4 month sleep regression - tips?

[Rosiebun]

Hi all,

I have a 15 week old who I think is starting with the 4 month sleep regression. Previously slept 8.30pm - 6am, now falling asleep around 8.30/9pm still but multiple wake ups in the night and up for the day at 5, also napping for 30 minutes on the dot through the day - if she does nap that is as she’s mostly refusing them!!

I’m a first time mum and feel a bit embarrassed to say I don’t really know what I’m doing, if she wakes up in the night I do feed her but I don’t want to create a feed to sleep association so I’m not really sure how I should handle the wake ups? Should I just be giving her a cuddle, shushing and trying to get her to go back to sleep? The only problem is this takes forever and she can’t self settle very well, should I be introducing some very gentle sleep training through the day? Any idea where I start with this? We don’t really have the money to pay for a sleep consultant. Any tips or advice would be appreciated!

thanks so much

When she wakes at night is she full on crying or just a little unsettled?

@BunnyRuddington she rarely cries in the night, she’s usually just unsettled or fidgety

I’ve just seen that you've had a few MNers give you advice about just leaving her if she’s just fidgeting. Have you tried laying a hand gently in her tummy to see if that helps her to settle?

I think I woukd try and sort out her daytime naps at the moment. I always found that sleep begets sleep so have a look at the No Cry Nap Solution.

Are you getting enough feeds in during the day too?

Will your baby take a dummy? At this age my partner would settle wakes before a certain time (day 2am), then I would feed, then same till 5am, feed, sleep again... That way I found that baby was pretty full & milk-drunk and more likely to link up sleep cycles.

It well get better, settling with a gentle hand is a good idea from PP, and even just giving it a minute to see if the baby self-settles.

@BunnyRuddington I think she’s past the point where I can leave her now. She usually fidgets for 5/10 minutes and if I leave her she’ll start whinging, not full on crying but still making noises as if she wants something. I’ve tried putting my hand on her but that doesn’t seem to help, the only thing that helps her settle really is her dummy. In terms of day time feeds, she has 5oz roughly every 2/2.5 hours which I feel is enough, but I could try offering her 6oz to see if she takes it

@OtterMummy2024 yes she has a dummy and it does usually settle her to be honest, but then she’ll wake up again an hour or so later and the process will repeat until I feed her, which as you say makes her milk drunk and sleepy!