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4 month sleep regression- oh.my.god.

955 replies

hazel88 · 19/06/2015 21:52

So my DD has just hit the 4 month sleep regression hard. It sucks. It really sucks. for a short while she had been doing 6 hour chunks for the first part of the night followed by 1 or 2 wakings after. On the rare occasion she would just wake up once for a feed then that was it. BLISS. She's now waking up more times than I can count and I'm wondering if she'll ever sleep better again. I know about the 4 month sleep regression inside-out but would really appreciate experiences from others who have either gone through it or are going through it. I need some sanity restored...please?!

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hazel88 · 06/07/2015 08:30

That sounds like a great night! And great that she can self-settle.

3am onwards is the worst time for us too.

Yep, I've tried cluster feeding, bringing all feeds forward to 3 hours...it doesn't work. She'll just snack on a few ozs each time and still ends up taking the same amount of milk throughout the day, just snacking. She then snacks through the night and it's all over the place.

on the plus side, she's just had a 1 hour 15 minute nap Grin

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Sycamore76 · 06/07/2015 08:40

Mariloulou - sounds like you have had a better night , that is great .
Hazel - sorry yours was rough, sounds pretty much like mine! I don't think I got any sleep (maybe 45mins here and there) from 3am. She was very grumpy ( which is unlike her ) so I think she was uncomfortable , teeth or wind.

People have said sometimes they sleep better when they sleep on their tummys. I agree that it's prob comfort , they want their mummies ! 12 hours is a long night without us :-) the doctor advised me to wean dd early due to her reflux but I am not sure if this will help her sleep .
Hope tonight is better for us !

hazel88 · 06/07/2015 08:49

DD has reflux and has, some days, had 3 meals although not proper meals as we've only just started but so far it's made no difference!

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hazel88 · 06/07/2015 08:55

And sorry to hear you had a shit night Sad

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Sycamore76 · 06/07/2015 09:03

What did you give her Hazel ? Baby rice ? So tired today , my ears hurt ! Luckily ds is at nursery ...

hazel88 · 06/07/2015 09:14

She wouldn't eat baby rice so tried pureed banana and she liked it. Then pureed mango and she winced haha, have also tried swede, pear (a favourite), sweet potato, and porridge. On today's lunch menu is cauliflower Grin The Ella's kitchen pouches are great. We tried a banana one instead of the baby rice and she loved it. Banana and pear are her favourite.

Oh no, sorry you're so knackered Sad are you likely to get a quick nap at any point today?

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Sycamore76 · 06/07/2015 09:34

Sounds like it's going well. Has it made the reflux better? My son loved avocado and banana and it's quite filling. Will prob try and get a nap this afternoon , lots of chores to do ! Have a good day x

hazel88 · 06/07/2015 09:37

It's hard to tell if it's making a difference as she's on Ranitidine and anti - reflux milk which keeps it well under control. It may help your DD's sleep.

Hope you manage a nap. Have a good day Smile

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Sycamore76 · 06/07/2015 15:06

My dd is on the same medication . Do you have to increase when are gains weight?

hazel88 · 06/07/2015 15:29

Yeah. Although saying that, she hasn't had it for a few days and (touch wood) she seems to be alright!

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Sycamore76 · 06/07/2015 20:27

That's good Hazel . Maybe the weaning has helped ?

I put dd to bed with a White noise teddy . She woke up after 45mins and cried , I was just about to go up and the white noise teddy started playing again and she settled herself back to sleep. I am hoping this will help during night , you never know !

hazel88 · 06/07/2015 20:43

Ooo that sounds good I've never heard of them, does it come on when they cry?!

DD has been a bit grumpy today. She had 2 good 1 hour 15 min naps today with 2 30 min ones. As 30 mins approached on the first 2 naps, I ran upstairs to shush pat before she could wake up and it worked woohoo! Have given her an extra bottle too today to try and fight the hunger! I think the cause for her grumpiness could well be those pesky teeth Sad chew chew chew, gnaw gnaw gnaw, dribble dribble drivble, scream scream scream! Am going to pick up some more ranitidine tomorrow though incase it's that.

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RevoltingPeasant · 06/07/2015 21:28

Hello all!

Hazel I was going to ask if you'd tried hungry baby milk but it guessing if DD is on prescription formula then that's a no go??

Have you all considered No Cry Sleep Solutiom? It is not everyone's cupmof tea but it is suitable for babies under 6 mos. I find her very humane and convincing too. Unlike some people Gina Ford she has had 4 babies!

So tonight was randomly a really tough night in terms of settling. She just. Was. Not. Going. To. Sleep. 1.5 hours! That said, I dealt with it a lot better than I did last time we had such a bad night. And she did fall asleep eventually in her cot without feeding.

We started doing the NCSS settling method about 10 days ago and I would say 7-8 of those days have been very easy to settle her, and only two nights really tough.

Night wakings though.....gah!! We are trying feeding whenever she cries but delatching from nipple before she sleeps and popping her back in sidecar cot. It's really hard to tell what success we're having so far, but I think that although she is getting up the same amount of times she is perhaps going down easier on her own. Difficult to tell at 3am when you've completely lost track of how many billion wake ups there have been :(

So tomorrow we are going to drive to Yorkshire to spend 8 days with DPIL and then DM. Confused so basically a 8 hour drive from where we are, on zilcho sleep,probably, to 2 new environments. I increasingly feel we are insane! She has never spent a night outside home before. What were we thinking??? But too late now, car packed!!

mariloulou · 07/07/2015 08:19

I need a hug :((((

hazel88 · 07/07/2015 08:20

RP, glad you're having an easier time settling! What does the NCSS involve?

