Baby will not sleep

amother

OP ↓

Thu, Aug 15 2024, 1:40 pm

My 4 month old baby does not know how to sleep. Yesterday he went 9 hours straight with only a 5 minute nap in between. And I was holding him for those 5 minutes. He will not sleep alone. He will only sleep if he's nursing, and it's not because he's hungry, it's for comfort. He's been like this since birth and I'm losing my mind. At night he wakes up every hour to nurse for comfort and will only sleep that hour in between if he's in my bed. Naps are only in my hands. The crib is literally brand new, not used. I've been trying to put him to sleep for the past hour now and the minute I detach him from my breast he's up. My nipples are so sore and I can't get anything done. He takes a pacifier but not to sleep. How do I get him to sleep?
Re: letting him cry it out, first of all I hate that, and second, I've had a situation where I couldn't take care of him for an hour and he screamed the entire hour, getting louder throughout, so he's too stubborn for that to work anyway.

amother

Latte

Thu, Aug 15 2024, 1:52 pm

My youngest did not sleep. We tried everything, nothing worked. He's 5 years old now & still isn't a good sleeper. He's still not sleeping through the night. It's a miracle that we stayed sane bh. I didn't sleep through the night in over 5 years.
I've been on BC because I cannot see myself getting up to 2 kids in the night.
Good luck OP!
Perhaps try giving him a couple of formula bottles a day, it may help him sleep.
If he doesn't take a pacifier, you can try that.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Thu, Aug 15 2024, 1:55 pm

amother Latte wrote:

Noooo.
I tried formula, no difference. And he does take a pacifier but only when he wants to.

My other kids are also really bad sleepers and I haven't slept through the night in almost 9 years but not like this at this age.

amother

Snowdrop ↓

Thu, Aug 15 2024, 1:55 pm

amother OP wrote:

Are you sure you’re producing enough milk? Can you pump and see how much you get? Because it could be he’s actually hungry that’s why he wants to nurse and maybe you don’t have enough. Should be about 6 oz a feed

amother

↑ OP ↓

Thu, Aug 15 2024, 1:57 pm

amother Snowdrop wrote:

I think I am. But maybe he doesn't eat enough at a time? Because even when I do formula he'll only drink 1.5 oz. And he's gaining nicely, he's a big baby bh.

amother

↑ Snowdrop

Thu, Aug 15 2024, 2:11 pm

amother OP wrote:

I think I am. But maybe he doesn't eat enough at a time? Because even when I do formula he'll only drink 1.5 oz. And he's gaining nicely, he's a big baby bh.

Try to pump and see how much you get, I always exclusively nursed my babies and they never slept! My last one I used formula and baby slept so well, so it makes me wonder if I didn’t have enough to get them to sleep for stretches

mom1st

Thu, Aug 15 2024, 2:31 pm

amother OP wrote:

I think I am. But maybe he doesn't eat enough at a time? Because even when I do formula he'll only drink 1.5 oz. And he's gaining nicely, he's a big baby bh.

I had a baby like this.
She wouldn't nurse more than a few minutes and would wake up hourly.
I tried bottle but she would barely drink. Than I got a new teat for the bottle. This was meant for 6 month old with bigger flow and suddenly she slept 3 hours straight. She just couldn't or wouldn't drink long enough with a slower flow and she stayed hungry despite gaining weight.
Try it.
Hatzlacha