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Original poster

4m sleep regression

12 replies

Kafri · 01/05/2013 01:57

right it appears to have hit. so, whats the best way to handle?

last night and tonight he woke at 1 and I simply moved him back to his usual place in his cot (for a non mobile baby he seems pretty mobile overnight) and he settled again. last night he settled through til 6am, tonight not so. he has been awake again at 1.30ish but didn't need me to go in.
I guess my question is what do I do if I do need to go in to him? it may seem a silly question but the thing is - when he goes to bed, he settles much better if I pop him down awake than if I rock him to sleep - in fact, rocking him takes an absolute age and thats if he drops off at all.

so, do I go in and try to rock back to sleep? do I take him downstairs and offer a feed? do I let him cry a little and see if he settles himself again? if I let him cry a little - how long is acceptable? and if he doesn't settle - what then?

sorry if it sounds like a ridiculous post but its a genuine question, what do I do for the best?

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Loubyloulou88 · 01/05/2013 02:57

I share your pain! My 3mo ds had just gone from sleeping between 6-8 hours to now waking every 2 after his initial 4 hour chunk when put to bed Hmm! He's exclusively breastfed so I'm just feeding him till he drops back off as he doesn't settle any other way. Can't offer any advice but you're not alone, and hope it soon passes for you (and us!).

lazzaroo · 01/05/2013 05:51

Our 4month olds sleep has got ridiculous. Woke 5 times last night! I just fed her back to keep each time because I am so tired and it's quickest option, plus I'm home on my own as DH works away 3 days a week. We also have dd1 who I don't want waking up. But, dd2 also seems tothink it's reasonable to wake at 5.20...on the dot...every morning. So, I'm shattered and need it to change - somehow!

Waking at 1am and re-settling till 6am sounds like heaven to me!

lazzaroo · 01/05/2013 05:52

Our 4month olds sleep has got ridiculous. Woke 5 times last night! I just fed her back to keep each time because I am so tired and it's quickest option, plus I'm home on my own as DH works away 3 days a week. We also have dd1 who I don't want waking up. But, dd2 also seems tothink it's reasonable to wake at 5.20...on the dot...every morning. So, I'm shattered and need it to change - somehow!

Waking at 1am and re-settling till 6am sounds like heaven to me!

lazzaroo · 01/05/2013 05:53

Oh dear! Can only blame my poor sleep deprived brain for posting that twice! My DD is ebf by the way.

Original poster
Kafri · 01/05/2013 11:05

well he woke at 1.30 (settled himself) 3.00 (cried properly so offered feed) and then up for the day at 6.

I huess I don't know what the 'rules' are but I do know that he's not one for being rocked to sleep.

He's been a brillian sleeper since about 10 weeks and before this staryed was sleeping 8.30 - between 5.30 & 7.30.

before you all curse me - his early weeks were absolutely atrocious. I have never known a baby scream so much in my life - literally 15 hours a day easy. and now, he may have been a good sleeper (up to now) but he's a very whiny and demanding baby. always have to be working to keep him on the right side of happy so I certainly don't have it easy - lol.

Anyone know how long this sleep regression lark lasts? and how bad it gets??Grin

good luck to all in same boat.x

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Loubyloulou88 · 01/05/2013 11:45

I've read that babies go through developmental leaps, and these leaps can co-inside with unsettled behaviour. If you google The Wonder Weeks it goes into detail about these leaps and what our babies may be experiencing. Doesn't give firm answers but does help to understand a little more about their behaviour and fussiness. Similar to yours, last night my LO went to bed at 9pm, woke at 1am, again at 3am and 5am. But it was only last week that he slept from 9:30pm to 5:30am. Things can change so quickly!

I has also read that the better they nap in the day, the better they sleep at night, and at the moment he's hardly day napping at all, which could explain the poor sleep through the night. Does your little one day nap well?

Original poster
Kafri · 01/05/2013 14:25

Loubyloulou his naps have always been hit and miss. As a tiny baby he refused to nap at all, instead opting to scream and scream. As he has got that bit older, he now naps better but there is no pattern to it. Sometimes he will only nap for 20 mins, sometimes 2.5 hours and sometimes not at all. I can't keep up with him...

Yesterday was a 'i'm really frazzled but I will not nap longer than 20/30 mins'. Overnight was particularly bad. Today he has napped well and frequently so we'll see what tonight brings later.

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CarlyRose80 · 01/05/2013 20:53

My LO has been going through the so called sleep regression since the beginning of April with no improvement. Some nights I'm up 10 times other 2 or 3. He's gone from sleeping 8-6 with no feed to waking for at least 2 feeds and waking for no other reason the rest of the time. I simple go in and tuck him back in and dummy in, or feed if its that time. It's ridiculous and I can only hope that it changes but he's now 5 months old and its been going on for at least 5 weeks.

Original poster
Kafri · 01/05/2013 21:12

carlyrose oh!! ds is 19 weeks tomorrow - I can't see the end being anywhere near fir me anytime soon. Sad

fingers crossed for you and me

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CarlyRose80 · 01/05/2013 21:38

I'm crossing everything. I'm all out of options and have to just accept it and go with it. He's on solids now as he's not a huge fan of the milk but its not made a massive difference. At the start I was up every hour from when he went to bed now i do get longer between wakings but no where near what you could closely consider sleeping through. Hang in there, I'm sure there's light at the end of the tunnel..........

Poosnu · 01/05/2013 21:47

For us it began about 18 weeks and eventually resolved itself. The night wakings gradually got less frequent and by 6.5 months DD was sleeping through consistently again (and, touch wood, barring illness has slept like a dream since then).

It might have coincided with solids - we introduced protein at the 6 month mark - or that may have made no difference. Who knows.

One thing we did was not to rush to her straight away, leaving for a couple of minutes to grumble as she would sometimes settle herself. (Not full on crying though). Again, who knows if that helped.

It feels like it will never end; there is nothing worse than that feeling of bone aching exhaustion (especially after some blissful weeks of fantastic sleep!) but it will pass.

Loubyloulou88 · 02/05/2013 04:29

Reading this just shows how different each individual baby really can be! I took my LO out in the car yesterday during a trip to the supermarket, and he had a couple of good naps (for the first time in a few days!) and strangely enough he has slept tonight from 9:30pm and just woken now for fist time for feed at 4am!! May be just a coincidence so not going to get too excited, but definitely going to try harder with the day naps today. I hope you find a solution soon, I know how horrible sleep dep can make you feel Confused x

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