4 Month Old Sleep Problems

hi,
my kids are older now.. this might sound weird.. but when my kids were really little and having a hard time going to sleep.. i was at my wits end.. especially if they had a cold... I would put the infant car seat on the floor by the bed, buckle baby in.. turn on soft music sit and rock the car seat a little bit.. and she would fall asleep great.. I know for me as an adult when I had bad acid reflux lying flat really bothered me. (just make sure if you have a dog or other animals to make sure they can not get to the car seat) I would put our dog downstairs.. just b/c u never know the nicest dog can do wierd things)
Best of luck,

lenc
I see in your note you are a mortgage broker so is my husband.. :) I bet you are super busy right now.. LOL it is 11:30 pm and my husband is still at work.
Lenc

My sister went through the exact same thing with my older niece. She had reflux and rarely slept. My sister was also extremely hesitant with the meds, but came to the same realization that you did and put her on them. As for sleeping, she forced herself to be on a very precise schedule and implement routine into everything. Trust me, this was an extremely difficult task for my sister, as she's never had a schedule in her life, but she did it and though my niece still slept less than the average baby/child, it helped to get her to sleep and keep her sleeping as long as possible.

Our mother was never scheduled with us, so it was really hard for both of us to get on a schedule and do routines as we became mother's, and though my kids aren't as particular as my niece, it's helped us with our bedtimes and other things as well. I wish our mother was better about it with us, so it wouldn't be such a struggle, and so I realize how important it is to do for my boys, no matter how much I really struggle with it.

I that helps and I hope you get some other good advice here.

Best of luck to you! :o)

This sounds pretty normal to me. Some babies just have a harder time falling asleep and need to be rocked. My best friend's child took 10 minutes naps around this age, so 45 minutes seems pretty good to some (he's 12 months now and take 2-3 one hour naps). I think it's too early to teach self-soothing methods and she may just need some extra help falling asleep for a while. It's only a few more months (it will pass by quickly) and you can start teaching her to fall asleep on her own. I know this isn't much advice, but I think she's in the normal rhelm and you're doing just fine. Good luck!

I had a similiar issue when my baby was 4 months or so. He had previously slept pretty good at night - we co-slept. Then he stopped sleeping through the night and I believe that he was an early teether which was a part of it. At 5 months, we decided to try the crib. I was surprised that he slept in it and through most the night (at least 5 hours at a strech, give or take). If he was really fussy and couldn't go to sleep by my husband walking him, we would give in infant Tylenol drops or baby Orajel sparingly and it helped. Then, he started to wake up after my husband put him in his crib and it could take 2 1/2 hours of this for him to finally go to sleep. We have a similiar nighttime schedule as you described, not too strict, but try for the same routine each night. I finally decided that since he was crying anyway for a long time, we would try the modified cry it out method which we were strongly against from the beginning. We would put him down when he was drowsy or asleep. He usually starts to cry. We give it 5 min. or so and pick him up and comfort him. He cries again when we put him back down. We wait 5-10 min., depending on how hard he is crying. Sometimes we don't have to go in again, other times we have to do it a few more times. Generally, it is far less time and crying than it was before. "They" say that babies don't know how to self-soothe until about 6 months, i.e. put themselves to sleep, but I've heard of other babies who can do what ours did when they were 5 months old or younger. I hope this helps in some way. Also, I started nursing my baby more during the day by offering both breasts each time since he had been nursing more at night than during the day! Good luck!

Hi M.,
After reading through some of the advice I really like the idea of the naturopath meds. I am a single mother of twins and they both had GERD. Both were on Zantac for a time but like you I really didn't like giving it to them. At the time I didn't even think about homeopathic remedies. (I was too tired and had baby brain). What worked for me was a combo of the meds, a strict routine (which I couldn't have lived without with twins) and putting them to bed up-right. I used the bed wedge, boppies and car seats at night depending on what seemed to be working better at that moment. Luckily both of them got better over time - but it was difficult while it lasted. I think they were at their worst during month four or five. Whether they got better or my methods for soothing did I do not know. Good luck and let us know how you fair.

Cheers,

My nephew had severe GERD and was on medication. My sister started him on special probiotics and he was able to go completely of his medication. Maybe something to ask a naturopath about.

