4 month old sleep time

[Anurulz]

First time mum here. My 4 month old has been getting more and more difficult to get to sleep at night since 2 weeks now. Previously, a dummy and 10 minutes of rocking before putting him to his crib was good enough till his ight time feed but now he literally fights me the moment I get him into the dark room. I try to get him into the bedroom when he starts showing signs of sleepiness but something just snaps when he gets to the bed. I have tried putting him in the crib when he is drowsy but awake but he starts crying and I have to get him into my arms again. Then his cries just keep getting worse as he gets sleepier and literally starts thrashing in my arms or in the crib. I tried cosleeping in a sleeping nest, keeping him as cool as I can to avoid overheating but no change. He is formula fed. I have tried using a projector to ease him into the darkness which I shut off after a bit. He gets a massage before his sleep time and I sing him lullabies at bedtime. I understand this is possibly sleep regression but I am at the end of my tether. He sleeps well through the night, waking for feeds and diaper change once he is asleep but the initial sleep is making me pull my hair and cry myself. His cries when am trying to get him to sleep are so pitiable, as though am torturing him and it breaks my heart to go through this every night. Any advice is appreciated..

I'm also first time mom with a four month old. Two ideas:

1. Is it possible that your baby is still hungry or has digestive discomfort when you take him into the room for bed? My four month old will seem to be perfectly happy and comfortable until he realizes the next thing is sleeping. I think he then turns from thinking about play to thinking about how his body feels. I've even had situations where he is so tired because I misjudged when he needed to take a nap and I put him down nearly asleep but he can't quite fall asleep (though he tries) because something is still too uncomfortable for him to properly settle. When he freaks out when he knows he's going to be put down for a nap or bedtime, I think he's letting me know that he has a need I should pay attention to. I'll note that to address the digestive discomfort, I spend quite a bit of time massaging his tummy and wiggling his hips/bum to get the gas bubbles out (through burps/heavy breaths or farts - either end is fine with me ). Doing this doesn't keep him from crying but it does allow him to eventually be comfortable enough to sleep.
2. If he is not uncomfortable and is truly concerned about going into the room and being put to bed, maybe you could have a short play time in the room before you put him down. To keep it low stimulation and avoid the blue light in regular lighting, you could use a red night light or LED smart light bulbs that allow you to change the colour and brightness. He might then associate the room with something fun and relaxing.

4 month sleep regression

My little girl is going to be 4 months in a week and she's been acting similar... she's also refusing to finish her bottle at times. She used to sleep through the night and now she wakes up for a feed at least once and struggles to go back to sleep at times. Must be the sleep regression. How are your wee ones doing physically ? Head control, tummy time, rolling etc?

Hi all and thanks for your responses and advice. He is having decent head control, can roll over with a little initial help and tries to sit up straight when he is supported .I guess he doesn't like my style of putting him to sleep - seems better when DH sings nonsensical songs and puts the night projector lights on. I wish he dint start crying the moment I tried anything tho.