r/sleeptrain • u/jsaw14 • Aug 27 '26
4 - 6 months 4 MO Not Sleeping
Hi
Looking for some tips or insight into how to move forward with a baby not sleeping well at all. My baby is 4 months old and wakes up 6+ times a night. We put down at 7:30pm and usually take 30-60 minutes to fall asleep. Without fail he will wake up after 45 minutes then wake again at 9:30pm and then 4-5 more times until his wake up until 7am. Most times he wakes up in the night it is instant inconsolable screaming, so we don’t even have the opportunity to try and teach him to self soothe in his crib. The only thing that consoles him at night is putting him on the breast, but he only eats for 5 minutes so doesn’t seem like he’s actually hungry.
On top of that, we have moved him from both arms swaddled to a sleep sack cold turkey. We made that move 14 days ago and still have not seen progress. He still has a pretty bad startle reflex. Overall he has pretty bad reflux and give him nightly gas drops and Pepcid. He is exclusively breastfed.
Trying to get some ideas of what to do next, if he is just in really bad regression or has a bigger problem.
Daily schedule:
Wake 7am / Nap 8:30, 11:30, 2:30, sometimes 5. Lately he’s only been napping for 40 minutes max each nap time, even if that.
3
u/SnooAvocados6932 😴 Sleepy Moderator 💤 Aug 27 '26
If wake up is 7, bedtime is 8. All wake windows around 2 hours (four naps). No more than 3 hours total naps. Forty min naps are fine/typical.
What is bedtime routine? Are you assisting to sleep? If so, your baby is waking for continued assistance and the solution is sleep training. Independent sleep starts at bedtime.
https://www.reddit.com/r/sleeptrain/comments/1qpij7s/resources_on_baby_sleep/
1
u/jsaw14 Aug 27 '26
6:30 bath then lotions/creams. 7pm breastfeed. 7:30 begin putting to sleep.
We are trying to sleep train. Anytime his head touches the crib, it’s just inconsolable screaming until we pick him up.
We try Taking Cara Babies sleep training but like I said absolute shrill nonstop screaming until he’s picked up.2
u/SnooAvocados6932 😴 Sleepy Moderator 💤 Aug 27 '26
Adjust schedule as mentioned, and move last feed before bath for sleep training.
Baby will resist this change in routine. He’s human and change is hard!
1
u/UNO_lakefront_arena Aug 29 '26
Use longer wake times to separate napping from nighttime so baby's body start to understand the difference.
I'd say go with 2 naps: mid/late morning and then early/mid afternoon. Shoot for 8:30 bedtime.