We've tried hungry milk but DD didn't like it and it didn't satisfy her- she's used to the super thick reflux milk.

Really hope you have a good journey, hopefully your LO will sleep lots! We're going away next week which will be a 4 hour drive away. I'm already stressing about the journey and having to be so well organised!

another crappy night. ended up bringing DD on to our bed for most of the night. she was far too hot in a vest and 1 tog sleeping bag. she was teething too so was miserable.

I genuinely think her sleep won't ever be good. the best she's ever managed is 6 hours just a couple of times. I feel trapped in a shitty cycle.

hope everyone had better nights.

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hazel88 · 07/07/2015 08:20

mariloulou are you alright?

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mariloulou · 07/07/2015 08:29

Im just so fed up. Don't know how much more I can cope with. DD seemed constantly awake last night. Even in bed with me. DH back on the coach. The naps are still crap, im loosing my temper, DD1 is practically getting ignored all day and I feel ill!!

I don't know what to do :( so sorry to hear you had a rough one too

hazel88 · 07/07/2015 08:54

I'm sorry mariloulou, I totally sympathise. Is it still hot in your room? Are you any closer to DD being in her own room?

I keep having days where I think I can't do this anymore. it's utter monotony feeling so shit day in, day out. I really do think DD's sleep won't ever become good. I'm convinced our only option is sleep training when she's 6 months old. Isn't your DD nearly there? couldn't you try sleep training? As awful as it may be at first, surely you'll feel better afterwards than what you do now so it would be worth it as well as DD feeling more rested.

I feel like I've tried everything and nothing works- DD is just incapable of sleeping properly! since 4.30 this morning she's taken 2oz, she won't take anymore, I think it's due to the discomfort of teething. She's just eaten a whopping bowl of porridge though. I hate seeing her miserable, she's not really smiling at all just grumpy and sleep - deprived!

I keep thinking about when I'm due to return to work. I really can't if we're still in the same situation as now. It may be a case of seeing if the Dr will sign me off as I just wouldn't be able to function at work, I struggle enough at home. Then there's money to worry about Sad

Mariloulou are you able to talk your HV?

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hazel88 · 07/07/2015 08:55

Also, is your DH able to take just 1 day off work? This may help to give you the boost you need for now.

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mariloulou · 07/07/2015 09:40

Oh hazel :( you know when someone else tells you what you should do it sounds so simple doesnt it? Then you actually start to do it and its all complicated and messy. Yes shes ready for sleep training so to speak. Room will be ready to sleep in on Monday ( going to visit my parents this weekend ) im just utterly dreading any sort of training. From what ive tried before its just useless. Hence why I resorted to coping any way I could, feeding to sleep, co sleeping etc. Unfortunately DH can't take anymore time off til August. He has just started a new position so is training etc. Returning to work? Oh god dont mention it. Sep 7th I go back. 12 hr shifts. Only part time but still. We can't afford for me not to go back so I feel so much pressure. Im feeling lower and lower each day. I suffered terribly with pnd with dd1 and she was a dream child!

DD has also just scoffed down a huge bowl of porridge. No interest in milk this morning either. Shes also a bit of a grump this morning but thats not a surprise. Already dreading tonight! Sometimes I wonder if there's any point me even going to bed.

Sycamore76 · 07/07/2015 09:56

Mariloulou , big hugs ! I do hope you are ok,sorry to hear still no improvement .
Revolting - good luck with the trip , hope it goes well. I may luck into Ncss , never heard of it.
Hazel - sorry you had a rubbish night again . My night too was beyond crap! DD slept ok until 12 ish which was good but then was screaming her head off for must of the second half . She refused to nurse (very unlike her ) so I gave calpol as must be the pesky teeth. It was so hard as she only had a small feed at 730pm so I was worried as she didn't eat the entire night . Expressed a bottle this morning as boobs killing me and she wouldn't take that but she had a breast feed but then vomited it all over the bed . I started to get desperate with my ds at this age as even co sleeping didn't work and he was up all night ! I think at this age the teething starts too so that's another thing .... Just been trying for an hour trying to get her to nap which ds hates as he gets zero attention !
The only thing that gets me through this is thinking how lucky j am that she is healthy as if anything ever happened to her ( or ds ) the crappy sleep would be irrelevant . Well it's beyond crappy for us all .

It's so relentless though , sick of feeling like I don't have the energy to get through the day ...

Sycamore76 · 07/07/2015 10:03

I know it's expensive but something that may help is getting a night nanny if you can spare the cash. I would consider it if I wasn't breast feeding as dd refuses a bottle , my friend had one from 9pm- 7am and she did all settling wake ups so she could get a good night sleep . I imagine just one sleep all night would make you feel so much better. Totally worth the money when you are utterly exhausted .

mariloulou · 07/07/2015 10:04

Sycamore I think the teeth are a problem also... what else shall we throw into the works!! I dont want to sleep train when shes in pain but sometimes its hard to know if its just a comfort waking.
Next week when she is in her room im going to set up the airbed in her room and probably camp out in there for a few days. Ill put DD1 in with DH so shes futher away and hopefully less disturbed. From there I don't know what to do! She will settle with a shush pat but still wake multiple times. So its like shes using that as comfort now. PUPD I may have to try again too. Then CC urghhh

Sycamore76 · 07/07/2015 10:13

I have heard shush pat can more stimulating as babies get older . Have you heard of gradual retreat ? I found this thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/sleep/867209-gradual-withdrawal-if-you-did-it-how-long-did-it. Maybe worth a try ? Is your other child off school now? I find it really hard when I have two and feel guilty that ds lacks my attention .

Sycamore76 · 07/07/2015 10:16

Sorry think I posted wrong thread , will try and find it again once I get a moment