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View Full Version : Help! Desperately need sleep! 4MO waking every hour!



Narry
04-28-2004, 05:39 PM
Hi! I have a 4.5 month old, and his sleep has gotten from bad to worse. When he was a newborn, he would nurse, and I would burp him, sometimes change his diaper, and I could put him down, and he would sleep just fine. Within the past 3 weeks or so, his sleep has gone down hill.

About 2 weeks ago, I was trying to teach him to fall asleep on his own by putting him down in his crib sleepy, and patting and reassuring him to sleep, and that was going pretty well. He would whine and/or cry for a little while but managed to fall asleep eventually. He actually fell asleep completely on his own for a while. But after his 4 month checkup & shots a week ago, and after a few days visiting my parents house at the same time, his sleep has gone from bad to worse.

The past few days have been the absolute worst. On Monday night (my birthday, of all days) he went to bed at 8pm, and woke up at 10pm, 12am, 2am, 3am, 4am, and was up for the day at 5am. Last night he woke up every hour. No joke. I even tried putting him to bed earlier (since he was obviously tired) and that resulted in him waking at 4am. ARG!! And the only way he will fall back asleep is if he is nursing. I can pull him off when he is just falling asleep, and stick a pacifier in his mouth, but that’s the only way he will take a pacifier. If I try anything else to get him to fall asleep, even holding him in my arms, he will cry and scream bloody murder. I tried sleeping in another room, thinking that maybe he can smell me when he wakes, but that doesn’t make a difference.

I am at wit’s end. They don’t recommend the Ferber method until 6 months (which I never thought I would do, but I am desperate). Do I just continue to nurse him to sleep at all hours of the night? Will that just support an already bad habit? Or is he possible going through something and I just need to follow his cues? I don’t feel any teeth coming in, but he is drooling a lot.

Does anyone have any suggestions at all? I am desperate for a half-way decent night’s sleep.

Thanks in advance,
Narry
Proud and happy (but extremely sleep deprived) mom to Parker, born Dec 17, 2003

redhookmom
04-28-2004, 07:24 PM
Narry,

I feel desperate for you and unfortunely don't have any magic answers. It souunds like your little guy needs you to fall back to sleep.


A couple of thoughts:

Is co-sleeping an option? It is of course a long term commitment but just a thought.

My babies did the same for a while. I instituted the 100 count rule. (My own rule) I would count to 100 slowly before going into their rooms. Often they would go back to sleep within that time.

Sending magic sleep dust your way...

Narry
04-29-2004, 02:22 PM
Hi Jessica!

Thanks for your response and the magic sleep dust! Parker and I certainly need some! :)

I'm doing a version of co-sleeping, we are sleeping in the same room (the nursery), with him across the room from me (which isn't that far, it's a small room). I am going to start "side car" his crib to my bed from now on so that I don't actually have to get up to nurse him. I am trying to do the side lying position for nursing, but I have troubles with it since i have to hold him up on his side, and when he falls back on his back, he starts crying again.

When you did the 100 count rule, were they just awake, or were they crying? I make it a point to not go to Parker immediately when he wakes up, I wait until he is crying or almost crying. That sounds like a good idea.

It's so frustrating knowing that just about a week ago or so, he would fall asleep with his pacifier and a light swaddle and maybe a bit of reassurance, and now he will have none of that.

Thanks again!!
Narry
Proud & happy mom of Parker, born Dec 17, 2003

NewMom1212
05-04-2004, 01:12 AM
I am also the mom of a 4 month old - born on Dec 12. Your baby can fall asleep on his own - please don't start co-sleeping now. He is old enough for the Ferber method. It is hard (we are still working on our naps with this method) but you can do it. You both will be so much happier when you are BOTH sleeping through the night again. Also, if you don't have him on a schedule during the day, it would help to put him on one now. Babywise is a great resource for how to put your baby on a schedule. They say to start it with your newborn, which I disagree with. But by three months, Daniel was ready and very accepting of his new routine. It's pretty rigid, but he is triving on it and it helps him cope with things like visitors and travel. Read both books and start ASAP. I wish you the best of luck - feel free to email me privately for help or encouragement:)

Jennifer

indigo
10-27-2004, 01:46 AM
Looks like this is an old post, but just thought I woud mention this... I am on another moms' forum where quite a few people have mentioned that the author of Babywise is NOT a doctor and in fact a number of the recommendations in the book are actually unsafe: (quoting below, I have not actually read BBwise):

>>
I hate to directly contradict a post put out by another Mom, so apologies, but this is one I feel very strongly about. This Mom must have adopted Ezzo's Babywise philosophies to meet her babies' needs in a healthy way. However, I do feel the need to point out that anyone considering reading "Babywise" by Ezzo should first be aware that this book is highly controversial because the strict feeding schedules endorsed have been linked to failure to thrive and dehydration in infants.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the author's original publisher, and many others (even in the fundamentalist Christian community that first endorsed Ezzo) have extensively publicized their concerns. There are even 'anti-Ezzo" websites out there...I'm unaware of this type of controversy surrounding any of the other popular baby book authors. A "babywise" and "ezzo" search on google will be illuminating, and a good summary post is this one: http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/9108.html.

I think we as Moms have to remember that babies spent 9 months inside of us eating and sleeping when they wanted, and the process of adjustment to the outside world can take a long time. It is disheartening to know that we will lose sleep, but the predominant current thinking is that babies need to be fed on-demand through 6 months of age. (This means nighttime feedings)."

Just a thought....



indigo
DD 7/03
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