Graham & Sleep

Yea, those two words? They don't go together, like oil and vinegar.  I don't know what this kid has against sleep but he's certainly not a fan.  Since he was a baby he's been an inconsistent sleeper, day and night.  When I was on leave I wanted to get out of the house so badly and do fun stuff that Addie would enjoy but we were a bit limited because I didn't know what his schedule was going to be.  He'd wake after 20 minutes of sleeping.  A newborn.  Only 20 minutes?!

His sleep at night has been just as inconsistent.  One night he sleeps a 5 hour stretch and then a 3 hour stretch and the next he's up every 2 hours.  I can't figure him out at all. I've been asking other moms for their thoughts and they're all telling me it's the 4 month wakeful.  I'll be honest, I don't remember this with Addie but that could be because it happened and I was so sleep deprived that it's all a blur during that time.

I've read at 4 months, babies start developing sleep patterns which scares me because Graham is showing no patterns.  So is that his pattern?  Just randomly sleeping whenever he feels like it?  Over the weekends, I've started pushing for a longer morning nap since those are also not consistent and I feel like he's getting that down a bit.  By pushing I mean when he stirs and starts to fuss, I go back in his room and rock his rock n play until he settles back down.  I often have to do this 3 or 4 times but it seems to work.  In the afternoons though, you can forget it.

Some people suggest putting the babies down earlier at night, around 6 or 7, but to be honest, I never felt like this worked for us.  Partially because if I'm putting him down at 6, I get about an hour with him after work.  Plus if I put him down to bed at 7, he'd wake up at 10 and then again every 2 hours.

Someone please tell me it gets better.  Did any of you experience this 4 month wakeful?  How long does it last?  I'm in such a haze with this lack of sleep.

-stephanie