeping in the swing. If you watch the "Happiest Baby on the Block" DVD, the doctor recommends using a swing to get your baby to sleep!

Hi K.:

I remeber bringing my daughter home and she would sleep from 7pm-7am. I also remeber how that quickly changed at 1 1/2 months. At that point, she would only sleep for long periods of time in her car seat. It was then that I realized she rested better when her head was slightly elevated. I purchased a slanted crib pillow which went under the mattress. After this, she began resting at night at 8-12 hour spans again.

I hope this was helpful.

Hi K.
All children develop differently.
None of my 4 children slept all night ever.
I know it is nice to be able to say "oh yes he sleeps through the night" and it seems like that is the way to being a good mother. Make sure your children get their 12 hours of sleep.
Let me just tell you my story.
Our oldest slept the best of any. He slept all night. I put him into the crib at about 10 and he was up by 4 or 5. Never napped. I thought I was going to fall over dead from exhaustion. I didn't. Aong comes our second son. By 5 months he was climbing out of the crib. Climbing into bed with his big brother, now about 5. We accused his brother for getting him out. He was punished for doing it and often for lying because he said he hadn't. About the time he turned 6 months we sat at the top of the stairs and waited to see what was really happening. When our 6 month old son shimmied up one side of the crib and down the other, crawling over to his brother and climbing up into the twin bed. He at that point stopped napping and learned to walk. So by 7 months he could walk everywhere. By 2, he was not napping and sleeping from 10 - 12 and that is the way it stayed from then til now. Oh he learned to stay in bed and play cars about age 3, read about age 6years.
The twins came along when they were 19 and 14 years old and I thought I had all this experience. One of the twins would have been a pretty good sleeper but her sister woke her, so I put them in separate cribs on opposite sides of the room. So she would throw stuffed animals at her to wake her. Soon they couldn't sleep with toys. Nothing to cuddle because she was a good aim.
Now the twins are 18, and one sleeps, one gets about 4 ours of sleep. Our first sleeps 8=10 hours a night. Our younger son according to his wife is wonderful he is up anyway so he cares for their new baby, but she says he still only requires 2-3 hours of sleep. He says he gets alot done in a day because he doesn't require the sleep of others.
What am I trying to say. Enjoy your little one. They grow up fast and who cares that some mothers out there are saying their children sleep all night. It is not a rite of passage. Some children just need more sleep than others.
God bless you
Hope you enjoyed my story and it gives you some kind of courage that all can be well even though they are not sleeping like others.
K. SAHM married 38 years guys are 37 entrepreneur who loves to put together proposals for fund raising, 32 lawyer who writes contracts for the US gov. He and his lovely wife made us grandparents this summer. Twins 18 are in college after homeschooling. One for art, the other for journalism. I am learning to be an empty nesting grandma.

Hi K.,
Try swaddling him. Babies often find this very comforting and it will sometimes help them sleep more deeply. Hope this helps!

You may want to try the amby hammock - sounds like your little guy is a bit of motion junkie. :) My daughter was the same way and this thing was incredibly helpful.

http://www.ambybaby.com/

That's fairly normal, but if you keep going in and patting him and giving him back the pacifier, he's going to need that to put himself back to sleep each time. All of us get up throughout the night but as adults (or kids who sleep well), we just roll over and continue sleeping. It sounds like your baby now "needs" to have patting and pacifiers to get him back to sleep. You need to let him soothe himself back to sleep and as much as you probably don't want to hear it.... just let him cry a little.... Within a day, he'll be sleeping through the night...

you mention the pacifier,

he might be waking because its falling out.

I would try putting him in a bassinette next to your bed,
don't lift him out. and don't talk,
use the same blanket in his crib every night, and when he wakes up, take the soft blanket , put it in his hand and let him feel it , then rub it on his face.
DO NOT TALK.
Don't pick him up, this will just stimulate him.

using a blanket is better than a pacifier, because it never has to get taken away, can go anywhere, and he can self soothe at an early age.

talkin and picking him up, this stimulates him.
you want him to fall back asleep.so soothe him quietly.

this always worked for my 3 sons.

