4 month sleep regression- oh.my.god.

[hazel88]

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?!

Hope you got some rest sycamore.

Penguin, only 2! That's great. Would you recommend co? How much was it if you don't mind me asking? Ds has always been very alert too

We had a bad night, got him to bed around 8.30, he had 3 wake ups until around 1 am when he woke and wouldn't settle for an hour. I ended up bringing him to my bed and just holding him until he slept. Then he woke at 4 for a feed then up at 6.30.

Zombie sorry you had a bad night. How are naps going today? I don't mind you asking at all. The initial consultation, which is longer because of the assessment/case history was £50 and subsequent half hour treatments are £44. It is a lot but osteopaths are highly skilled and qualified and for us it was worth it. We are in an expensive area of the country too so rates may vary depending on where you live. It's hard to say if it's right for you and DS as everyone is different and I would hate to advise you to do it and you not see any benefit. It is often useful for babies who have been delivered via forceps/ventouse or had a protracted or traumatic birth. This actually wasn't the case for us but DD apparently turned the wrong way! You might find it useful to contact a local osteo and discuss with them. They will likely be unable to guarantee results but they should be able to tell you if CO is likely to be beneficial to your DS and discuss any concerns you might have. I certainly don't regret going and will probably take DD for one follow up session.

I forgot to comment before but sorry to hear you are having to wait for your appointment, that must be frustrating. I hope your surgery is not for anything too serious.

I think maybe ds birth was traumatic as I was induced at 37 weeks and he wasn't ready I ended up on the drip. I might look into it

It's 6.20 and ds is asleep he was falling asleep at his high chair when he had his dinner around 5, I managed to keep him up until now.

Fingers crossed everyone has a good night

Oh and penguin it's nothing serious at all, I have been getting foot pain so had x rays and apparently one of the bones in my foot is too big for the joint so they just want to make it thinner. Oh my that sounds gross

Ds hasn't 'woken up' so far but he has done a couple of loud cries in his sleep then settles again. I have no idea why.

I've been avoiding saying this in case I jinxed anything but I think we have most definitely turned the corner! Last night we had......ONE wakeup!!!!! She went down at 7.30 and got up at 2 then just woke now. Can't believe it! Still trying and failing to brace myself for some backwards steps but am amazed with our progress.

How are you all doing? I know it's hard to snatch time to post sometimes but thinking of you all xx

Do you have a date for your op Zombie? Your foot sounds painful. I hope they can resolve that with the op and that your recovery won't be too long.

One wake up! That's ace penguin!!!

I don't have a date yet, they did offer me Monday as they had a cancellation but I couldn't organise child care that quick as h needs a weeks notice. It's meant to be under ga but that terrifies me so I have requested local. They could refuse it though, I won't know until the day but I won't go ahead if it's general.

We had quite a few wake ups again, and also his random cries woke me up a few times. I think possibly he does that as he wriggles about so much and hits his head on the cot

I'm a bit worried as well, dmhad him yesterday as the gloss desperately needed doing in the kitchen, I had the doors and windows open all day but it really stinks still

I'm sure he will be fine with all the painting although I get nervous about that kind of thing too. It's not like he was eating the paint (I hope )

Annoying about the crying out disturbing you. DD does that sometimes though I haven't figured out a pattern to it. Hope you have a good day.

Maybe there is something in this CO after all as DD's first nap today was been 2h15 saying that she was a sneezing a bit this morning so she could be getting ill. In which case it looks like we are booking a ticket back to wakeupsville

Oh no penguin, hope she's feeling better now!

We had absolutely rubbish naps again today, probably 30 mins max spread out over 2 naps.

BUT... He ate a big dinner, two desserts,had a full bottle before bed and went to sleep just after 7. Not a single peep from him since. That's the first time he has done that in ages, no little cries or anything. Not even changing position! I've been going upstairs every 15/30 mins to check on him as I keep thinking the monitor is broke!

Well done Zombie that sounds like a really promising start to the night! Hope you have a good one.

Very weird day here. DD was grumpy and clingy for a lot of the day and ended up having the most day sleep I think she has ever had with 2h15, 1h30 and 1h40 It's probably too much sleep but the poor little sausage just seemed exhausted. I think her teeth have been bothering her a bit. No more cold symptoms yet so maybe there was something random making her a bit sneeze this morning. She's been down since seven and no peeps as yet.

RP and Sycamore we miss you! How's it going? And Hazel if you're still lurking would love to hear from you too.

Hopefully penguin it sounds like the co has done well! Maybe she's catching up on all she's missed!

Still not a peep from ds! Sounds ridiculous but I have to keep checking him as in worried! It's only been 3 hours but he's not known to sleep so long!

You could be right Zombie. Whatever the reason we had one dummy run at 10.00 and one real wakeup at 1 so I am pretty bloody chuffed! Now to work on getting rid of that pesky last wakeup not that I want the moon on a stick or anything

I totally know that feeling of thinking something must be wrong when they don't stir! It doesn't help that DD tends to sleep with her bunny over her face! Am more used to it now but the first few times made very disconcerting viewing!

Hi ladies, am just reading a few of your posts, I think my 4.5month old DS is also going through sleep regression, has woken every hour for the past week and it is exhausting, can I ask how old your children are that have been through this.?

Bear so sorry to hear you have joined our weary club! It does get better, really it does! My DD is ummmmm 7.5 mo and we are just emerging from the other side BUT I think we were particularly unlucky. First teeth hit just after 4 months which got us into bad habits with feeding regularly overnight for comfort so I think we are very much the exception rather than the rule!

