4 month sleep regression and weaning

[Lucy Lu]

hi everyone, looking for a bit of advice off those of you who noticed your LO's sleep patterns deteriorating around 4 months and subsequently weaned early? Did it help?

Im not saying for a second that i would wean early simply to make our lives easier but i can't help looking at LO and thinking what if he needs something more?! he used to sleep 11-12 hrs at night with one dreamfeed in between but is now waking more times, and is starting to show other signs that he might be ready to wean.

i've read a lot about how sleep regression is down to the huge mental development they are going thru during this time so am dubious about whether this is food related at all (esp. since he's not milk feeding constantly during the day). don't want to wean too early unnecessarily but likewise don't want to hold off if he is sending signals that he needs to start.

 

[NIfirsttimer]

yep... we had this at 4 months too but didnt wean until 5.5m..... i researched it a lot, and came to the conclusion that its actually more likely to be a combination of HUGE growth spurt, lots of mental & physical development, and increased awareness in their surroundings etc... and i should also add that it didnt improve when we started to wean either!

 

[Lucy Lu]

Thanks hun - this is what I am thinking, especially since early weaning foods are going to be fruit and veg and won't have as many calories as the milk. I'm nervous about introducing those and their taking the place of the milk so to speak and LO being worse off than he is at the moment on just milk.

OH is getting concerned and i think its making me unduly nervous about it all. LOL 4 months is proving to be a hard time for poor LO and me!

 

[pip2009]

My little boy went through the exact same thing but the phase passed and he went back to his usual sleep pattern within a week or so. I have lots of friends who started weaning at 4 months and it didn't make one bit of difference to their sleeping! Go with your instincts but I would say wait a week or so and see if he settles back into his routine.

 

[Lucy Lu]

Thanks Pip - you have given me hope. I just panic when I see mums who have said their LOs remain in this difficult way up to 8 months or even later. He is just inconsolable when we're trying to put him to sleep. I've just fed him, he finished in his own time, and my husband is upstairs now trying to console him, he is just crying furiously, fighting sleep!

 

[NIfirsttimer]

yep the fighting sleep thing was a problem for us for a while too.... although it didnt last too long.. have you got a bedtime routine?
i found bath massage story & bottle worked wonders for us xx

 

[Lucy Lu]

Yep we have a bedtime routine - but it's not always consistent as he baths every other night. I've started feeding him immediately before bed which really settles him but I worry this 'feeding him to sleep' is going to come back to bite us in the bum later on! I always make sure he's slightly awake when I put him down in the cot so that he has to at least settle himself for the last bit - didn't work tonight though!

He's been fighting sleep during the day and at bedtime for about a month - I could handle it because when he falls asleep, he will go hours! However, now he's night waking again, i feel like it is all going horribly wrong.

Did you do anything to help your LO get over the fighting sleep thing or did she just get through it naturally as a matter of course? Any suggestions you have would be soooo welcome!!!!

 

[NIfirsttimer]

yep she was always worst for fighting it during the day, so what i did was wtch her carefully for a few days to see when she would start to get tired, and realised its always around 11, then 3/3.30 so first i tried putting her to bed at those times, and all the things you try along with that, and failed miserably... then my OH suggested taking her out in the pram / car at those times, as she was always sleep fine when tired, if we were out and about, so for about a week, about 15 mins before those times, we set off in the pram, and i walked until i felt her nap was up (1hr each time) and then came home.. i ws worried that i was setting a precedent for this, and she would need to be in the pram to sleep, but that didnt happen at all, what it seemed to do was get her into a good pattern of sleeping at those times regularly! after a week or so, instead of taking her out, i just brought her up to her dark bedroom, fed her, put her into bed & she slept!!! it was a miracle! another thing that im sure helped us was the sleeping bag.. we have always used one at nights but the house is very warm during the day so i didnt use it, but i bought a lightweight one, and put it on before i fed her, and it seemed to help her know it was sleep time.... and the best bit was that once she was having 2 good naps inthe daytime, rather than becomming overtired then cat napping, the bedtime bit just fell into place! my Hv told me that sleep promotes sleep, and i think shes right, as shes still has 2 good hours in the day, and at least 12 hours at night now at 7 months! it seems to be much better than going for hours awake & fighting it, then sleeping for ages...
a bath every night is prob a good thing to try too....its consistency, and it does relax them a bit (even if they do fight it!) do you notice any difference in the nights he baths / doesnt bath?
we still have the odd occasion where she will fight it, but they are few & far between, and 95% of the time i set her in bed, kiss her, say 'love you baby.. sleepy time now' and leave, and i dont hear a peep out of her for an hour!!!!!!
ooh another thing.. for about 30mins before bedtime (day or night) we have no tv, no music, low voices, lights dimmed and try to make it as calm as we can... we call it wind down time lol...
not sure if any of that will help, good on you if you get to the end of it, i kind of went off on one lol.. but its worth a try! i know how stressful it is when they need to sleep so bad but wont!

 

[Lucy Lu]

wow thanks for writing all that down. the walking thing sounds so worth a shot. he settles great out and about. i have been getting too fixated on getting him to nap in the cot so he learns that is where to sleep, bu maybe i am jumping ahead a step. will give it a good. have gone off topic of weaning now, but my gut feeling really is that this is not a solids thing x

 

[NIfirsttimer]

yep, i agree.. i dont think its a solids thing.. i think its a clever baby who is learning that they can have some control of things that happen - thing lol!!
i think the walking thing is worth a try.. its like when you sort out the sleep bit first, then the where to sleep bit happens after!
good luck!

 

[bumpty]

just to say....although we have never slept through! but were only waking up once a night , but for the past week its been nearly every hour!! but touchwood I think we are coming out the other side of the dreaded 16 weeker!! he only woke twice last night!! so fingers crossed!! so it does get better again and thats without solids !