M

He could have acid reflux? or gas?
My daughter slept great in her swing..nowhere else..
something I've heard, if you son sleeps good in the carseat is to put the sleeping baby in his carseat and put the carseat in his crib..so he's happy in his seat and getting used to the crib environment..
good luck!!

one thing i have learnt from my 28 month old is sleeping habits change frequently.
from 6 weeks on my son was sleeping 12 hours a night.
he hit about 6 months and hardly ended up sleeping at all he was teething at this time. then at about 8 months he was back to 12 hours. when he hit a year none of us slept for about a month. the only thing that helped was bringing him to our bed. he was in our bed for about 2 months b/c we were desperate and this was the only way he would sleep. we tried putting him back in his crib after those 2 month and it took almost 2 months to get him to stay in his crib. (sort of like preg. weight. 9 months to put on 9 months to take off) i find this rule applies to our kids. try not to give in or give up.try letting him cry it out. the more u go to him the more he will react.they dont grow out of that either. they thrive off of ur reaction. so if u sort of "ignore" it and let him cry himself back to sleep, each will get easier. it might take a while but sacrafice sleep now and develop a better sleep pattern for all of you. when my son turnede 2 and climbed out of his crib we put him into his big boys bed. for the first week he would cry, scream run in and out. i just ignored everything he did, showed no reaction and would just keep placing him back in his bed. after just one week he caught on to the fact that i wasnt going to feed into his demands. and thats all it took 1 week! he sleeps perfectly in his bed and doesnt come out without calling for me in the morning! some people may say im a lil coldhearted but im not. this works.you have plenty of other time to cuddle and bond with your children, but when u need to accomplish something, u need to be a lil strict and repition works! im currently pregnant with my second boy and will do the same thing with him. ur son was soothed all this time in his swing so itll take a while to get use to a new sleep enviorment. the one thing i was taught was to let babies fall asleep on there own from day one in crib/bassinet.no rocking in a chair or swing, or lulling them. let them learn right from the start to put themselves to sleep. however there were many nights i put him in the swing also, b/c i was desperate for sleep. but everytime i did this it was like 1 step foward but 2 steps back. i wish u luck. ur certainly not alone. be strong and put on ur game face!! let me know how u make out and remember it might take some time!!! dont give up!

Hi K.,

I had THE SAME problem!! As i was reading this i felt like it was my post!! My son was sleeping great and then at 4 months the every hour waking would start. Our culprit was the pacifier. It would fall out and i would have to put it back all night.

Just as he was going to turn 5 months, i decided to go cold turkey and get rid of the pacifier and let him cry it out. It took a few nights, but by night 5 he was sleeping from 9pm to 7am!!!
He also napped in the swing and slept beautifully there, but I waited before i took that challenge on, but when we did i let him cry a little at nap times also, and now he naps in the crib! I bought Ferber's book b/c it teaches you how to let him cry it out without leaving him for hours! (i know a lot of people dont like him so please, no critizism)

Good luck! Feel free to email me!!

K.

Try to think about what changes might have occured in the past few weeks, even subtle ones.

If it is teething, I highly reccomend teething tablets. Target and CVS sells them now. They are homeopathic, docs don't believe in them but don't condemn them either. Trust me- it's a LIFE SAVER. Not only did it drastically reduce my baby's pain and discomfort, it has some chamomile which helps them get and stay asleep. He could also have acidity in his tummy, try GRIPE WATER, also a product that Target sells now. Also homeopathec. And equal response from the docs. Basically, that one calms any stomach upsets that they might have- even if it's as mild as hiccups. I only use the above as needed, but man are they a must have!

If he's a little one, maybe try swaddling him again? He might enjoy the tightness and feel more secure that way. Also, First Years makes a device that you put under his mattress that will vibrate it (remote controlled). I guess that might help him if it's that he got used to the motion of the swing.

I promise you that if you try the above (to eliminate possibility of discomfort and increase his comfort) that he WILL adjust. Do not give into the temptation to cut corners just to get some sleep. I know it's easier said then done, I'm also a FT working mom, but it pays in the long run. My baby is now 1 year old and has gone through her bouts of giving me a hard time (slash NIGHTMARE) but I stuck with it and now she is Ms. Independent about going to sleep and even comforting herself to go back to sleep. We went from times where it literally took an hour to put her down to now it takes under a minute. There is hope, good luck! -N