Baby regressing at 5 months

[Mushroo]

I’m a FTM and I could be overreacting but just wanted to understand if what I’m experiencing is normal, or if I need a chat with the health visitor.

Up to about 16 weeks my LO was progressing really really well. Babbling away, sleeping through the night, starting to roll from belly to back, rarely fussy. Generally a delight.

However, the last few weeks she seems to have gone backwards? Her sleep is awful, waking every few hours and fighting every nap. Won’t even contact nap without screaming first.

She’s lost all interest in rolling and rarely babbles. Generally a bit whiny / grizzly once she’s been awake for an hour.

Shes still very smiley and laughs a lot, and has discovered her feet, but I just feel this last few weeks have gone downhill a bit.

Does this sound ok? She’s five months next week.

It doesn't sound as if she has gone backwards? just sleeping less, which is to be expected - babies don't "fight sleep"

By fighting sleep I mean getting her down to sleep Is a real struggle.

We watch wake windows and I’ve tried all variations, but she will scream and scream before dozing off. This is not even when we’re trying to get her in the cot, even for contact naps on me she’ll scream, arch her back, flail, everytime.

It’s really getting me down as we’re still on 4 naps a day (30 mins each) so the day just feels like a constant battle. She used to just nod off in my arms with a bit of rocking.

That change coupled with the regressing in babbling and rolling is worrying me a bit.

I would stop trying to make her nap! Why are you doing that? How would you react if someone kept trying to make you nap when you were wide awake! As to other movements, there are many movements and reflexes that come and go, depending on weight and strength - most newborns can make stepping movements, for example, but lose the ability when their legs get heavier, then regain the ability later. Similarly rolling can be the result of uncontrolled movements, that stop as movements become more controlled. Then start again as a more controlled movement.

A lot of people on here will poo poo it, but Google leaps in babies.

4-5 months is a common time for sleep to go to pot.

The back arching could suggest reflux which peaks around 4 months and could explain some of the sleep.

Babies are an ever changing beast and rarely is development linear it's a continued guessing game. I never got on with awake windows as my daughter had irregular awake windows. She could go 4h between 2 naps but then only have an hour between other naps. For 6 weeks around 4-5 months every Tuesday she had a 6h nap stirring now and then to relatch and have a little feed.

@leftkneeonbackwards shes not wide awake that’s the issue. She’s definitely tired. If I didn’t try to make her nap she will just become even more hysterical.

Ive tried leaving her but she ends up staying awake for 4 hours when I took that approach, upset for most of it. Her natural wake window is definitely about 2 hours. (If we’re out that’s when she’ll fall asleep in her pram).

Good point about about the rolling, and I’ll look into leaps.

I don’t know, I just feel the last few weeks have become really hard and she seems unhappier too.

She could be teething.

@Mushroo As PP said this is a common time for sleep to get worse before it gets better (4 month sleep regression!) My DD is just coming out the other side of it at nearly 6 months. Started to consolidate naps, sleeping better at night etc.

I’d say she sounds overtired. Get her down for her naps a bit earlier. When she is getting whiny/grizzly. Even if this is just after an hour. My DD can only just make it to two hours awake now she is nearly 6 months.

I really wouldn't worry - they go through all sorts of phases. It might be the start of teething - makes them so unhappy x

Sounds like 4 month sleep regression. It’s the worst one. Babies and children’s sleep isn’t linear, it gets better and worse all the time. It can be completely normal for them to go from sleeping through the night to not.

"Regression" is a stretch. She's only been on the planet 5 months. She could be teething, going through a change in sleep patterns, neurons firing all over the shop in her head, figuring out that her hands belong to her and she can wiggle her fingers, literally growing bones and organs by the second.

Just go with it.

@Yourethebeerthief youre right. She is very very into touching and reaching atm. It’s so easy to forget how small she is.

Just struggling right now I think with her getting harder to entertain coupled with lack of sleep!

