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Original poster

4 month sleep regression! Share your experiences please!

37 replies

Riri85 · 03/02/2015 10:36

Hi everyone,
We are currently going through the hell on earth known as the four month sleep regression and I am tearing my hair out (it's a couple of weeks in)
Just to give you an idea of our situation-
LO goes down after a feed between half 6/7 drowsy but not asleep
We then dream feed her last thing before we go to bed
Typically she wakes around 2/3 for another feed
LO then wakes around 4am crying and is awake (shouting/crying) intermittently until I give up and get her up at half 6ish after both me and the OH having been up and down like yo yos!
All of this has come after a good couple of months of LO going down at half 6/7 and waking once for a feed in the night then waking again at 8am!
LO does have a dummy at night and I am wondering if that has anything to do with it so we took it away for one night and it was awful-the only thing we could do to console her was give her the dummy!
Also we've tried leaving her to cry for 10 minutes or so but she just gets more distressed!Confused
We have looked up tips for getting through the dreaded 4 month regression but have found there are hardly any!
I am considering using the CIO technique properly but would obviously rather not have to (although it's looking like the only option)
So what I am really asking is-what was your experience like? How long did it last? How did you maintain your sanity?
Answers on a postcard please!

OP posts:
Greenstone · 09/02/2015 14:55

Meant to say my 14 week old appears to have started it now too so Brew Brew

solenneguest · 09/02/2015 20:12

Will do riri, quite set on starting on Friday so wish me luck :-) really pleased to hear your sleep training is going well. I expect many tears (including tons of mine) but I'm convinced it is at least with l worth a proper try!!

Dazedconfused · 09/02/2015 20:51

We are coming out the other side I think at 19 weeks but it was a rough ride having had a baby who slept through from 6 weeks until 13 weeks then completely forgot how to do it...! My wee one is still waking once in the night and I am trying to push it to later but it is so much better and weirdly I think the regression has forced us into a better night time routine. I agree with the pp who says you just have to accept it. I think you being relaxed about it helps baby to be relaxed. The one small problem I have is that my wee one tends to roll over when she wakes in the night so she needs rolled back over (wont sleep on her belly) and wants to feed because she wakes up more once I roll her back

Dazedconfused · 09/02/2015 20:52

We are coming out the other side I think at 19 weeks but it was a rough ride having had a baby who slept through from 6 weeks until 13 weeks then completely forgot how to do it...! My wee one is still waking once in the night and I am trying to push it to later but it is so much better and weirdly I think the regression has forced us into a better night time routine. I agree with the pp who says you just have to accept it. I think you being relaxed about it helps baby to be relaxed. The one small problem I have is that my wee one tends to roll over when she wakes in the night so she needs rolled back over (wont sleep on her belly) and wants to feed because she wakes up more once I roll her back

Dazedconfused · 09/02/2015 20:52

We are coming out the other side I think at 19 weeks but it was a rough ride having had a baby who slept through from 6 weeks until 13 weeks then completely forgot how to do it...! My wee one is still waking once in the night and I am trying to push it to later but it is so much better and weirdly I think the regression has forced us into a better night time routine. I agree with the pp who says you just have to accept it. I think you being relaxed about it helps baby to be relaxed. The one small problem I have is that my wee one tends to roll over when she wakes in the night so she needs rolled back over (wont sleep on her belly) and wants to feed because she wakes up more once I roll her back

Dazedconfused · 09/02/2015 20:53

I have no idea why that has posted 3 times I only wrote it once and pressed post once. sorry about that my Internet us playing up today

Riri66 · 09/02/2015 20:55

Haha! That's ok Dazed! Glad to hear you are now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!

Carks31 · 10/02/2015 21:03

My DS is 32 weeks old, and our experience of the 4 month sleep regression was fairly typical of those mentioned above. It really does come like a bolt right out of the blue and I hadn't appreciated just how well he had actually been sleeping up to that point! Ours hit at about 16 weeks. The worst part of waking every 45/60 minutes lasted about a fortnight then another 4 weeks I'd say until back into a "normal" routine which is asleep for 8, dream feed when we go up at 10:30, wake for a feed between1:30-3:30 (has been getting gradually later so fingers crossed that one will slip soon), then sleeping through to 6:30 when DH gets up for work. At that point he comes in bed with me and we snooze for around another 2 hours. No real advice I'm sorry other than 1. It's normal and 2. There is light at the end of the tunnel I promise!

If you're interested in the sciencey / developmental side of things The Wonder Weeks is well worth a read. It explains what's happening to your baby during these fussy stages, the skills they are learning etc. I found this helped me and DH stay sane as we became more aware that the crying wasn't due to anything we were / weren't doing and it was brilliant to start to notice the little milestones. It also gives you a heads up of when to expect your baby to go through these fussy stages which certainly helped me mentally prepare for the 6 month one (lasted a few days and wasn't a patch on the 4 month one! ).

Riri66 · 10/02/2015 21:08

Hi Clarks-thanks for the post! Have got the WW app but not the book although it is very insightful! The 6 month one-Confused been told there's a 9 month one too!

Sofshiz · 10/02/2015 23:03

Riri66 thanks for your advice and reply.

When I tried the CIO method I did go in every 5 minutes to sooth and calm her down but it was getting worse each time. She was choking whilst crying so badly so I just couldn't let her carry on. I just don't think it's right for us.

Last night was better and I done two things differently. 1) I gave her a small amount of baby rice mixed with breast milk before bed and 2) I put a small soft bunny toy next to her arm which she used to sooth herself back to sleep when she woke up. She went 4 hours without waking which is a record for us.

I know you're meant to wait for 6 months before giving them anything other than milk but I just knew she was not filling up on milk despite feeding around the hour!

I hope tonight is the same. I really need some zzzzZZZ

Sofshiz · 10/02/2015 23:05

Oh and I turned up the white noise slightly as I used to have it quite low so probably defeated the point of having it on

Original poster
Riri85 · 15/02/2015 18:55

Hello all,
So how's the sleep regression going? Solenne and Sof how are you both getting on?
LO is better at night however nap times are not good! She screams the house down as soon as I put her gro-bag on and she loses it as soon as we enter her room ?? it's making me feel really guilty but she needs her sleep in the day or otherwise she is a cranky overtired baby!
Anyone with a similar experience?

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