4 month old not happy!

My 4 month old has recently stopped sleeping through the night. He wakes every 3 hours now wanting a feed. ( i had him sleeping 8 hours straight from 2 months). He has been breast fed exclusively from day 1. He has also stopped self-settling during the day when he is due for a nap (cries and cries and cries until i pick him up) and will only go to sleep if he has fallen asleep at the breast after a feed.

Im wondering if he needs something more? I was thinking of introducing a formula bottle last thing at night to bulk up the breastfeeding? Has anyone had this problem and tried a formula bottle? Im reluctant to start solids until he is 6 months.

it is very common age for this type of behaviour from a baby. i would recommend just feeding when he asks for it, bfing to sleep is good(its why there is the sleepy hormone released while bfing)
there isnt a need for formula at this point.

This seems to be a common theme at 4 months as there are several of us BB mums are going through the same thing with our 4 month olds!!

My DD has decided in the past week that she wants to fight her day sleeps after 5 weeks of really good day sleeps. She was doing 3 hours in the morning, sometimes with some resettling and sometimes not, and catnaps in the afternoon while we were out and about. In the past week it's been a real struggle to get her down for a day sleep and when she finally gets to sleep, she is waking after the first sleep cycle and we have found it really hard to get her back to sleep. Yesterday was the first normal day sleep in a week. She settled herself in her hammock, no tears at all, then slept straight through for 1.5 hours! Today she decided to scream again when I tried to put her down after she fell asleep on the breast. I finally got her to sleep in the sling and have just managed to get her to sleep in her hammock after 5 minutes of tears.

I think it must just be a phase, at least I hope it is! I have the book The WonderWeeks and apparently from week 15 - 19, they go through a 'fussy' period before the next developmental milestone at 19 weeks. That could explain it. DD also just did something new then as I put her down, she settled herself by sucking on her muslin wrap. It was so cute and something totally new. She often sucks on things, including her wraps, but she's never used it as a sleep aid. I think she may be ready for a comforter which is great as she has three really cute ones I've been itching to use!

If you DS is nearing 19 weeks, it may well be the wonder week he's going through which often means they wake more often for food. DD woke three nights running at 3am during her 12 week wonder week and she was sleeping 9-10 hours straight at the time. After the three nights, she returned to her old self.

I hope that helps a little at least knowing you're not alone.

I wouldn't worry too much and definately wouldn't introduce formula. My DS went through a very similar period when he was four months, from memory it lasted 2 or 3 weeks. Before then he was the perfect baby, we'd go days without any crying, he's self settle, sleep through the night and then one day it all changed. I remember wondering what happened to my happy little boy, it was like over night it all changed. I think at that time they make the realisation that when they cry/grizzly you respond and so start asserting what they want, and of course there is so much interesting things going on during the day why would they want to sleep? Just work with him and you'll see that over a few weeks it will change. After a couple of weeks DS went back to sleeping through and his feeding just went back to what it was.

Like Taurean said, the wonder weeks really do come and they can be quite hard on Mum, but they do pass. GL

Hi,

As others have mentioned, four months heralds a new and very interesting developmental stage. At this age, babies are becoming increasingly aware that they are a separate being from mum. To a baby, mum is everything. As he gets older, he wakes, and knows you are not there - and cries for you. So often where a baby has *self settled* previously, they will stop doing this. Another common behaviour is "reverse cycling". During the day babies are very busy and inquisitive at this age - taking in everything around them. They can hardly bear to stay still and feed. Often feeds will be very short during the day - they want to get on with it. But at night it's quiet and they can call mummy and she comes and have a nice long feed with no interuptions and nothing to look at. Do either of these scenarios sound familiar to you? On top of this, Christmas and the holidays is generally unsettling and busy for us all. It's unlikely that he needs more food - it's you he wants. If you have fed to a schedule you might find it helpful to offer more feeds during the day (even if they are short.) Give it a few days/weeks and see how it all sorts out. Co-sleeping might aford some more sleep for you, you sound tired. Think carefully about the ramifications of introducing a formula bottle. In my personal and professional experience it works *once* (just enough to break the mother's heart and beat herself up that he must have been hungry after all) Giving formula is the first step to weaning your baby. In the long run, babies do what babies want to do - we gently mold them inot something that suits us - but what affect that has is debatable. Your baby is going through another stage - it's nothing you are doing or not doing.

Thanks heaps everyone. I definately wont give formula.. i had a moment of desperation but now that i know its fairly common behaviour for a 4month old i dont feel quite so bad and will persist on! He actually had a good night last night, was so exhausted from the terrible day before! Slept 10 hours straight. Wish i did, kept waking up to check on him!!

Anyway, thanks again. :D