We somsleptmlast night which was so much easier, I have always thought this was a bad idea, not sure why, maybe thought it's another thing to try and break, however it is the only thing keeping me sane! Does anyone have any thoughts on co sleeping, any other ideas on the best way to tackle/get through this?
Tbh just to know your not the only one helps doesn't it.

Sorry, predictive txt lol we co slept last night

Penguin that's great! Am going to look into co I think.

Hi bear! My ds is just coming up to 8mo, all started around 4 mo sorry no tips on keeping sane, i lost my sanity a while ago! I don't know much about co sleeping tbh. I don't do it as dh smokes

Ds slept without a single peep until around 3.30 then we had 2 dummy runs. Then he was up at 4.30 for a feed, a poo nappy change at 5 then slept until 7! I'm hoping he's starting to get better himself fingers tightly bloody crossed! As I'm going back to working....nights next month

Penguin /zombie I am so pleased to read your updates , it sounds like things have really improved, which is great .
Bear - it could be a growth spurt so maybe things will improve for you !
We have had quite a rough weekend. DDs sleep is getting worse with constant wake ups . She does seem to be teething but I am not sure that is the reason . She is 20 weeks now so not long until I wean I guess but not counting in this helping the wake ups. Ds has a chest infection too so it's been hard.
Hope naps go well today

Oh no sycamore, it probably won't help but I think it was around that age ds sleep peaked at its worse for a few weeks, hopefully now it's starting to calm down are you continuing with ncss?

Thanks zombie , I remember you mentioning the peak . Well I usually feed her and put her back in cot drowsy which sometimes works but other times I have to cuddle her for ages , she has been harder to settle recently . She does seem hungry as she takes a good bf. I don't know , it's so hard . Sunday I felt so depressed about it all but luckily dh gave me a lie in which helped me feel better . Naps are hard too .

Zombie that is brilliant! So glad to see you are making some headway. Fingers crossed for your DS to build on that great night tonight! Do let me know if you try CO, would love to know how it works out for you. I will never know how much the treatment helped DD and how much it was the consistency of sticking to our plan and gradually improving things but I suspect a mix of both. Hard to tell if it has helped her be calmer in general as she's still teething but time will tell of course she could be teasing us and it's all about to go tits up again . ....

Bear I was never really comfortable with co-sleeping, not on principle, just from the pov that the safe sleeping position was really uncomfortable for me so I didn't feel I would get any more sleep. Additionally I never really got the hang of bfing lying down. If you would like to co-sleep I can recommend the No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley as she is a proponent of co-sleeping but has some strategies to make it work for you and do it safely. That said I haven't read those sections all that closely as I knew co-sleeping wasn't for us.

Hi Sycamore good to see you! Sorry you're having a rough time though. I hope your poor DS is better soon. This could well be the bleakest bit just before you turn the corner. I hope so for you. It is so tough because you're feeling crap about it anyway but in my experience the exhaustion just makes everything seem ten times worse. I really hope things start looking up for you soon.

One tip which I heard is to make sure you give DD lots of cuddly time in the day. I never really tried it with DD as she doesn't really like cuddles but it could be worth a shot if your DD is seeking a lot of comfort and mummy cuddles in the night. It might be crap advice or you might be giving DD loads of cuddles anyway, and I know it is also difficult with DS in the mix too but just thought I'd mention in case it helps! Try anything once right?

Hi all,

Zombie and Penguin, glad to hear things to be on the turn for you, that's so great. Hope things continue to improve.

Sycamore I'm sorry to see things are going so great for you, really really hope that changes soon

Welcome Bear in answer to your question, my DD is now 22 weeks and the regression began at about 13.5 weeks. We have had 1 week today of cc and I can highly recommend it if you feel comfortable enough with it. Reading the details I swore I'd never do it, but I actually think it's saved my life.

So things are still continuing to improve. Most nights DD has 1 or 2 wake ups for feeds. I just put her down wide awake in the cot with a kiss on the head and 'bedtime' then walk out, she does so so well self-settling, a quick chat to herself then shes off. Naps are pretty crappy most of the time with about 4x 40min naps. I can often put DD down now with minimal or no crying. When she does have a bit of a whinge I know it's just because she's tired. She is SO much happier now and I'm really enjoying our time together She's just entering a Wonder Week and she's been all over the place today but she's still smiling away.

Can you believe that despite these improvements I still feel really low I feel that I can't be pleased but I just can't help the way I feel. It doesn't help that I'm due to talk to my manager next week about my return to work. I feel sick thinking about it. DP puts me under a bit of pressure to return but I get so stressed thinking about it as I absolutely HATE my job and those I work with who made it quite clear when I announced my pregnancy that they feel that same way towards me. Just dreading it. I think I'll make an appointment with the GP next week

Hope everyone is having a good day.

Hazel I'm so sorry you are still feeling low and are stressed about returning to work. I can't respond in detail now but didn't want to read and run. I definitely think seeing your GP is a positive step. Sending hugs, tea and a vat of chocolate in the meantime.

Thank you Penguin

DD is whingey and clingy today bless her, we've had lots of cuddles when she can sit still for a few seconds! I definitely think its those Wonder Weeks, shes been pretty much spot on with every one so far. She's had 5 crappy naps today....5!!! Mind you as long as she's sleeping I suppose that's a good thing! Also, she has just mastered sitting today

Hope you're having a good day