Possible sleep regression or growth spurt?

My son is 3 months almost 4 months. (Turns 4 months on Feb 7th) for weeks now his sleep has been HORRIBLE and his appetite has grown and wants to eat every 2 hours.
He used to sleep 7-10 hours at night and wake up maybe once sometimes twice and would take 2-3 hour naps during the day.
Lately he naps like 30 mins-1 hour during the day, up for 2-3 hours and naps again. Eats every two hours instead of his normal every 4-5 hours. Then at night he usually is in bed between 8-9pm but wakes up every 2-3 hours.
I tried increasing his formula intake, putting him on a sleep schedule, but nothing seems to help.
I’m so exhausted, worn out, and stressed.
Idk if he’s going through sleep regression or a very long growth spurt

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Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. Possible sleep regression or growth spurt?

Boys need food fill his tummy and he will sleep

Sounds like he’s growing.

Speak to his pediatrician about adding some rice to his bottles… give him some in his night time bottle for extra weight in his stomach. My son was always a bad sleeper, still is at 5 years old. I feel your pain on the every 2 hrs. I’ve been there. He had health issues we weren’t aware of. However, this sounds like he is just hungry. Go with a couple tsps of rice cereal in a bottle and he is almost at that age anyway for some solid purees…

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Try putting some baby cereal in his milk to keep him full longer at night so he can sleep. Milk is probably just not enough anymore.

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I added some baby cereal in bottle to help this. Def ask the dr before tho

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I also recommend adding some cereal to his bottle. And as everyone else has said, talk to your pediatrician before making that change. Don’t worry, it won’t stay like this forever!

Rice Cereal at night with a bottle will sleep longer maybe the whole night

Sounds like the 4 month sleep regression for sure. It was the worst one for us, and lasted a while. It will get better, try and stay positive!

It will get easier momma !!

Yup 3 month sleep regression just remember it won’t last! He will sleep and so will you, for now enjoy the little extra time with him (easier said I know) but it will pass!! and definitely ask dr before adding anything to babies bottle!

It’s the newborn stage gone and the terrible rest of life stage starts unfortunately :joy::joy:

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Start feeding that baby

Be careful over feeding get windy burp between feeds settle laying on the side and patting on back and make sure cool enough if hot and warm enough when cold be ready for solids soon Goodluck newborns sleep along time this age sleep changes

Always talk to your pediatrician first. Instead of adding cereal, add the baby oatmeal since it’s easier on the tummy I started adding oatmeal to my 3 month olds bottle and noticed a wonderful difference.

Growth spurt + sleep regression sounds like. My daughter did the same thing plus teething. It was horrible but it does pass. Hang in there.

Give him some very watered down cereal and use a baby spoon. It will fill him up longer and sleep better plus start teaching him how to chew foods! My youngest is going to be 5 months soon and I started cereal a little over 3 months old. As long as he can move his tongue to push it around he should be good. Just make sure it’s only a slight step up from liquid though and get the spoons with the rubber tips! Believe it or not he could be teething as well and the is nice for them to chew on!

Be cautious of adding cereal or other solids to his diet. Yes it works. The reason it works is that his body, muscles are developed enough to process anything but liquid. His body has to work to pure exhaustion to digest it. This is the reason so many adults have GI issues. I understand your frustration. I’ve been there with a child who didn’t sleep much until she was over 3 years old.

It’s probably sleep regression. It can be seperation anxiety. They go through many physical, emotional & developmental changes around 3-4 mos. He’s no longer a newborn but developing into his own person. You may also want to look at home situation. If there’s a lot tension (sleep deprivation will do that), fighting etc that can cause anxiety & prolong sleep issues.

Add some cereal to his diet

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Time to add cereal. That baby is hungry

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He’s a baby…? They have smaller stomachs. They’re gonna need to eat more often and trying to force too much at feeding will make him sick. You can’t make a baby eat more to eat less often and waking up and napping again every few hours is totally normal. Again, this a baby, not a grown child

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I would talk to your pediatrician first. I refused to do cereal, as it fills the baby up with empty calories and there are so many studies about arsenic levels being dangerous. Definitely do as much research as you can and good luck!

This is normal people expect babies to sleep 24 7

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I never once have experienced a sleep regression. He’s growing that’s what babies do. Sometimes they sleep sometimes they don’t. You’ve had it easy with the sleeping all night from such a young age. Just go with the flow I’m sure it will change again.

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Please don’t start him on cereal! He’s to young for anything besides breastmilk or formula! Sounds like he’s clusterfeeding. Sometimes they eat more then other times. But cereal is empty calories and being fed at a young age will cause GI issues. Babies main source of food until a year old is formula or breastmilk they don’t need anything else.

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Babies get you comfortable with one thing and they go and switch it up on you. Sleeping is one of the biggest constantly changing parts. My kids all got pretty regular around ages 2-3, just hang in there.

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It will change, and change again and again. Just when you think you know the rules, the rules change. Try to take it easy… Be. And Flow… not… Push… and Go… when tired do your best to rest… when child hungry… feed em… this will change… and you will one day barely remember… :pray: you got this … flow… like a river… around any obstacles… be… in the moment… they don’t last…

They say it’s the 4 month sleep regression but it can be a couple of weeks before they actually turn 4 months… Many reasons wake a baby up at night, sometimes as simple as stirring during a light sleep cycle and needing comfort to settle again. They have such small stomachs at that age, even if they are full before sleeping they’re constantly developing and growing so they get hungry again fast. I found I had most trouble at night once my little man got to the rolling stage as he’d just randomly do it in his sleep at night and it would wake him up… A lot! If you’re getting stretches of sleep and he seems alright once you’ve fed him again that’s probably normal for him now. They change all the time… I’ve learned that you can’t get used to anything with babies as they surprise you all the time and you have to just roll with it. He’s probably just getting hungrier and needs to drink milk more often. They don’t stop needing milk at night for several months yet :purple_heart: my eldest was probably about 6 or 7 months before he started sleeping through the night (bottle fed) and my youngest is almost 2 and still wakes up a few times for milk/comfort before going off for a few hours again. I wouldn’t start adding in food until he’s at least 4 - 6 months as their digestive system needs to be ready for it and could cause them to be gassy at night. If you’re formula feeding maybe try the ones they make for a bigger appetite… Although that can take a few bottles to get used to as well :yum: it does get better, I promise!

