4month old sleep regression?

[GEM33]

Hi, I just want a bit or reassurance please. My 4mnth DD co sleeps (bedside co sleeper bed and sometimes in our bed if breastfed and too tired to move in early hours!). I want to know if you think I'm messing my child up for life!! We do have a pattern/routine to our day as in get up around 7am, feed, play back to bed 9am sometimes sleep til 1130am (I know what you are going to say) and follow the pattern of wake, feed, play nap through the day and bath at about 6ish. hOWEVER!! baby tends to stay downstairs with us until any time between 10-midnight when we go up. She will be feeding or napping in her swing or playing with us. Then she feeds to sleep.
Do you think I should be swapping her sleep round so those 3 hours are in the evening rather than napping until 1130am? If so HOW?!!I dont know how I would go about this because I try to wake her earlier and I cant. she has slept sitting upright in my hands before now.
Recently she wakes every hour after going to bed at night and she sucks my boob back to sleep every 1 - 2 hours so by morning she isnt hungry and so the vicious circle continues of not having enough calories in the day to sleep soundly at night. I have tried rocking her to sleep or giving a dummy but she wont take this and wakes even more and cries until she gets boob. (I AM NOT leaving her to cry its too stressful for both of us). I think this is the sleep regression thing coz she doesnt take a proper feed just enough until she is asleep again. - does this regression thing pass?
I have read gina ford and tracey hogg but in the end, I have just muddled through and let DD tell me what she wants and until this month, we were kind of following the gina ford routine anyway as that was her natural pattern.
I'm worried that when i wean her she wont be able to sleep without boob or that I am doing things drastically wrong. (I worry about everything through the day, have I sung enough to her, am i stimulating her enough/ too much, has she had too much fresh air etc etc etc!!!!)
I would just like to know if anyone else has done similar and now has a success story.

My DD (now 8mo) followed a fairly similar pattern - going to sleep for the night at around 11pm and having her longest nap in the morning until around 11am. Looking back, the first nap was just an extension of night sleep for her (I think they tend to have a 12 hour cycle).

I used to stress about getting her to bed for the night earlier (having read too many parenting books). In the end it just happened gradually by itself - she started falling asleep earlier and earlier and at 4 months she was going to bed around 8pm. Now she sleeps 7pm till 6am and just has a catnap in the morning.

I honestly wouldn't worry about trying to swap the 3 hours around. In the end she will get the sleep she needs.

We hit the 4 month sleep regression too. It was such a shock! DD went from sleeping though to waking every 2 hours, and needed feeding back to sleep. I just rode it out and by 6 months she was sleeping through again. Now we're just waiting for the 8 month regression to hit.

It sounds like you're doing a fantastic job.

Thanks for that, like you say you read too many advice books and worry youre going wrong. In the end you cant force them to go to sleep and wake up if they dont want to eh!!

Saying that, she slept last night with only one wake up for feed, it was like heaven getting 3 hours sleep in one stretch....before kids I never thought I would think 3 hours was bliss!!! ha ha

Sorry I have to let off steam somewhere, AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I just want some sleep ;-( Up all night again, still not feeding well in the day, even in a dark boring room life is too interesting and she is pulling my nipples to look round - so Im sore and she isnt stocking up on food, then at night she just wants to be on my boob allllllllllllll night long. Beyond a joke now. got a head ache, sick of hearing how my friends bottle fed baby is sleeping 8pm til 9am. we used to sleep through some nights at 3 months..its all gone tits up literally, Im so tired, I seem to remember life was easier when she was new born! everyone keeps saying it gets easier?!! when ? when they hit 18 and leave home - aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Praying for a few hours tonight.

sympathies - have 17 week old who is all over the place as well (not that she has a routine as such - 3 year old sister and 2 complicated parental schedules have seen to that); evenings are a bit crap - up and down all the time...and we had been down to one wake-up - she was going off around 8, waking at 1, and then up at 7...I miss it

DS born 19/11/11 - is also going through this so you have my sympathies. On our baby group there are about 5 or 6 of us all going through the same thing, hourly feeds through the night when they had been almost sleeping through. We are all going with it as being 4 month sleep regression - feels so much better when there are quite a few of us experiencing the same thing.

I am totally exhausted, have 7 & 10 years olds as well so having to be up doing things with them now cos its Easter.

Hello, I'm sorry to hear of your sleep troubles, though it makes me feel better to know I'm not the only one struggling with night times at this age. DS goes doen at 8/8:30 and sleeps soundly until about 1 and then wakes up every two hours, or less if I'm especially unlucky. I'm feeling absolutely exhausted, have read as much as I can take of parenting books, refuse to do crying and other horrible tortuous strategies and am desperately hoping that things will improve. I must say though that I liked the no-cry sleep solution book just because Elizabeth Pantley doesn't make you feel bad about feeding to sleep...

Im sorry but glad like you say to hear other people going through the same. Up again last night. Had given calpol coz teeth were bothering (none through yet) but she just wanted to be stuck to me and every time i put her down she woke. it was actually funny last night, strangley, i have no sense of humour today....
I'll have a look at that book. thanks mammahippo.
busy boys mum-dunno how you cope, i honestly dont think i could go through this again never mind 3 times, i wanted at least 4 kids before we started - now i just really think i would fall apart with more!!

I wish mine would go down at 8 even til 1. i do everything right, about 6/7pm the relaxing bath, a bit of massage with baby oil, calming lullabies, same old routine and she has an hour nap but then its like she is on a second wind and usually is awake for 4 hours and at nearly dead on midnight every night falls asleep.

Thanks for the encouragement ladies. pats on the back all round, (sorry just remembered to add- even though i been up all night, DH wakes up after 8 full hours and says he is knackered!!!)

Eugh, lack of sleeping in this house too. Have just changed her nappy, shushed patted, kissed her on her head and left her to sing to herself in her cot. Dh has decamped to the spare room .
If one more person tells me to give her a bottle/ leave her to scream I will punch them in the face! Fingers crossed she gives up before I do!