4.5/5 months - difficult/fussy age?

[hanfromman]

I remember writing a post a month ago saying what a lovely age 3.5/4 months was - Jack was so content and cheery and was sleeping well with a good routine.
Now - well! He gets very grumpy quite easily, not very content doing anything (even his fave activities, apart from his bath - he still loves that thank goodness) for more than a couple of minutes, and sometimes it seems that he whinges for most of the day!
His bedtime and nap routine seems to have gone out of the window a bit too! And I'm finding it quite a bit harder to gauge when he's tired enough but not too tired for a nap.
Is this a common thing at this age?

 

[mommyB]

Is he teething? Literally once my DS2 hit 4 months he is grumpy most of the day. He does have reflux but is treated with medication. I think he is teething, he's showing all the symptoms and it does affect his sleep.

 

[hanfromman]

Is he teething? Literally once my DS2 hit 4 months he is grumpy most of the day. He does have reflux but is treated with medication. I think he is teething, he's showing all the symptoms and it does affect his sleep.

Yeah we're pretty sure he is teething (lots of drool and biting everything). He seems to have been doing that for a few weeks, but maybe it's just got worse?

 

[mommyB]

Teething didn't bother my DS1 at all! DS2 is having a really hard time with it. Crazy how different every baby is.

 

[Jim_bear]

Snap...totally agree. My ds is more difficult than when he was a newborn! X

 

[xHaylesx]

My little man was a dream at 3 months and well a whinging nightmare at 5 months and 7 months!!! We didn't find any reason for it (his bottom teeth came in at 4 months with no problems, still hasn't gotten any more teeth )

He's now lovely at 8 months and despite trying to figure out "what had gone wrong" he just woke up one day and was back to being lovely.

I had to tell myself "this too shall pass" constantly xx

 

[Noelle610]

That was a VERY difficult age for us. There's a lot going on developmentally. I highly recommend the "Wonder Weeks" book if you don't have it - it tells you when our babies are growing and encounter "stormy" periods. It's nice because you know a) why they're behaving that way and b) that it has a purpose and there's an end it sight.

I would say things vastly improved around 6/7 months.

 

[Kitten-B]

Sounds exactly like Oscar! He is 4.5 months and has gone from being a content lovely baby to proper hard work in the last few days. I used to be able to leave him in his bouncer of playgym for up to an hour and he would just watch what I was doing, completely content. Now I feel like he whinges all day - I move him from thing to thing .... big mat, tummy time, playgym, jumperoo, bouncer, swing, cuddles, various playing with him bits and each 'station' only keeps him happy for like a minute.

I will confess the odd 5 minutes in his bouncer in front of baby tv works a treat though

His naps have changed too - he keeps sleeping for only 30 mins when he would have previously done 1-2 hours which I think confuses him and makes him think he's hungrier earlier than usual which basically has a knock on effect and destroys the whole routine. And I love having a bit of a routine - it was a long time coming!

Started a few weeks ago with suddenly poor sleeping which I've put down to the 4 month sleep regression which has got a wee bit better ... but the sudden discontent seems to have followed very quickly.

Can't compare to Sam as he was high maintenance from birth and never slept during the day etc. Although looking back I think 4/5 months may have actually been the hardest time. By 7 months he was sitting and crawling and it made such a difference.

Fingers crossed it passes soon (/ever)....

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Its a huge wonder week leap my dd is like a newborn again x

 

[Matilda85]

Yep, my little man was an absolute dream baby until about 2 weeks ago. Now he sleeps terribly, is always cranky and has become so much more work. There is a huge wonder week which i think is to blame. Cannot wait to have my little man back.

 

[minnieoxox]

At 4 months my perfect sleeper stopped sleeping herself and got grumpy and cried alot. I quickly learnt that the problem was she couldn't get to sleep herself and woke up before she was done sleeping. So i started putting her to bed after she had been awake for 2 hours when possible. I swaddle her put her in bed and give her a bottle if shes grumpy i leave her for 2/3 minutes when i go back she falls asleep having her bottle. Works every time and i have my happy baby back! If she wakes up crying i know shes still tired and give her her bottle and she will fall asleep having it again. It works everytime.

 

[gemxgem]

I was just saying to OH last night how its so difficult when u have a good sleeper on a good routine and then they are suddenly not.