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A bike lavender bath and a little cereal in his formula before bed .try swaddling him with his blanket also .it does get better .

DO NOT PUT CEREAL IN HIS BOTTLE!! that is extremely dangerous, talk to his pediatric doctor about putting him on puréed baby foods

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Have you tried milk for hungry babies? It’s made to be digested more slowly so they stay fuller longer. My youngest was on this at five weeks as he was feeding every hour on the hour. Made a big difference.

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That’s babies for ya lol. I didn’t get a good night’s sleep until they were at least 9-10 months old. :sleepy:

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He may not only be growing but starting to teeth. Lol Expect changes alot this year. They get molars at 2, 6 & 12. Expect changes then too. Not so much pain but definitely some sleep issues or hunger changes :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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theres a 3 month sleep regression so yes. keep consistent with the sleep or ull mess everything up. for the food try giving him. a lil more then he would usually like an oz more. i had big babies so its probably not gonna be same but at 3 months mine were eating 4-5oz every 5ish hrs :woman_shrugging:t2:

At 4months we old folk had started weaning. Every child is different but he sounds ready for small tastes of something more than milk. Personally I used baby rice or a quarter baby rusk steeped in formula.
They have small tummies so don’t over do it and only introduce one thing at a time.
Magic weight used to be around 20lbs but thats probably changed now and I know you’re encouraged to keep them on formula for longer now …but if youve got a hungry growing baby a little extra is needed sometimes
Or look for a hungry baby milk

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Perfectly normal in a baby. They go through these stages all the time.

A small baby should feed every 2-3 hours and don’t usually sleep through the night

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Around 4 months your baby begins to realize that you are not with him. This is why they suggest getting him in his own room before this age. Maybe he is missing being with you.

I’m in the same exact boat as you. My little girl will be 4 months on February 7th also. Her schedule is the exact same. She sleeps great though. Especially when we do baths at night before bed… Babys just growing plus my little started teething. So definitely more fussy. Best of luck mama. It gets better

He is preparing for a growing spurt, increased food intake is always an indication of a growing spurts. He will settle back down soon. Its been a while but I believe growing spurts hit about every 3-4 months.

I put a little cereal in my daughters bottle it helped keep her a bit fuller and sleep better

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Just sounds like a baby to me. :woman_shrugging:

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Give him cereal in the morning and at night he’s a growing boy these drs today with just feeding formula is ridiculous he will love try a couple of little spoons at first see how he does don’t make it to thick

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My girl did this shortly before 4 months and it lasted about 3 weeks then boom she started sleeping 10 hours at night again. Hope you get some relief soon! I chalked it up to 4 month sleep regression

I must be old
As most mom’s my age (especially here in Australia)
Are starting to ween our kids from only having breast or formula to solids such as pureed foods such as friut , pureed meat and veg, custard)
At about 6 months we introduce fariex (a rice cereal)
As well as toast
As for sleep patterns
Bubs will nap when it gets tired
As for a growth spurt
My advice would be to start buying clothes 1-2 sizes bigger
As I can guarantee you by the time bubs is 12 months old
Bubs clothes won’t fit
Kids will generally have growth spurts every 3 to 6 months for the rest of their young lives
My 13 yr old grandson
He is taller then me and he is always at the fridge and pantry
He eats breakfast, lunch and dinner
Snacks all day

Feed him more ounces at a feeding each time

Try giving him baby food the formula might not be filling him up anymore

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Start baby 1st foods

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I think it’s a growth spurt. My 7 week old has been eating all day and NOT sleeping as easy. Her size 1 diapers are getting smaller with each diaper change.

Maybe try introducing baby food?

He may be ready for cereal, pureed fruit, mix cereal with a little fruit and some formula. Evidently the formula isn’t satisfying his hunger.

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What you need to do is adjust your mindset as the baby adjusts u do the same. Don’t try to keep the same routine as it will wear you off. Your baby is more active there for is using more energy.as for nap time try and make the house as quite and dark as possible during night time. And give the baby a bath right before bed. Set an alarm to wake up 20 minutes before the baby usually does for a feed have the bottle ready this way when the baby shoes signs of waking up u feed while half asleep, they go right back to sleep. It’s all about timing and adjusting as they grow

The more they grow the less they sleep ,maybe start giving him baby food

Feed him don’t care what Doc. says he need baby cerial mix it with his fomular and give him something to eat u r starving him to death!!!

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My mom had 12 of us, and when we woke up hungry, she simply added more cereal to the bottles, once nursing was done.

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The growth spurt/cluster feeding is correct. However adding any form of cereal isn’t anything but empty calories and solids are not all that safe before 6 months. try bottles more often at night/bath routine…Its definitely stressful

Rice cereal at bed time.

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RICE CEREAL IN HIS BOTTLE!!! my little girl is doing the same thing. And they are the same age she will be 4 months on the 8th. My pediatrician told me at 2 1/2 months i could start her on the cereal at bedtime.