4 month sleep regression... what do I do?

[Nocluesue87]

Hi Mums, my first born baby has just hit the dreaded 4 month sleep regression. We had been doing well sleep wise up to this point, he was going down 8 - 4 then would wake for a feed and go back down until about 7.30. But now he’s sleeping 8 - 1 and then is up every 2 hours! I’m currently breastfeeding (topped up with 2 bottles) and I was advised by the health visitor to feed him when he wakes as it’s his way of building up my milk supply... it’s been 2 1/2 weeks now and I’m worried that I’m just getting him into a bad habit of needing milk every two hours in the night.
Does anyone have any advise on whether I’m doing the right thing or if I should try and nip it in the bud before it becomes harder to get out of the habit? And if so, any tips on how to overcome the 2 hour wake ups? TIA x

I have no idea but I am right there with you. I am on week five of hourly wake ups and it is killing me. DS will only sleep with my boob in his mouth and I really don't like co-sleeping.
Hopefully someone will be along with an idea because I am all out.

I think it's fairly normal. They grow so much in their first year they need a lot of feeding, and you produce more at night so it's a critical time. I coslept so that I could feed on my side and we could both settle back down quickly. My son got quite good at feeding himself and not really disturbing me when he was a bit older. Try not to reach for your phone when you wake as you will come round too much and struggle to get back to sleep.

No tips on how to overcome the frequent wakings but rest assured- it will end!! It’s exhausting while it’s happening, I remember it very, very well (3 DDs and each one of them hit that 4 month mark HARD!), all I can say is if you have any opportunity to hand baby to partner/anyone else to get some rest during the day, then do it. There’s not an awful lot you can do otherwise. Re: feeding, I breastfed all of mine and they would wake every 2 hours around this time too, I would feed them back to sleep. It was exhausting but it passed, and it didn’t make them all terrible sleepers. In fact, they’re all great now! I hope your little one figures it out soon for you!

Me too, OP. Marking the thread in case of any miracle wisdom!

I'm in it too. It's shit. Takes forever to sleep (naps and night) than wakes up with a few mins. Just a constant battle to sleep.

My LO is now 6 months but we done the 4 month regression & it was awful. It lasted about 2 weeks & unfortunately no matter what I did we just had to ride the storm 😭 I know it’s not what you want to hear but it gets better! I’m now at the dreaded teething stage & sleep has been hard, but I bought this pillow spray & he slept wonders last night!

www.boots.com/my-little-coco-sleepy-head-sweet-dreams-pillow-mist-150ml-10292383

I have had the same issue with my almost 6 month old. The 4 month sleep regression hit over Christmas and had lasted about 6 weeks with a wake up every 2 hours.

I was broken until last week when I started sleep training. He’s now up at 12am and 4am only which feels like a massive improvement! I hated sleep training but with a toddler and a husband who works 70+ hours a week it wasn’t fair to not try it. We have also dropped the dummy as a sleep association which helps as he can now self settle without it.