DD was up all night AGAIN!

Ok - this is the second night and it's ALREADY getting old. DD and DS (4 months) had their last bottle at 6:30pm last night and down for the night at 7pm (like usual). She talked a little and was for sure sleeping by 7:20pm. He went right to sleep. She woke up at 9:30pm with her arm out of her swaddle -- she was fussing. She always tried to get her arms out, but then when they are out she cries for us and we reswaddle her and she usually goes back to sleep (so frustrating)...anyways, she went back to sleep only to wake again at 10:30pm. So I fed her -- but she wasn't even hungry. She took 2oz and fell asleep at the bottle - so that wasn't it.

I took her temperature, she was fine. I then put her back down for the night -- she woke up again at 3am, and then again at 3:30am. When I walked in the room at 3:30am I saw that DS was up too -- so I fed them both. She took 4oz and he took 5oz. I also gave her karo syrup with warm water b/c she hasn't pooped since Monday night. I also double swaddled her like we used to do (as of this weekend we are only using the kidopautomus swaddles) and then she fell asleep. DS woke up at 6:30am for the day (usual) and she was still sleeping but I could smell that she pooped so I just woke her up too for the day!!!!!!

Ughh - I sure hope that the reason why she hasn't slept well the past two nights is because she didn't poop and her tummy may have bothered her -- but I'm not sure b/c our nanny said she slept really good for naps yesterday. Any suggestions????????

Is this the 4 month sleep regression I heard of, or could she be doing this for attention and visits at night (or is she too young to do that as of yet)?

Thoughts!!!!!!!!????????? Suggestions????????

 

I am sorry that she was up alot. But at 4 months, for us anyway, the nights were still hit or miss. Only waking twice at 4 months is pretty good. She is too young to be manipulative. You did the right thing by trying to comfort and feed her. Nice job.

 

I got to second Rachel here! You did a great job! It could be many reasons as to why she is not sleeping. One definitely could have been constipation, she is just not ready yet for STTN, still might be getting hungry at night, who knows? You did the right thing in doing what you could to make her comfortable and feeding her. I know it's tough and confusing, because it all is trial and error but hang in there! You are doing a great job Momma!

 

*hugs* It is so hard when they are not STTN. I think around 4 months a lot of people have issues with sleep. Sounds like you are handling it great

Dianna

 

So if it's normal to have problems with sleep at 4 months -- what did you do to try to resolve it if you tried to feed them and they weren't hungry? Any suggestions? Poor DS wants to sleep -- should i seperate them temporarily in different bedrooms?

 

That's a tough one. Maybe give it a couple more nights (I know, time stands still when you're sleep deprived!) so you can rule out a growth spurt and make sure any tummy troubles are resolved. It could be the 4 month thing. I've read that there is so many new developmental things going on in the brain at this age that some babies don't know how to handle it and it affects their sleep. Which may be why they were waking, but not hungry. After going through it, I'm not sure there's anyway to help the situation other than struggle through it. Which it sounds like you are reading their cues and doing a good job with it. I got to the point when they were done feeding and still bouncing off the walls in their cribs, so excited to be up and play, I'd just shut the door and go back to bed. It seemed so wrong to leave them, when they weren't going to sleep anytime soon, but they weren't crying and I was at my wits end.

I also think I helped them develop some bad sleep habits during this phase by jumping at the slightest noise, fearing they would wake the other and turn into another party fest. If one was crying, I'd pull them out of the room immediately. I was constantly reinserting pacifiers all night, not even sure that's what they really wanted. But it helped keep them quiet and the other stayed sleeping. This led to babies that didn't need to eat at night anymore, weren't hungry for it. But constantly woke up many times during the night. And I would just handle it by going in for a couple minutes and soothing, because it was doable and I got used to it. But getting up every hour for months was really wearing on me. So eventually I started letting them fuss it out here and there, not jumping at the first faint noise and bursting in there and it has helped a lot. So looking back, if I knew they weren't hungry, I would probably wait it out 5-10 minutes before giving in and going in and getting them used to sleeping through the other's noises. I don't believe they are manipulating you at all, I don't think they are capable yet. From what I've heard, their capability to remember that I cried and mom came right in last time, so I'll do it again, doesn't kick in until 8-9 months. But I don't see anything wrong with letting them fuss for 5 minutes or so at this age. They might surprise you and start to self soothe and go back to sleep on their own.

I was so torn at separating them for months. We never ended up doing it. It is an option though, that might be worth a try. So far, they've worked it out and can sleep better through the other's cries. And if they start to wake up, they usually go back to sleep without me intervening. But who knows what the next phase will bring, and I may still change my mind.

Just remember it's a phase, and it too shall pass. Just hope it's quick!

 

Try a sleep sac over the swaddle. I did that and they never broke out again.