If your baby had 4 month sleep regression, how long did it last?

[Cydonia]

Please tell me there is an end to this!! DS started early, more like 'just over 3 months sleep regression', and is still waking more or less every 2 hours in the night. This has been going on for about 6 weeks! Some nights are better than others and he does generally do 3/4 hours at first but after that it's every couple of hours, sometimes less, then usually up for the day at 7am. He hardly naps either, though again some days are better than others. He sprouted 2 teeth a couple of weeks ago and is still dribbly and chewing on his fingers but no sign of any more.

I read somewhere else on here that how they first fall asleep at night impacts on the rest of the night wakings. Well, I put him down sleepy but awake, hover for a bit then leave him to self settle and he does. But he doesn't do it in the night! ( actually a couple of times he has ) He feeds to sleep during the night, but not any other times. For naps he is either in the car, swing or bouncy chair or sometimes self settles in his carry cot.

Is there anything I can do?! Or does it normally last this long and I just have to be patient? My HV suggested gradually starting on baby rice at 20 weeks ( he's 19 weeks now ) but I can't see how that will help his sleep? DP seems set on how he is going to magically sleep through when he starts solids!

Give me hope please!!

I BF almost every time DS wakes. I figured that as he usually feeds for about 20 mins, then goes back to sleep he is genuinely hungry and not just needing it as a sleep aid. It's also easier than trying to shush him, his cries just get louder! I usually give him 5 mins before I go to him ( if he's just whinging on and off ) and occasionally he'll go back to sleep.

We're actually not doing too badly, generally in bed about 8.30pm then up twice, sometimes 3 times in the night and up for the day around 7am. Last night we both slept from 11 til 4, which I reckon
counts as sleeping through?! It was probably a fluke though. One thing I have noticed though is less crying in general. DS would nearly always have some sort of meltdown before bed, but now goes down pretty easily. Maybe a sign of him getting gradually more settled? We still have no nap routine so some days he'll have a couple of really short naps, other days twice as much. It doesn't seem to make a difference to his night sleep though so just going with him for now.

More bad news I'm afraid. My DS slept for 10hours a night until 16weeks. He is now 7.5months and on a good night wakes twice and on a bad night it can be hourly. I have tried not feeding him when he was wakes in case it was forming a habit but this just resulted in neither of us getting any sleep. So now I feed him everytime he wakes so when can both get back to bed quickly. I'm hoping things improve soon as I return to work in December.

DD slept through around 12 weeks, then sleep regression hit at 4 months, and she was sleeping through again at 6.5 months. We had three weeks of hourly wakings and outright refusal to settle after feeds in the early hours. I tweaked and tweaked her naps but it made no difference. I fed every waking as it was the quickest way to get her back off to sleep.

@Cydonia a long time ago now but how did you get on? I have a 16 week old baby girl who seems to be having a sleep regression now and waking frequently!

@Gingham17 put them in their own room. Someone told me to do it & I was so apprehensive as she was only 4 months & the HV says not to do it before 6. As soon as I did that she slept through! It's worth a try x

Sorry food makes 0 dofference. Baby rice ia awful. And before 1 food is just for fun. You ahouksnt be aiming to fill up baby with solids that have 0 nutritional value. Milk first and food just to experiment.

Wenontrosuced DS1 to solids at 4.5 due to silent reflux and it worked a treat. But he stipp needednto be nursed to bed and woke up every 45mins -90mins from 3 weeks of age until he was 12months. Then that increased to 2-3 hours. Then weaned at 22months and atartes to sleep longer stretches and then eventually STTN.

I truly don't know! Mine had reflux to add to the chaos, which needed medicating, so sorting that helped, but he woke pretty much every 2-3 hours until he was nearly 13 months old. There were the odd night here and there that he would do 6+ hours, but they were rare. Then just one night completely out of the blue he slept through! He didn't gradually start sleeping longer and waking less, he literally was up every 2-3 hours one night and the next he didn't wake up until the morning.

Hate to say this though, but that wasn't the end of it. We had a glorious few months of good sleep but he's now nearly 2.5yo and I can't remember the last time he spent the whole night in his own bed.

Wow, wasn’t expecting this to pop up on ‘threads I’m on’! Realising DS was cold was a slight gamechanger if that helps anyone.

Scary to think our babies are now 12 and mine is fortunately sleeping better, although 7am is still a long lie!

Sending much strength to those of you in the trenches. This too shall pass. Sleep while the wee gremlins sleep - housework can wait. All the best.