Infant Sleep - Long Beach,CA

Updated on October 25, 2010
M.H. asks from Long Beach, CA
8 answers

SOrry I have to ask this question as I'm sure someone else has probably posted the same or similar questions before but I just can't seem to figure out how to navigate through the questions and answers on the mamapedia site.
My question is this, my 4 1/2 month old girl wakes between 4-7 times per night and this is turning me into a zombie and a really crabyy person - I'm getting very little sleep. For a while, she was only waking 2x per night which seemed totally doable to me.

I can not figure out, for the life of me, why the change. It's been happening for 2 weeks now and I just don't know when or how it will end. She sleeps in PJ's and a Halo Sleep sack and most of the time, she sleeps in her car seat since she was experiencing reflux. Now that she's nearly rolling over, I've taken to just laying her in her cradle for naps and most of her bedtime.

Anyone have any idea why she may be doing this? And what I may be able to try to get her to STOP.

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R.K.

answers from Boston on

she could be growing or teething. What is the longest stretch that she is doing? She could be rolling over and getting stuck and that is upsetting her. My youngest could roll from his back to belly but not belly to back and would wake up several times just because he was stuck on his belly.
She could still have reflux and its bothering her to lay flat. It could be a number of things.

Updated

she could be growing or teething. What is the longest stretch that she is doing? She could be rolling over and getting stuck and that is upsetting her. My youngest could roll from his back to belly but not belly to back and would wake up several times just because he was stuck on his belly.

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S.D.

answers from Indianapolis on

Teething? Try getting some teething tablet by Hylands.
Growth spurt? Feed her more often during the day.
Lonely? Have her sleep right next to the bed and try patting her when you hear her stir at night. Or co-sleep so you can nurse as often as she needs without getting out of bed.

1 mom found this helpful
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R.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

Swaddle her. she is used to not being able to move and is scaring herself awake...
Also, when she wakes up and wants you, make sure she is awake before you feed her. Change the diaper, burp her, rub on her gums, then feed and swaddle and back down. I keep a low light on at night, so I can see, but there is less light than during the day, and I keep really quiet and calm.
I also found ambesol really helpful about the 4 month mark...
Good luck!
R.

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A.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

Maybe teething and growth spurts. But, you may try to half swaddle the arms only with the sleepsack on. I do the same to my daughter even she is almost 6 months now. Their busy little hands keep moving around and make them awake. Not sure it is the case with your little on.

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P.N.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hello M.,
You are not alone -so many parents face this at the 4 and 5 month age. Suddenly, their good sleepers start waking up more at night. Simply put, they are growing up and are more aware of the world around them. Their circadian rhythym has kicked into high gear and their brain has matured. How she falls asleep is critical to your success - this way you can turn more of her full arousals into partial arousals and she will be able to get back to sleep on her own when she wakes up in the night. She needs to be awake when she goes into her crib at night. This is sometimes a tough challenge for a parent to accomplish, but I would love to help you. For some more FREE advice, please visit my website - look for the 5 easy steps.
I look forward to hearing from you,
P.
www.sleepsense.net/kelowna
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J.L.

answers from San Diego on

i don't know what a halo sack is, but she may be in the early stages of teething. Just a thought from experience if you are going to her all hours of the night you are creating a very bad habit for her. No mom likes to hear her baby cry, but you have to get the rest you need to care for her during the day. As long as you continue to go get her up the crying will continue. At my moms advice (Mother of 5) I started giving my baby;s rice cereal in a bottle at 6 weeks, I had 3 all grown now, but they slept through the night, with no problems or issues from the cereal. In my daycare all of my parents are Military and have to get up early for work, they all put teir baby;s on cereal at 6 weeks, they can't be up all night, then drive and work all day with no sleep, and they have all been healthy happy baby's. I have a 5 month old in my daycare now, he just had a well baby check up and his ped told the mom to give him rice cereal in his bottle, so it's Ok. Hope this helps. J.

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T.H.

answers from Kansas City on

Well, my first thought was maybe she's warm?? Also, this is a growth spurt time, is she hungrier? I assume you're nursing by your post, but not sure...if you know how many ounces she's getting maybe you could try increasing them to see if that helps.

It could be too that maybe she isn't used to the crib if she's been sleeping in the car seat or that her reflux is back. You can tilt the crib mattress a bit and see if that helps. Either put one side higher than the other on the little hooks or shove a phone book or blanket underneath the mattress on one side....oh wait, I just noticed you said cradle not crib, could it be that the cradle is too small for her and now that she's trying to roll over she wakes herself up by bonking into the side? My son had that issue in the bassinet, he was just so big and couldn't get comfy so we moved him.

Sorry to say that there could be lots of options! Sometimes, especially with sleep, we just never know what the problem is or how to fix it but usually they grow out of it! Good luck!

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K.M.

answers from Laredo on

I was on wholesomebabyfood.com today getting information on making homemade baby food. On the site they were talking about how to tell if your baby is getting ready to start introducing food. They were saying that around the age your daughter is they go through an extreme growth spurt and will frequently need to eat way more than normal. This is the time that most parents assume that their child needs a form of solid food to get through the night but thats not always the case.
When in fact they are just going through their growth spurt, which will happen again in a couple of months. You might try to introduce food if you havent already, but if you arent ready to do so then just try and ride it out.
The site said that the growth spurt lasts from two to three weeks so since you are already two weeks in hopefully you only have a week to go. Then she will go back to her normal routine of only waking two times a night.

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