Question
I need some guidance on how to get my 4 1/2 month old to sleep better during the night. I have been using the baby wise method of eat, wake, sleep during the day and trying to get him to have full feedings so that he can make it through the night (I used the baby wise method with my 3 year old when she was an infant and she thrived on that schedule even though she had MSPI). For the last week he has been going to sleep between 730-745 and then waking at 1am, 3 am and 6 am (and is still sleepy). A few weeks previous to this he was waking many more times and previously to that he was only waking once around 4am when I laid him down at about 745pm. The pediatrician recommended letting him cry it out, which I have tried and he goes back to sleep for a few minutes, but then wakes again. I feel at this point it's a matter of him being so used to the night time feedings that he depends on them and he needs to be eating more during the day to make it through the night. When he wakes up at 1am now, I just change his diaper and he goes back to sleep but only for a few hours. He will eat decently at 3am, but then wakes at 6am with gas pains and after he eats a little will have a very very full dirty diaper. I have tried both mylicon drops (even trying a double dose at my peds recommendation) and gripe water to help calm his tummy, but it only seemed to make it worse. For a few weeks I have been taking a probiotic but haven't seen any noticeable difference in him because of it. I have tried talking to a lactation consultant, but they are not generally fans of sleep training and I am in desperate need of more regular sleep as is my infant. I feel like he could make it through the night or at least a good 8 or 9 hours, but his tummy is bothering him. Twice he has slept from 8pm-5am, but that was over a month ago and he has not made it anywhere close to that lately. He takes 3 naps during the day about an hour in length. Sometimes he will take a short cat nap in the evening (15-20 minutes), but not always. I'm not sure if I just need to be patient with him and he it will happen when he is ready or if he needs some stronger boundaries and more crying out at night. Thanks for your help.