Try your best to just go with it because it's a different phase every week x

My DD turned 5 months yesterday and sounds very very similar!
She's always been a bit of a pain for naps but the last week/2 weeks have been the worst, won't sleep without full on screaming before. I was really beginning to worry I'm doing something wrong!

Similar with movements and babbling too. She's stopped showing any interest in rolling, annoyingly just as she'd learnt to go front to back! She also used to have really cute baby chatter which has been replaced with a high pitched, headache inducing squeal 🫠🫠 I'm hoping it gets better soon!

Sounds like the four months sleep regression to me. My DD slept brilliantly until 4 months then it all went to pot! Hang in there, it will get better but may take some time for her to settle into a new pattern. In the meantime can you get her to sleep in the pram by taking her for walks or the car maybe?

@FirstT1meMum so glad it’s not just me. I’m finding this phase really difficult.

I worked so hard on not feeding to sleep for naps, and now she will scream and scream unless I feed her so we’re in a bad cycle. Zero self settling and I can’t leave her with anyone else, not even DH.

She will sleep in the pram, hates the car seat, so when the weather is miserable it’s awful.

I know it's hard buts she's only 5 months old. You could be a while yet before she can settle her self. I didn't do sleep training until mine was one. Until then it was all contact naps and pram walks. At least we're heading into the better weather now so there should be more dry days. Take yourself out to a café and let her sleep in the pram while you have a cup of tea and cake! I never had one but friends of mine highly recommend the rockit

This sounds totally normal. I’m on number 3 and it reliably all goes to pot for me around 4-5 months. Their sleep cycle changes around this time and it’s generally referred to as the 4 month sleep regression. It feels like going back to square one sometimes. Google it.

It’s totally normal for babies to need help getting to sleep and they do get grumpy when they don’t have enough but it’s not easy to establish good sleep so just keep at it. It helps to have a consistent bedtime routine and consistent nap routine. Once it’s established it’s worth it.

Thanks all that it’s normal. I’ve read up on the 4 month regression and thought we were through it as she went back to 7 hour stretches when we were on holiday last week.

Get back home and we’re back at square one! We have a bedtime and nap time routine, but currently she will only sleep if fed to sleep. Any other attempts lead to meltdown.

So tricky! Probably need to remember it’s just a phase and keep trying the routine.

babies don't "fight sleep"

LOL!!!

what is funny? Of course they don't "fight sleep". They don't have the faintest idea what sleep is, they don't know when they are doing it and they don't know when they have done it. What is funny is people thinking babies can magically understand this alien concept.

Do you seriously think a baby knows that is has been unconscious? or that it should be? Or that is what a parent is trying to achieve?

Of course they don't.

She might not have known it was sleep that she was trying to avoid but my daughter definitely fought her eyes closing! The days of 7 minutes naps still haunt me!
She's nearly 4 now and definitely is still the same. Sleep is for the weak has been "her" motto since she was born. If course it never was her motto it was me projecting grown up concepts on to her. She loved sleep until 3 weeks on and since then it was something she has needed support accessing. That said I struggle to sleep if I'm not in a bed/room with another person.

No I don't think that but having spent the past couple of weeks watching my evidently tired/overtired 4 month old baby fail to fall asleep your post made me laugh (between tears).

Fighting sleep is sure as hell what it looks like. I'm not saying that's his aim but he's definitely not succumbing to his tiredness or relaxing into it or letting himself fall asleep.

Im intersted in what you would call it/what do think is happening. I'd love to be able to help him succumb.

I'm having exactly the same problem (mine is 4 months old) so following with interest

My LB is 6 months and this stage is so tough (I remember it being hard with my first). They are now ‘alert’ and need entertaining but basically can’t do anything so it’s hard to keep them happy without winding them up in my experience. I’ve got a cat-napper so he’s still in 5 naps a day sometimes (like yesterday when he got up at 4:30am 😭). At least it’s summer and the mornings are light. Things change fast so I try not to dwell too much on how good / bad the current phase is… the only thing you know is that it won’t be like this for long 😂