My daughter also had GERD, so I can tell you what worked for us. First, they switched her from Zantac to Prevacid, this made a big difference! But, around the same time frame you are in, the only thing that helped with sleeping was keeping her nearly sitting up. The hospital we worked with (Seattle Childrens) sent us to an "occupational therapist" who provided us with a foam sleeping wedge. This was a bit odd at first as you strap them in with velcro straps, but it was amazing how much longer and better she slept!

A "bouncer chair" or the car seat would work in a similar way...in fact, I frequently put her still sleeping in her car seat in to her crib when she was small. I also used her bouncy chair for naps more than the wedge at that age.

Good luck, and feel free to message me separately if you need more info :) By the way, she is nearly three now, and doing great, although a picky eater LOL!

K.

I know you asked about sleeping, but it's all related. Please go see my pediatrician Dr. Kate Wiggin ###-###-####. When all else failed, we went to her & she helped our baby get over GERD, no medication. She's amazing & will help you find an alternative to giving your baby the GERD medication. And I bet the sleep problem will subside too.

Hi M.
When my son was 4 months we called him "cat napper" because he would sleep in such short intervals and always wanted to be with me nursing. Developing a schedule at 4 months is not the easiest thing to do but I think that now is a great time to start thinking about it and trying things to see what will start working. We found that around 5-6 months he really responded well to a schedule. One thing is that you might want to try putting her down earlier in the evening (like 6:30-7:30). And if she wakes up shortly thereafter, try nursing her again and she may go to sleep the second time around. I think this is a challenging age for sleep because they start becoming aware of your presence but they are not quite old enough to be an independent self-soother. Maybe just knowing keeping this in mind will get you throug the next month or two and then you will see her respond so much better to routines and self-soothing. Good luck M. i know it can be trying!

I have a friend who's baby had GERD. This is a challenge for all of you and painful for your daughter. You must stay on schedule with her medication for starters. The reason she likes to be held is the warm of your body helps with the stomach pains. That and she needs to sleep sitting up. So, if you have a large car seat that you can put in her bassinett or crib, or if you're comfortable with the seat sitting on the floor with her in it... when you get her to sleep after nursing and burping, put her in the car seat or baby seat to sleep, strap her in, cover her. If you can find a baby hot water bottle, place this next to her stomach or use one of those little warming patches to provide a source of warmth for her stomach. (Don't place t his on her skin, put it over her clothes, the heat would be too hot for skin contact for a baby.) Sleeping in an upright or slight recline position will help with the GERD immensely. Talk with your doctor as well before you change her diet. Watch what you eat, as some foods are known to cause discomfort to breastfed babies, (spicy foods, foods that would cause you gas like cauliflower, broccoli, onions, beans and even some fruits). I wish you all well and hope that the GERD is resolved really soon!!!

I have 2 boys. This is what worked for us:

I would put them to bed in their crib, awake, at the same time every night. (For us that was 8 pm) Then I would walk away. If they started to fuss I would set a timer for 5 minutes. If, after 5, they were still crying I would go in and comfort them without removing them from bed or feeding them. I would just rub their tummy and sing or talk softly until they were calm. Then I would leave again. If they started fussing I would put another 5 minutes on the timer and repeat. I never had to go in more then once. This also works at night. When they would wake in the middle of the night I would wait 5 minutes before going in, and most times they went back to sleep on their own. I did not have to night nurse once they were about 1 month old.

Both my kids had GERD and my DD was put on Zantac and then Prevacid. Prevacid worked better, but I didn't like giving it to her. She was still having problems at 2 and I took her to a naturopath and they put her on a probiotic. She nursed every 2 hours all day and night and only took about 2 oz at a time. Once we started the probiotic, she was able to go a little longer between feedings.

When my son was born, he quickly showed signs of GERD as well. The naturopath put him on the probiotic right away and it improved hugely. I fingerfed powdered Bifidus to him and he just licked it off of my finger. We started with 1/4 tsp and worked up to half.

Both of my kids still get 1/2 tsp per day, regardless.

Check with a Naturopath if you want to try to get away from the prescription meds. I saw huge improvement with my daughter with the natural medicine vs the prescription.

Good luck,
D.