4 Month Old's Sleeping Patterns Are Regressing

If you're a doctoral student, you'll probably enjoy reading up on some research on infant and toddler sleep patterns. No matter how bizarre your child's sleep patterns are, you will be reassured, because it can be all over the map. Some will have very regular sleep patterns, some will consistently wake 3 times a night, some are sleeping 6 hours straight for months and then waking up a lot - it's not unusual or abnormal for them to have very erratic patterns well into toddlerhood, so don't worry too much about what you may need to do differently. Yes, some parents find that they *can* control their baby's sleep pattern to some extent, but for others it's just an exercise in frustration. Children WILL outgrow the need for nursing or comforting at 3am, even if you do NOTHING to discourage it. So I'd recommend to just go with the flow and not try to control things too much, but you do have to find a way to make it work so that everyone in the family gets enough sleep and the child's needs are met. (Mom deserves to sleep, too.)

http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/sleep.html
(Lots of info there, the most interesting is "What is normal when it comes to baby's sleep?")

Both of my kids woke up at least once a night until they were at least 2, although they would need varying degrees of comforting in going back to sleep. But even as an adult, I usually wake up at least once a night and have to get myself back to sleep, so maybe they get that from me.

When my first baby was about 6 months old, I woke up in the middle of the night to nurse him back to sleep, and I was sitting on the edge of my bed to keep myself awake. Well, I was so exhausted I started to crash and I woke up just in time to catch myself from falling to the floor with the baby sliding out of my arms. The next day I got a safety rail for my bed so I could lie down and nurse him and he would be safe even if I fell back asleep. (I NEEDED sleep badly then, and I wasn't about to do the whole "sleep training" thing. I needed to be able to wake up, put the kid next to me, shove a breast in his mouth and fall back to sleep or I would be lying awake for HOURS.)

And as far as the pediatrician telling you what your baby does or doesn't need, with all due respect, he/she is NOT the one having to wake up and deal with the baby at 3am.
If your baby is telling you she needs to nurse or be comforted, do what you need to do to get everyone back to sleep. The pediatrician has no say in how you deal with your baby's nighttime needs unless you approach him/her saying it's a problem.

I heard a similar argument from my pediatrician when my youngest hit about 12 months. (we weren't having any problems, she had just been asking about night waking and how we handled it.) I said, yeah, sometimes he wakes up, but I nurse him back to sleep with no problem. Then she kept insisting "He doesn't NEED to nurse" and "you DON'T need to do that." (The subtext was "so stop doing it"). But notice who has to deal with the crying - not her.
And finally I just said, "Look, this works for my family. If it stops working, I'll research sleep disorders and get the help we need." And that was the end of that.

Good luck!

She may be going through a growth spurt. I disagree with your ped- babies at 4 months should not be sleeping through the night without eating. Some might, but some need that extra snacking. 8 weeks was very early to begin sleeping through the night- I would not consider this regressing but age appropriate behavior.

"Through the night" is considered a 5-hour stretch when an infant is younger than one year. She's not ready to sleep through the night because she still needs to eat. It's easier to keep her in the sidecar and nurse her lying down. Let her nurse back to sleep, and go back to sleep yourself. Breastmilk is digested faster! Also, she's probably hitting her 4-month growth spurt and needs more milk. She will get better, but please don't listen to your ped on this one. Consult kellymom.com for breastfeeding experts.

She may be waking herself up from hitting the sides of the bassinet when she moves. You sounds can also be disturbing. If possible move her into a crib in the next room and use a baby monitor. You may find a sleeper works better than the swaddling as she would feel quite restricted in her movement. That also may be helping to awaken her. V.

A four month sleep regression is unfortunately totally normal. I hate when peds say that a baby should be sleeping through the night at four months. It's just not normal for breastfed babies and the ones that do sleep through the night at this age are a rare blessing. Remember breast milk is digested much faster than formula so baby's tummy empties faster than with formula. Your baby can very well be hungry if she's going through a growth spurt, learning new skills, etc. I also agree with a previous poster that you should not be giving her water at this age. Wait until she's older. Dr. Sears' website has some interesting info. about sleep regressions that you might want to check out.

Just cause your ped says she should be sleeping through the night doesn't mean she is going to. Especially if she is nursing. I have 3 and none of them slept through the night till after a year. My 15month old still nurses at least once a night. Just enjoy them and remember your baby doesn't have to be a textbook baby.
SHe also could be having a growth spurt and babies tend to need more during growth spurts and teething.
It's hard when you are loosing the sleep but your baby will grow up quick enough....... cherish your time.
Best of luck, H.

AND- Do not give you baby water, seriously, not sure who would do that!

My 5 1/2 month old did the same for a brief period of time, but then went back to sleeping through the night. We still swaddle though - and will continue to swaddle. We did the same with our oldest daughter also (now 3). I think we swaddled her until about 8 mos then went to a sleep sack. We also use a sound machine - and still use music for our oldest. I nurse our daughter at about 11 - 1130, kinda to top her off before bedtime and she sleeps fine. So maybe having the "midnight snack" will help her. She is probably in a growing spurt and needs that extra little bit. We have also just began rice cereal, which is earlier than we did with our first, but she was showing a lot of interest in our food, so we felt she was ready. So my suggestion would be to continue to swaddle and add a sound machine if you don't already. Oh and she sleeps in a moses basket in our room too. I'm not ready for her to move to her crib quite yet. Hope this helps. Feel free to write if you have any questions. Our daughters are close in age. Enjoy!

