4 month sleep regression

[saamantha19881]

Hello! I have a 4 month EBF baby. He has always slept wonderfully. Usually he goes from 7-3am, has a quick feed and then goes back till 6, or 7. This has happened for a few months... We are very lucky.
However, the dreaded 4 month sleep regression has occured and it's a nightmare to get him to sleep and he wakes every hour during the night?
Before it started I was under the impression the 4 month regression was temporary and you had to ride the wave and it will be temporary.
However, the more I am reading the more i get the impression he will never go back to how he was without sleep training.
I keep going to start (obviously a very gentle technique like pay shush). But, I am wondering if I am massively overthinking it and if I just ride the storm for a few more weeks he will get better naturally?
Any experience?

I'd ride it out personally - he will go back to sleeping and you don't need to sleep train. There's a lot of evidence that shows sleep training only works as a temporary "fix" and that although babies stop crying, they're still in distress and still have needs overnight.

My 5.5 month old is seemingly just coming to the end of it now. She slept through from 8 weeks til about 4 months, then started waking 2,3,4, 5 times a night. She's EBF, I started bed sharing with her as the only way to get a bit of sleep. Last night she went 10pm til 2.50am in her bed, quick feed, then back in her bed til 6.30am.

The last week I'd say she's gradually been dropping the wakings from 5+ per night at the peak to 2 or 3.

Follow foxandthemooninfantsleep, littlenestsleep, and secondstarttotheright_sleep on Instagram to help your sanity while you go through this.

It's so tough, but hang in there. It gets better! Xx

You're massively overthinking it Have a look at Kathryn Stagg and Lyndsey Hookway on Instagram. All will be fine. My baby is three weeks into it and there is no need to do anything but wait for it to naturally end. Our babies just need us more atm.

It will regulate out again OP, although it's bloody hard while it lasts. Our DS was always a shoddy sleeper to varying degrees and didn't sleep through until 3 years old. Our DD (currently 6 months old) was a dream as a newborn - slept through reliably from 7 weeks, until about 3 weeks ago when it all went to pot and she took forever to get down, woke every hour throughout the night and then took ages to settle each time. Just as I thought I was at breaking point two teeth popped through as she's instantly sleeping much better again. I've never used sleep training with either children, and whilst I subscribed to "sleep regressions" and "developmental leaps" quite heavily with DS (I think mainly because I liked the sense of certainty that gave me that it would end!) I've realised that each child is different and their sleep patterns do change for a variety of reasons. I know it's really tough now but I'll bet your little one starts sleeping better again soon. Good luck riding it out until then 😊

Ugh scratch that, we were back to almost hourly wakes last night 😬
I think her belly is hurting as we've just started weaning and she's been really gassy. It's one thing after another with their sleep isn't it!

It doesn't end, but it stabilises.

It took us well over 2 years to return to how sleep was before the regression, but it didn't stay THAT bad for long either.

I don't think sleep training is appropriate for a baby this young - waking is developmentally normal for them.

You had a great start to parenthood with sleep, and if it comes back, then great, but if not, it doesn't, and you are now back in the same non sleep boat as most of us. Basically, be thankful and the his times, and remember the bad ones will pass eventually.

My baby never slept that well prior to the 4 month regression - lucky to get a run of 4 hours! Then started waking 1-2 hourly. Ours lasted 2 weeks and then baby started sleeping through the night so it actually helped afterwards. I just kept with the same night time/nap routine and tried to nap during the day. I hope it passes quickly for you