Started 4/4 - Now LO wakes

[kerry_ram]

Hi.

My Textbook DS is 4 months old tomorrow. We started him on 4/4 last week (we are on day 7). When he was on the 3-hour easy he was an amazing sleeper (7pm to 7am since 2.5 months). Now that we have transitioned him to the 4-hour EASY he wakes just before his dreamfeed and again between 2:30 and 4am. I am totally afraid that we messed with perfection!

Some clues:
* During the transition period he did not have these waking issues.
* His morning nap is great -- between 1.45 and 2 hours.
* His noon nap is OK. Because he is a bit overtired getting to that 2-hour mark, he sleeps 45 minutes and then we have to maneuver to get him to sleep the additional time. Ultimately he does sleep between 1 and 2 hours.
* His catnap is OK. We normally take our walk in the stroller or sling and he gets his 30 minutes then.
* He is never grumpy coming out of a nap. Sweet as pie and all smiles.
* He is teething -- but it seems not to bother him very much. When he fusses with his mouth you can tell it bothers him, but it is rare.
* He has only recently become interested in a paci. He does like to go to sleep with it in his mouth. But since two weeks ago, this is new.
* He is breastfed. We pump a bottle for the dreamfeed.
* In the middle of the night, there is no calming him down with paci, pacing, PU/PD, etc. Only 2 ounces (or ten minutes) of food gets him back to sleep.
* It could be a growth spurt but his past ones only lasted three days/nights.

His EASY:
7 - E
9 - S
11 - E
12:45 - S
2:45 - We wake him
3 - E
5 - CN
5:30 - E
6 - Bath and bedtime routine
7 - Top-off and then to sleep
11 - DF

These erratic hours are just so out of routine for all of us. Does anyone have any idea what is going on?

[teilvnav]

I would say that it is probably still related to his GS or is developmental. The GS at 4 months is HUGE. And there is *so* much going on developmentally right now (part of the reason that the GS is so big).

People seem to tend to get either bad naps and good nights or bad nights and good naps around this age... looks like you are having great naps! I would keep trying to resettle him with things other than food in the middle of the night, but if he is genuinely hungry then that is that. Feed him, go back to sleep, and FX the phase will pass quickly! You are not alone, though... 4 months is a really rough time for many LOs and their parents.

[~Sara~]

* In the middle of the night, there is no calming him down with paci, pacing, PU/PD, etc. Only 2 ounces (or ten minutes) of food gets him back to sleep.
* It could be a growth spurt but his past ones only lasted three days/nights.

I am thinking the same as Amy...along with these 2 bullet point, I'm really thinking it's related to a growth spurt.  What is he acting like when he's awake at night?  Happy/talking?  Or cranky/fussy?  Drifts off but then wakes back up?  That kind of thing...

DS--a very, very textbook baby--started waking to eat in the motn during his 4mo GS, too.  Previously, he'd been going from 7-7.

[lil_ginge]

Hi Kerry Ram...

I really feel for you my dear because our textbook baby has JUST come right through the same thing. It sounds to me like you are defo having a GS. Because our last GS was only two/three days and I was caught right off guard. I am just coming off the tail end of our 4 month growth spurt ten days later. We were just starting to transition naturally and happily to a 4 hour easy and then BOOM! I thought my milk supply had diminished! It wasn't our nights that were affected but our naps so we're trying to work on getting those back on track now.

A few thoughts from helpful advice I got...

- If you are going through a GS for now ... do you only give one side each time you feed him or two? I was only giving one side (and she was happy) but during the growth spurt she'd down BOTH breasts and then I would wack her back on the one I started with for a bit - which she didn't enjoy too much and only lasted a couple mins but it helped boost my milk supply after a good few days of doing this. If it's a GS they're really trying to go for gold so you get more milk for them in the future and so it's a bit tough for those days but it evens out eventually. If you've transitioned to a 4 hour easy it might be worth going back to a 3 or 3 &1/2 hour easy atm to help meet those milky needs!

- The other thing is... If your baby is exclusively BF then maybe atm 4 hours is too much? Chatting to ladies on here quite a few ex BF babies can't hack that till closer to 5 - 5 & 1/2 months. (Get's digested quicker etc) It may not be the case for your LO but maybe a 3 & 1/2 or 3.45 hr easy might help till he can go for a longer haul? Of course this isn't the case for all bubba's I'm sure but it's something I noticed on the forums for ex BF babies.

You sounded like you did amazingly to get him to transition like that! Tough when then it all changes due to a GS but wooooo to your hard work! *air high five!*