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?!

Arrrrrrrgh! Just typed a post then knocked the wrong key and lost it

5 wakes later. ...eff you, sleep gods! I know 5 isn't so terrible but am really mentally struggling with the fact that 2 nights away seem to have torpedoed weeks of effort Knackered and fed up and DD is grumpy with teeth and developmental stuff.

Zombie that's great that DS managed to settle himself. Well done for resisting the temptation to rush in. My DD is a farty mc fartpants too and I've never really found a solution although I do try to make sure her tea isn't too close to bedtime not that she will bloody eat anything anyway at the moment but that's a whole other thread...

Ahh no penguin, hopefully she will improve quickly now she's back at home

Is it worth trying colief or something towels hey wind up do you think?

He usually has dinner around 5/5.30, do you think that's a bit late?

We had a bad night too, although not as bad as the other night. We had a lot of wake ups but no long ones, he just settled once he had his dummy. he lobs them out the cot so there's about 8 on the floor and I kept having to go get new ones

Penguin , I feel your pain ! DD literally coughed and cried most of the night , ended up taking her into bed with me at 4am. I am struggling with a cold so I was desperate for a good night ! Actually had a mini breakdown when she woke after I had been asleep for half an hour !
Zombie , my dd is also very windy. I try to watch what I eat a bf and some foods make her windy . I think she reacts to eggs and brown pasta.
Hazel - glad you are feeling better and sleep is going well.

Zombie your DS usually goes to bed around 7 right? 5/5.30 would seem fine time wise for tea to me. Not that I am in any way an expert!

Sorry you had a rubbish night too Sycamore . Perhaps our DC have their own thread on the sly. ..'AIBU to find it amusing to keep mummy up all night?'

I know I am being an awful mum today as I am tired and DD is really whiney. I know it's not her fault bless her but it's so much harder to cope with when you aren't well reared. She woke early from first nap and again from her second but managed to get her down again as she really needs the sleep and mummy needs a cup of tea. Usually she is impossible to coax into further sleep if she wakes between sleep cycles. Really hoping she will be happier when she wakes!

Ffs what is with my phone and trying to replace the word 'rest' with 'rear'? Obviously I meant to say well - rested not well - reared!

Hope your feeling better soon sycamore I'm dreading getting a cold as it knocks you about, then having to cope with little sleep

Penguin I think they all must have a thread laughing at us behind our backs!

Ds is on nutramigen so in always panicking incase I've given him something he has reacted too, they suspect he may also have an egg allergy and possibly wheat

The go gave me a prescription for colief a while back so I will get that today and see if it makes any difference

fucking council wankers!!!

Ds has just been woken by them chopping a tree down right outside I might go out there and bloody walk them!

He was doing so well today too! He had a morning nap for the first time in ages and was just on his second.... Until they woke him up

*wack not walk! Even out phones are conspiring against us now penguin!

Oh my god this is cruel! My no sleep ds is trying his hardest to sleep through their racket! Poor thing

Oh no Zombie what horrible timing! for noise when DS is trying to sleep. Hope they weren't at it for too long!

They were but at least he had a small nap and I have no idea what's happened but he went for his last nap with no screaming or anything he woke up twice so I ended up holding him but I do t remember the last time he got all 3 naps in

Yayyyy! Well done Zombie that is brilliant! Hope that it bodes well for tonight.

DD is down for her 3rd nap too. She didn't have a third yesterday so am hoping she will be a bit better rested and sleep better tonight. She did seem a bit cheerier after her long nap today thank goodness! It's a really long day when you spend the whole time trying to pacify a grumpy child.

How is your cold Sycamore?

How is she now penguin?

How's it going sycamore?

I have just realised, ds has been having rashes on and off for months when I have them checked out I'm just told its 'viral' but he seems to have them a hell of a lot, he has also had mucous nappies, problems with wind, his problems sleeping and still has milk every 3 hours which seems like a lot, those were all symptoms he had when he had his milk allergy. I'm wondering whether he is still reacting slightly and needs the milk for the more sensitive babies I see his dietitian next week so will find out. I hope not as he was meant to start the milk ladder in 3 months but there will be no chance if he's got worse

He has had a wake up already of about 30 mins,

She's ok thanks Zombie. We had a really horrible screamy bathtime but she went down easily at about 7 and so far have just had one brief peep for the dummy. I definitely think she was overtired as her third nap was 1hr20, having already had 40 mins then 2 hours for naps one and two! I do feel like the worst mum ever as not only was I grumpy all day, this afternoon DD suddenly wobbled over from sitting and banged her face. She absolutely howled poor love and there was a red mark on her cheek

I hope the dietitian can provide you with some answers about DS Zombie. Try not to worry until then though. Hope that first wakeup was just him getting settled and that the rest of the night is better.

