Waking all night long....

[Krisvee]

Hi!

My 4 month old little man is waking ALL the time! His sleep has gradually been getting worse and worse over the last month or so...
He wakes every 45-1 1/2 hours all night long with maybe 1 2hour sleep...He's only feeding once overnight so thats not a big deal (I've tried feeding him more but thats not what he wants) 99% of the time I just put the dummy in and he goes straight back to sleep...
One problem is that he shares a room with Louis so as soon as he cries out I jump up and go into him so I don't know if he's just used to me resettling him or giving him the dummy to get back to sleep. I can't let him even grizzle for a minute to see if he'll go back to sleep on his own because I'm scared Louis will wake up...
I know they go through lots of little stages when they're babies but this is just getting worse and has already been going on for weeks...

Any advice would be great! Otherwise I think I'll have to take him to sleep school...

Oh...and I've tried to get him to sleep without the dummy but it just doesn't work...

[Lucy]

Kristie,

Can you move him into a room with you for a while? (To save Louis?)

Have you tried a hammock?

Have you tried a music CD on repeat all night?

What is his bedtime ritual like? Does he have a bath then a moster feed?

Not sure if any of those ideas are do-able, or would evevn work, but just some suggestions that have worked for us......

[Krisvee]

Thanks Lucy!

I do co-sleep with him sometimes when it gets bad...he still wakes regularly though but it's certainly easier to pop the dummy in when he's next to me opposed to getting up...only thing is I don't sleep that well with him in the bed...Also he sleeps really hot and I sleep cold so I worry about overheating him!

Nup - haven't tried a hammock (don't have one) or music - I wouldn't do the music as I don't want to ruin Louis' sleep.

With routine - I've tried different things lately...he did have 1x 5 hour sleep the other night which he hasn't done in weeks and weeks but I don't know why! LOL!!!
Sometimes he feeds to sleep, sometimes he feeds and then goes to sleep 30min later...I suppose I should work on a better night time routine! hehehe.

[Tobily]

Hi!

One problem is that he shares a room with Louis so as soon as he cries out I jump up and go into him so I don't know if he's just used to me resettling him or giving him the dummy to get back to sleep. I can't let him even grizzle for a minute to see if he'll go back to sleep on his own because I'm scared Louis will wake up...

This bit caught my attention

I was exactly the same with my DS from when he was born - I jumped out of bed at the first peep so he wouldn't wake our two year old up. By the time DS was 4 months old we were having sleep issues and things really slid downhill between 4-8 months, he just totally lost all ability to self-settle. He was so used to me appearing with a boob out to keep him quiet, that by the time he was 8 months old he was waking hourly and would NOT go back to sleep without it. It was horrible, I was a mess.

Someone suggested to me that my DD would probably sleep through a bit more noise than I gave her credit for so we tried it. We never let him scream, I don't use CIO but I did allow him to whinge and whine a bit as he resettled and we found that he would do that for maybe 5 minutes and go back to sleep. On the rare occasions he did get wound up and start bellowing DD did sleep through it, she never even stirred. That really surprised us.

It's hard when you're trying to avoid waking another child and the natural reaction is to do what you're doing, but yeah I definitely found it set up more problems down the track

[Krisvee]

Thanks Flea!

Yeah...I have their door and our door open so I hear the first noise so I might try closing their door tonight and see how we go...It might mean I don't hear the first few moments of a grizzle!!

aarrggh this is hard business! hehe. I think we need a bigger house!! hehehe.

[Tobily]

Ha ha until a few weeks ago we were in a townhouse so I know exactly what you mean
Good luck

[Krisvee]

Hi Sharleen - Thanks...yeah he goes straight back to sleep with his dummy...he definitely doesn't go back on his own unfortunately...
For two nights I was out recently and he chucked a banana and screamed for my dh for 45min both times until he exhausted himself and fell asleep. Poor little munchkin. Those nights he actually slept better and last night he needed big cuddles as well..I'm assuming he just wants his mummy and some reassurance in the night...Can't last forever! hehehe.