Your pediatrician is misinformed about sleep patterns and breastfed babies. She does still need to eat in the middle of the night. It is perfectly ok for a baby, especially that age, to feed a few times through the night or none. Every baby is different. Night nursings will help to keep your supply up and give her what she needs to keep herself comfortable. My almost 1 1/2 year old still wakes to nurse at night and has only "slept through the night" one time. The swaddling may also be a cause for her inability to stay asleep because she may want to move around more, especially to turn onto her belly which is the natural sleep position for babies. She may require more nursing at night for a short time then resume her sleep patterns. With babies and toddlers it is just a constant changing and adjustment period. Please DO NOT follow the advice to let a four month old cry it out. Also DO NOT offer any bottles of water. This type of information is SOOO harmful to babies and the success of breastfeeding. Babies cry for a reason, because they have no other means of communication and will not until almost two years old. Respond to her needs and nurse her if she asks for it.

Hi E. - research digestive disorders and the role that vaccine reactions play. J

Life is change, and babies are always changing:) Some babies sleep all night, some only a few hours at a time, and some tummies just burn fuel faster. Both my children were quick-burning, breastfed growth machines:) Beyond that, they are night and day:)

You won't start a pattern -- just give her some more fuel for her fire when she needs it, and I totally agree that you should wait until this growth-spurt is over to change up her sleeping pattern. She might need that extra swaddle and Momma cuddle a little longer than your first -- from my experience, my second is a little more "needy" because he has always had to share Mama, where my first had me all to herself for awhile.

Good luck:)

I disagree with the moms below that say breastfed babies can't sleep through the night. My son was exclusively breastfed and slept from 8-8 at 12 weeks and I know many other breastfed babies who did the same. However, 4 months is a very common time for a growth spurt so you may want to either see that she gets more food during the day or nurse her during the night for a week or more when she wants it, but I would go ahead and transition her to the crib b/c there will never be the perfect time. If the waking in the night continues after a few weeks, practice the cry it out method in her crib for the midnight wake up and then for the 4 am wake up once she is not waking at midnight. Although my son slept through the night at 12 weeks he still had disturbances after shots or when teething. 4 months is probably too early to expect some babies to do it though. However, I believe that once babies hit 6 months and are healthy and not underweight you should definitely allow them to cry and not feel guilty but rather that you are doing them a favor by encouraging good sleep habits. Some of these women who say you should nurse them whenever they want it for as long as they want it must be able to survive on very little sleep b/c I just don't get it!

Hi E.. I posted about this exact same thing a few days ago... My daughter slept like a champ up until her 4 month well check. The pediatrician was happy to hear she was sleeping so well and I was thrilled to be getting so much sleep. Low and behold, a mere week later my DD started getting up once, twice, sometimes three times a night. I was swaddling her (in a swaddle me), but had to stop b/c she was rolling over and waking on her tummy and that made her really mad. We're still struggling with her waking every 3-4 hours. My DD is tiny (5th percentile) so I feel like I should feed her and that puts her right to sleep so for now, I'm going with it. I just started her on rice cereal and am hoping that will help. Good luck and know that you aren't the only one out there going w/out sleep!

When she wakes at 12 and 4 offer her a bottle of water. Whatever you do... do not nurse her. If you nurse her she will continue in this routine. She most likely will not like being offered the water. After a few nights of her waking only to receive water she will realize that her crying is useless. She will begin to sleep for longer periods of time.

I disagree.

Most babies I've heard of that slept through the night early and yes 8 weeks is early start to "regress" at this age. And DO NOT GIVE HER WATER. water can be toxic to infants.
It could be several things, Growth spurt, teething, ear infection. She sounds genuinely hungry to me. Always answer your baby's cries that's the only way they have to communicate. Feed her immediately and put her back to bed the longer you let her cry the worse it will be, and the longer you will be awake. So just feed her. I'd hate for my baby to think her crying is useless and that mommy wasn't going to come see her when she needed me.

And I disagree with your ped. It's not a standard for breastfed babies of 4 months to beable to go for 6-8 hrs w/o eating. their little tummies are only the size of their fist and it will go through quickly especially if she's on a growth spurt or milestone.

And I have to disagree with the post above mine that says most breastfed babies sleep through the night at 4 months that's NOT true. May have been for her baby but that is not the norm. And letting a baby cry is cruel and only creates stress, distrust, and high blood pressure. I don't get how a mom can sit there and listen to her infant cry and cry and cry for them and have it not break their heart. Babies cries are supposed to invoke the feelings of needing to hold , see, comfort the baby. Even if they just need their mommy it's worth the extra few minutes of sleep you'd be loosing. And from my experience I have two children both were raised the same way as babies, my son slept through the night at about a year, My daughter who is still the most active kid on the block didn't sleep through the night until she was 3 yrs old. Saying this, Kids sleep through the night which is technically 6 hrs at a time according to the American ped association, when they will. It's not something you can force them to do and if you do try to force them all you're doing is forcing them to give up on you.