Oh penguin don't worry about the bang on the face, ds fell off the sofa onto hard laminate floors (I sped to hospital and one nurse laughed at me for being so concerned ) and he's fell off our bed! It's so difficult when they're moving around isn't it

Ds had another bad night, he had about a 45 min morning nap and is currently on my lap screaming the house down as he's so tired

Hey Zombie. Yesterday sounds tough - did it get any better after the morning? Sorry I didn't reply yesterday I was out all day meeting up with DD's 2 aunties from my side and her four cousins. Was a lovely day but DD had just half an hour in the car on the way over and refused to nap in the pushchair the whole time we were there and only slept when we got back in the car to go home. Am convinced of the link between rubbish day sleep and rubbish nights as she woke 6 times last night

Hopefully we will both have better days today sleep-wise. Sleep at home is not too bad but recently trying to get DD to nap in the pushchair is not the fail-safe option it once was. I am stressing as we're going to Italy for a few days on Thursday for a friend's wedding and the ceremony isn't till 4 pm so it will be a late reception in a venue 45 mins drive from the hotel. If DD won't sleep in the pram we are screwed! not to mention that since 2 days in the UK managed to completely mess up progress with sleep I can only imagine what 3 nights abroad will do!

No better were still having crap nights! And weaning is crap too, he's usually too tired around meal times

Onwards and upwards!

Oooohh Italy sounds lovely hopefully she will sleep in the car on the way there

Am so stressed out right now ds slept for about 30/40 mins around 11, he hasn't slept since. He's so tired but theres nothing I can do to get him to sleep. He just screaming this will mess up bedtime too

Oh Zombie it's so hard I know. I hate the feeling of rising panic when you know they need sleep but they just will NOT go down. Really hope bedtime is not as bad as you fear.

Oh I meant to say that weaning is not going that well here either. At the start we were going great guns but we have definitely several meals where DD has been too tired and not interested and she resists being fed now. I find I have to mainly give her finger food to have a hope of getting some in her although sometimes I can sneak in some puree alongside.

How's everyone's nights going?

Having a glass of wine to try and calm me down and stop me assaulting h at the moment.

Ds took just over an hour to get to sleep (fell asleep at 7), had two wake ups. Then h was on the phone to mil, ds hates her (really long story but he won't go near her and screams and cries if he sees her) h has to have his phone on speaker as its broke. He decided to wander upstairs while she was on the phone. Ds hears it and goes absolutely mental, he woke up screaming the place down. Took ages to settle just got him back down.

Am starting to really loose hope that his sleeping will ever get better. I was trying to do ncss but it's impossible to put him to bed drowsy but awake, if I don't hold him until he's completely asleep he goes wide awake the second i put him down. I'm really not strong enough to do cc I have heard about gradual retreat, does anyone know anything about it?

Zombie what a horribly frustrating start to the night. Really hope that it gets better! I bet you wanted to throttle your DH!

I am with you on the losing hope Zombie. I can feel myself slipping back to that dark dark place I was in before we finally started seeing some improvement. Have already had wake 1 and when it is this early I already know we are screwed for the night. I had hoped to have a brother or sister for DD but I can't imagine voluntarily putting myself through this again. I know I should be grateful as I am so lucky to have DD and so many people Who would dearly love to have children can't have them but I am finding it hard to hold onto that. I think the tiredness bothers me less than the constantly searching for solutions and feeling like a failure as a parent.

Sorry that wasn't really very positive and encouraging but I know how you feel anyway! Not too familiar with gradual retreat but I bet there'll be a board on here somewhere with loads of tips.

I know exactly how you feel penguin I really want a brother or sister for ds, (apart from his big sis of course ) but i couldn't cope with two at the mo! Or being pregnant and keeping up with ds, when I was pregnant with him I was exhausted all the time anyway!

Bad news but my googling would tell me there's another sleep regression at 8 months looks like there was no let up at all since the 4 month sleep regression... Maybe he'll come out of the 8 month one a great sleeper!!!

( sarcasm doesn't work well on typing!)

Ohhhhh my gawd! You're kidding me! There must be some kind of special prize for those of us who somehow manage to seamlessly blend the 4 mo regression into the 8 mo one

We had 4 wakes so not the worst in the end but still way more than ideal. I know I have to stop getting so emotional about it as it isn't helping anything. It's silly to be heaping misery on myself by worrying about it so much.

I have been reading and think we are going to work on transitioning from 3 to 2 naps. Hey, it's worth a try right?

Not sure if lack of sleep can be blamed entirely but I managed to injure my 2nd toe stumbling down some stairs yesterday. It is now throbbing and a lovely purple colour. This wasn't quite how I was planning to accessorize for the wedding in Italy!

Dare I ask how your night was?

Hi ladies ,
Sorry I haven't been online for a while. I have been feeling pretty rubbish with a cold . Ds had a chest infection all last week so we couldn't go out . That combined with zero sleep has made me feel quite low , hoping for a better week this week!
I really feel your pain with thinking it will never get better , it's such a difficult time . I went through this with ds too , for some reason I thought I would have a sleeper this time ! No such luck
I was like both of you , wanted to give ds a sibling but didn't want to go through the sleep deprivation again and he got to 2.5 and I started to think I could do it again . I thought I would know what I was doing second time around but no ! Still making the same mistakes . Dd slept with me half the night last night. She actually did well until 1am and then she settle .
Zombie once we sleep trained ds he didn't have anymore sleep regressions so there is hope !!! He slept pretty well from six months on. He just needed to learn how to self settle .
I hope you have good nap days . I feel so lucky to have two healthy children but I feel broken today ! Dh and I are not getting on as we are so shattered , which is hard .
Anyway I hope your nights were not to bad. Sorry for the moaning post !!! Helps to get it down