Help! 4mth old feed and sleep regressing!

[Nemmy]

OK, I need some help ladies. I have heard of 4 month old sleep regression, but this is ridiculous! This post might be a bit long but I really need some advice or to know that this may have happened to others around the 4mth mark ......

I always thought my DD2 was the 'miracle' baby. She's a big bub (born 4.5kg and is now right at the top of her the percentiles weighing 8kg and 67.5cm long) and has always loved her bottles and slept through the night from 8 weeks. Bliss.

At 12 weeks she was taking about 180-210mls of formula about 5 times a day and sleeping from about 7pm-6am. But over the last few weeks she has begun waking during the night, anywhere from 12am-4am wanting a feed, which I have given and she has gone back to sleep.

Over the past few days (now 17 weeks) things have become worse. She is not interested in taking her bottle, only drinking on average about 120ml (sometimes it's only 60ml or 100ml, the most 140ml). She's not crying for her feeds during the day despite taking less formula and is generally pretty happy, but even if I push out her feeds she won't take anymore formula.

While she's happy during the day, it's not the same at night. Last night was the worst, she woke every two hours. I fed her at 9pm, 1am and 5am. And so the day has continued....

I just don't know what to do to help my little one be more settled at night. I tried her on solids (rice cereal) last week to see if this would help but I don't think she's ready as she wasn't really interested despite offering it to her once a day for 5 days.

I don't know if it's a phase I just need to ride out, it just feels like it's been getting worse over the past few weeks, not better.

I really appreciate you reading so far. Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated!

[two cheeky smurfs]

i dont really have any advice but i have been there with my DD! it was about 3.5 months that she started being like this... DD was a big baby when born for being a twin (she was 2790g) and excelled and grew rather quickly for the first 3 months. then she stopped drinking as much and was really unsettled at night. she became more settled at night at about 4.5 months but still barely drinks anything or eats anything and is now a small bubba... she is 7 months now and weighs 6.7kg!! i have taken her to see a paed but shes healthy!!

like i said i dont have any advice apart from mayve waiting it out for a bit longer and when you get really worried take her to see a doc!!

:hugs: hun!!

[Lily of the Nile]

My bub is the same, big baby (almost same weight as yours I think a little bigger), sleeps through the night from 8 weeks and was drinking heaps as a newborn but at 3 months this changed and he doesn't eat as much anymore. His bottles all varie, like today he's had 4 bottles so far all about 100ml. But he's still not waking in the night that's the only difference. I'm thinking maybe teething? I've noticed ds has started, dribbling alot, hands in mouth, loves hard things on his gums, red cheeks and unsettled alot more, erratic with drinking, hates his dummy now (it must irritate his gums) and when I put my hand in his mouth he bit down hard and it was hard like I could almost feel his teeth where I never felt it before?
You know sometimes when he is unsettled and won't sleep, I put him in bed with me and cuddle him and he sleeps, I think it comforts him. I think it's safe if you make it safe.

Sorry not much more help though.

[danemwalker]

I had the same thing happen to my bub....i refrained from feeding thru the night when he woke and just resettled him each time he woke...(its a killer but it worked)...within a few weeks he was back to sleeping thru and having his 5 bottles a day and zero after 8pm....

good luck..

[Lily of the Nile]

I forgot to say and only just remembered something I do (cause I just did it lol) He usually has a play, eat, play, sleep routine, so when he doesn't finish his bottle, I leave him to play abit and then try and give the rest before sleep and he drinks the rest then, sometimes he'll drink the rest, sometimes he'll take another 20-30ml and is content, maybe you could try that?

[Nemmy]

Thanks for your replies. It's comforting to know that others have been through similar experiences and there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

As an update, she's still taking really random amounts during the day, but there have been a couple of bottles where she has had a good amount of formula. Hoping this will continue :fingerscrossed:

I actually gave DD2 a dreamfeed last night about 10pm (her last bottle before this was at 5pm and she went to bed at 7pm). She actually drank the entire bottle (well, almost the whole 180mls anyway) I was hoping this might get her through to the morning. Unfortunately she woke again at 2am but not for a feed. I tried to resettle without getting her out of the cot, this was going on for about 45 mins until I gave up and gave her a quick cuddle. That's all she needed, she fell back asleep in less than a minute, I put her back in her cot and she slept until 5am.

It might not be as good as the 7pm-7am sleeps she used to have but better than the night before this that's for sure!

Hope dream believe - thanks for the :hugs:

MyBabyLeo - I'll keep an eye on teething. I didn't really think about this because DD1 didn't get her first baby tooth until she was 9 months. DD2 has been dribbling a lot and plenty of chewing on the hands, but I just thought she was a real 'dribbler' and had 'found' her hands! I can't seem to feel anything on her gums yet, but it's something I'll certainly keep an eye on.

Thanks again to all who replied!