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  1. #1
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    Default Nighttime sleep problem

    My 4 mo old DD wakes every 2-3 hours at night. A typical night for us is bedtime for my 5 y/o at 7:30 or 8. Bedtime for her 15-20 after that. Then she wakes at 11:30, 2:30, and 4:30. I then have to be up at 5 to get ready for work. She is BF at night and bottle fed pumped milk at day care during the day. Between working and taking care her both kids I'm exhausted and at my wits end. I hear so many stories about kids her age sleeping 6-8 hour stretches and our current schedule makes me want to cry. Any suggestions as to how to get her to sleep even just a little longer? Thanks.


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  2. #2
    Philly Mom is online now Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    Sorry to say this but age. She is still very young. There just isn't a lot you can do. You can try not going in at first sound of fussiness to see if she calms down on her own. A four month old will often just wake more. I will say that when both my kids were 4 months to 1 year, they needed to be in bed by 7. Bath at 6:30/6:45. Anything later and it was not great. At 1, their bedtime naturally moved later. The 7-11 was my long stretch with DD2 and I tried to sleep part of it too.


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  3. #3
    SnuggleBuggles is online now Black Diamond level (25,000+ posts)
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    One of my kiddos slept fabulously from 7 weeks to 6 months. Then he sucked at sleeping until he was 18 months old. Like 1 in a million never endure the normal infant wake ups. It's really just par for the course. It's all about finding the tools that keep you save while understand that the little one is still going to wake up a bunch.


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  4. #4
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    Time is really all that helps. No sleep book or training in the world really helps. Totally normal at that age. Sleep ebbs and flows, they can start sleeping for a stretch and then have the every 2 hour wake up. Growth spurts and developmental things are really happening during this phase and I do remember that we thought we were off easy as ours slept longer stretches at first, but then went to the every couple hours waking, nursing, back to sleep. It is hard, do the best you can and if you can go to bed early and squeeze out any extra sleep time for you after you get the kids down. Even if dishes are in the sink and stuff needs to get done, leave it for your husband and go sleep if you can. My friends who went back to work, also said theirs nursed and nursed at night and they thought they are catching up on mom and nursing time. Though I was at home all day and my three still woke up during that time frame 3 or 4 to 6-7 months to nurse and then sleep. I would try and sleep when they did during the day too, not an option at work I know. You have my sympathy, the sleep deprivation is the worst. It will get better though.


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  5. #5
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    That’s completely age appropriate. Many infants do not sleep through the night. Eventually she will. It’s hard for mama though.


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  6. #6
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    I can say it’s totally age appropriate and suggest you go to bed same time as the oldest go to sleep too. It’s tempting to stay awake till your “normal” bedtime to catch up on the house, me time, watch tv but get some sleep as it is just a phase now. Hang in there momma.


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  7. #7
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    Thanks for the advice and commiseration.

    My DH has been pushing to add cereal at night to help DD sleep longer. I am currently breast feeding so that would mean changing to a bottle at night which I am reluctant to do. I have also heard you should not do that before 6mo. I am going to discuss with the pediatrician at the next visit, but does anyone have any recs about this?


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  8. #8
    SnuggleBuggles is online now Black Diamond level (25,000+ posts)
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    One shouldn't add cereal to a bottle from what I remember- it's a choking hazard. You could do it separately with a spoon. But, it didn't help us at all with ds1. Ddidn't try with ds2.

  9. #9
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    essnce629 is online now Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    4 months old is REALLY young! Maybe some 4 month olds sleep longer but I'd say most wake every 2-4 hours to eat. Mine definitely did. Breast milk is so easily digested and breastfed babies naturally sleep less deep (which is actually safer) so they wake up more.



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  10. #10
    BDKmom is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    My DD didn't sleep longer stretches until she was 8 or 9 mos old. I spent a lot of time wondering what I was doing wrong since my DS started sleeping through the night regularly at 12 weeks. What I eventually figured out is just because some babies sleep longer stretches at that age, not all can/will. As a pp mentioned, you can try waiting longer intervals to go in to her and see if she might start self-soothing back to sleep, but my DD always just got more worked up the longer I waited. I just tried to get in there as quickly as possible and nurse her and she would usually fall back asleep pretty quickly if she hadn't gotten too worked up. I also know that some WOH moms report reverse cycling where the baby eats less and sleeps more during the day and then eats and is up more during the night to be with mom.

    I think I remember reading that it's a myth that cereal fills them up more and helps them sleep better, because cereal has far fewer calories than breast milk or formula. I would just make sure she's nursing well right before you put her down for the night. And I agree with others that she might be ready for an earlier bedtime. You might get to where you need to put the baby down first and then your older child.

    It's a struggle for sure to still be dealing with sleep deprivation for this long. I hope you can find a way to get more sleep one way or another.
    DS - Feb 2010
    DD - May 2012

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