My LO was going to sleep at about 8 sleeping for 10 hours then feed then sleep for another 1-2 hours, good naps, albeit all over the place but still good naps. Now he won't nap (yesterday he napped 2x15 mins ALL day!) and some nights he wakes, others not. Just for comfort as I've stopped feeding him when he wakes as he started to wake exactly the same time for a feed and not as much in day, now I try to get him back to sleep by just comforting him.

Think it may be teething or 4 month sleep regression as it hit at exactly 4 months at 2am lol!

He's also learnt in past 2 days he can scream! Not upset, just the noise of screaming lol. I have a headache!

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Mine is still waking after a night bottle doimg some weird curdling yelp but shes not ill this morning!?

 

[Kittenscales]

My little guy is pretty demanding just now. He can literally go from laughing hysterically to crying without a breath in between!

Entertaining him during the day is hard work, he gets bored of things a lot quicker now and gets whingy if I'm not giving him all my attention.

However I find structuring his day very strictly and putting him down for a nap every 70-90 mins helps with the meltdowns. He naps about 4 times a day and in the last 2 weeks his bedtime has moved naturally from 9pm to 7pm. He wakes for a feed around 2am. My only issue is he wakes every day around 5am and won go back to sleep unless he is in my bed ggrrr.

So for us routine is essential and anytime we have deviated he gets even more difficult o deal with.

 

[gemxgem]

My little guy is pretty demanding just now. He can literally go from laughing hysterically to crying without a breath in between!

Entertaining him during the day is hard work, he gets bored of things a lot quicker now and gets whingy if I'm not giving him all my attention.

However I find structuring his day very strictly and putting him down for a nap every 70-90 mins helps with the meltdowns. He naps about 4 times a day and in the last 2 weeks his bedtime has moved naturally from 9pm to 7pm. He wakes for a feed around 2am. My only issue is he wakes every day around 5am and won go back to sleep unless he is in my bed ggrrr.

So for us routine is essential and anytime we have deviated he gets even more difficult o deal with.

Can I ask, what does he do when u put him down for naps? How long does it take him to fall asleep?

When I put my LO in his cot he just wakes straight away (he falls asleep after feed) and starts giggling and rolling over like playtime, he just won't be 'put down' for a nap!!!

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

^ Lol jade does that!

 

[Kittenscales]

My little guy is pretty demanding just now. He can literally go from laughing hysterically to crying without a breath in between!

Entertaining him during the day is hard work, he gets bored of things a lot quicker now and gets whingy if I'm not giving him all my attention.

However I find structuring his day very strictly and putting him down for a nap every 70-90 mins helps with the meltdowns. He naps about 4 times a day and in the last 2 weeks his bedtime has moved naturally from 9pm to 7pm. He wakes for a feed around 2am. My only issue is he wakes every day around 5am and won go back to sleep unless he is in my bed ggrrr.

So for us routine is essential and anytime we have deviated he gets even more difficult o deal with.

Can I ask, what does he do when u put him down for naps? How long does it take him to fall asleep?

When I put my LO in his cot he just wakes straight away (he falls asleep after feed) and starts giggling and rolling over like playtime, he just won't be 'put down' for a nap!!!

I still use a swaddle. When he gets a little whiny or we hit 90mins, he gets swaddled, put in cot and dummy put in. He grumbles for about 5 mins and then falls asleep. Sometimes the dummy needs put back in several times. If he cries loads, I unswaddle, give him 10mins in jumperoo or tv and start again. He only gets a feed before sleepy time at bedtime. So he goes in the cot awake. He feeds when he gets up.

I think alongside the swaddle, the dummy really helps. He used to get it all the time but we now try and keep it for sleepy time.

 

[mommyB]

My DS1 I started putting him for naps in his crib before 3 months and he did so well! DS2 will not nap anywhere but on me! I've tried his crib and he hates it. Although he does sleep through the night in his bassinet. It's extremely frustrating. DS2 is the complete opposite of DS1!

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Jade naps on me most of the time :/ I just feel like il have to face that battle when shes older now cause she just gets over tired otherwise x

 

[Kittenscales]

Jade naps on me most of the time :/ I just feel like il have to face that battle when shes older now cause she just gets over tired otherwise x

It's only been since about 18 weeks that ny LO was decided he prefers napping in his cot than my arms. It's rare he wants sleepy cuddles with me now. I used to hate having to hold him while he slept but I miss it so much now.

They will decide themselves when they want to sleep by themselves, I would just go with it for now and enjoy. xx