15 week old suddenly unsettled

[bleachblondemom]

DS is 15 weeks old, since last week he has become very unsettled and struggles to stay asleep in the day. I used to be able to get him to sleep in his cot for one sleep cycle (45 mins) but now he wakes up as soon as I put him down, which upsets him greatly because he is very tired but I’ve just ruined his nap by putting him down! He has started doing that at bedtime as well, it’s taking us an hour to get him to bed as he wakes up when he’s put down the first time and then needs resettling. In the sling during the day he normally does 1-2 hours but now I can only get him to do that if I’m constantly moving, and even then he will normally start crying at one point and need resettling. Or after about half an hour in it he just cries and won’t go back to sleep even though he’s still tired. Another way I’ve always been able to get him to take a long nap was to walk him in the pram for an hour, then he would stay asleep in the pram at home. But this is very hit & miss now and half the time he wakes up as soon as I bring him home, even if I walked him past one sleep cycle and got him to link to the second.
At night once he is settled he sleeps through the night which is great, but he’s waking up 1-2 hours earlier than he normally does, which then sets him up for a really long day of short naps that just aren’t good enough, so by the end of the day he is tired and cranky.
Could he be hitting the 4 month sleep regression early?

Sounds like it. Sleeping through the night sounds amazing!

It is good so I know I shouldn’t complain but the late bedtimes and early risings means he’s giving himself a much longer day and it’s full of really short naps that just aren’t refreshing him properly :( by mid afternoon his eyes look so tired and it makes me feel so sad for him. I keep meaning to put him to bed a bit earlier but I’m afraid he’ll just be up even earlier in the morning!

Would he stay asleep if you held him? Mine (also 15 weeks today) will still only nap on me (or the car!)

I could have written this OP - my baby is 16 weeks and exactly the same. He sleeps brilliantly at night (albeit wakes early) but I cannot seem to get the napping right - just as you describe. People keep telling me to be grateful he sleeps at night and of course I am because that’s great for me, but it’s not great for him that he can’t nap - he’s so tired in the day, and surviving on little cat naps here and there.

I don’t have any advice because I obviously haven’t sussed it and am trying all the things you suggest, but I’m sending lots of sympathy and big cups of tea

@CloudFormations ah thank you! Up until last week we were making really good progress with day time naps and suddenly it’s all gone out the window 😫 hope it’s just a phase! He normally is in his cot for 9pm but last night it took til nearly 10pm to get him down, and he hasn’t slept later to make up for it so there’s an hour he’s lost already!
@daisiesanddaffodils yeah he sleeps in my arms but only once sleep cycle. The only way to link his cycles is if he’s in the pram or sling but these two things aren’t always working like they used to. It’s like he’s suddenly become very sensitive and easy to wake, which I think I’ve read is a symptom of the 4 month sleep regression.