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?!

Sorry you are feeling down. It is so lonely and exhausting being up all night.

Aaaaaaargh! I just wrote a long message and my stupid bloody phone lost it suffice it to say that it was incredibly witty and insightful!

Sorry your night was so crap Zombie. Really hope that the dietitian can provide some answers to help with weaning DS today.

Our naps have been going a lot better since I realised that DD needs a lot of tiring put physically. This is a new thing but the times that we have really struggled with naps lately are after too much time in the car seat/pushchair and not enough time rolling etc. It sounds like you already do a lot with DS so this may not be relevant to you but just thought I would mention in case! You would think that I was planning to enter DD in the baby Olympics the amount of physical activity she is now forced encouraged to do Hard when they are already overtired too I know.

I officially feel like the world's most ungrateful wife for ever moaning about DH . He knows I have been really struggling and messaged me to say he has booked me in for an aromatherapy and hot stone massage for tonight. So touched by his thoughtfulness.

Ooh. Monkey just awoke. More later!

Butternut I had heard that about being close in the day too! But ds hates his sling, doh!

Omg penguin ask him to book me in for one too! I don't know how my ds keeps going he never stops moving but still wont nap he's been asleep for 5 mins and I'm terrified of jinxing it

The dietitian said we will trial him on a new milk to see if the nights improve at all, she thought I was joking when I told her how much he wakes up he's having around 43 oz of milk a day at the mo, she said that we need to get it down to around 20 asap as ideally they want them eating properly by 9 months 4 weeks away and if they aren't it gets really difficult which has made me panic. I need to over half his feeds and get him eating well and I have just under 4 weeks to do it. Fab!

Hi ladies,
Sorry to hear about all the rough nights . I hope tonight is better !
Zombie - have you tried any of the annebel karmel books for weaning ? My ds always loved her purées , I will do the same with dd I think .
Penguin , my dd is the same now she has discovered pushing herself up like she is doing press ups ! Naps are still rubbish , I need to get her to nap in the cot as the noise from ds doesn't help.
She is still waking to so much and I feel totally run down . Apart from the odd good night it's been 8 weeks of sleep deprivation and it's starting to really effect my mood. I think i need to wean her but am I risking it with allergies ? She has a cmpi so I have to gradually introduce dairy . She wants to bf hourly in the day so she must be hungry.
How have all your days been ?

Sycamore are you under a dietitian? Have you heard of the milk ladder?

Ds had 3 naps today half an hour in the morning, would of been longer but we had to go dietitian, then an hour at lunch and an hour this afternoon. He went to bed ok but we have had 2 wake ups so far

Hi zombie ,

No I haven't heard of the milk ladder , I will look into this . Dd only has a cmpi at the moment , I am hoping she is fine with dairy after six months . How was your night? We had lots of wake ups again not good when you are full of cold ! Hope everyone else is having better nights ...

Oh no you still have a cold that's crap.

Ds just has cmpi at the moment what they do is when they get to 1 they start the milk ladder which is 12 steps of introducing dairy slowly, I think you start with a malted milk biscuit and work up. If her symptoms wernt too bad (like her face won't swell etc) and your not under a dietitian or anything I would think you just have a go when you feel ready. I'm not sure if your bf if you start with you or her though!

We had quite a few wake ups. Lost count and I'm meant to be writing them down for the dietitian

Thanks zombie , I remember your ds having cmpi. I an still breastfeeding and will have a go at weaning this weekend ( she is 5 months tom). Really hope she can have normal
Follow on formula as I can't express much and was hoping to reduce bf at six months . I could try and gradually introduce dairy in my diet. Did you gp refer you to a dietician ? Sorry you had a rubbish night

I ended up in hospital as ds was pooing just blood and the gp wouldn't do anything about it we saw a consultant who diagnosed it and then we had a follow on appt with him at 5 mo and then he referred us to a dietitian. If you don't have useless gps like me then I'm sure they will refer you

Hi,
Sorry about the crap night zombie, been there and no doubt will be there again very soon, so hard to explain to people what it feels like to be this sleep deprived isn't it? I have explained it to ppl as a severe hangover while also suffering from the flu, I get headaches and my muscles all ache after a bad night, not to mention I want to KILL anyone who crosses me (ppl in the family carparking space without a child beware)

Butternut I used to have lo in a sling during the day and it did work but he's a really big boy (due to the many, many nightfeeds I suspect) and it's just too much for my back now. Did just get a jumparoo and that seems to tire him out a bit more tho!

sycamore heard lots about the Annabel Karmel book, I have ellas kitchen but think I might need a bit more guidance, wd you recommend it? Does it have weekly planners to follow? Getting a bit lost with when and how quickly/ slowly to progress.

penguin enjoy ur pampering!.... ah to be a person that associates the word 'pamper' with relaxation and not nappies! X

Zombie , I had a useless gp too so u have since changed doctors . He said the rash dd had was just a baby rash and she had colic ! We had to go to a private peadetrician when she had blood in her stools. He diagnosed silent reflux and cmpi.
Maxismum - the annabel karmel books are good for second stage weaning , some really tasty and healthy ideas . Ds ate nearly everything ! The complete baby and toddler meal planner is the one I have.
Does anyone else forgot everything due to sleep deprivation ? My dh thinks I need help ! Told him I just need sleep , it's ok for him and his 8 hour sleeps

Hi everyone.

Sorry about the rubbish nights. I forget everything Sycamore, I can barely speak properly most of the time. It is a worry because I am applying for new jobs at the moment and I don't think I will have a chance at pretending to be an intelligent human being at interviews.

I had a rough night. woke up with a horrendous headache down one side of my face (thought I was having a stroke) DH wants me to sleep at a friends with DS1 on Friday night and said he would spend all night with DS2 and try and give him some formula and walk round with him etc when he wakes. seemed like a good idea this morning but I am going off the idea now because I feel like I am abandoning him and he will only drink a tiny amount out of a bottle. I am back at work in 2 1/2 months though so I need to get used to leaving DS2 anyway.

.A friend of mine recommended Stress Free Weaning by Judy More so I may give that a go this time because I am getting in a flap about it.

I hope tonight is not too painful for everyone.

I'm awful too, completely forget random words and trail off midway through sentences, I can't make sense after 4pm its embarrassing how stupid I now sound most of the time

Think it sounds like you need a break butternut just go for it, what's the worst that can happen? Ur husband can always call you if things are going really badly and you never know (fingers crossed for you) I read today that a 6 month old has a ten day long term memory so even if its not great he won't remember for long.

Thanks sycamore off to amazon shop for books, at least weaning is more interesting than sleep books - anyone else got a 'your baby, week by week' book, I fell out with mine at week 10 when it told me to aim for sleeping 9 hours uninterrupted - I've been 'aiming' for more than 3 hours for bloody months!!!!

So far so good on the sleep front here, he went to sleep after a half hour battle at 8 but no wake ups yet, usually its 45 mins after going down then 45- hour after that then ....who knows!!! Happy nights all x

Oops *she not he sycamore

Told you I was shit after 4pm!!! Thought I got my genders confused there and meant to say butternut not sycamore.... just ignore me and my sleep deprived ramblings!

Am still hoping one day il come on here and everyone will be like 'omg dc slept though!' Looks like it won't be today!

Dh managed to get ds to sleep last night I did the sterilising and went to bed at 8, I was so tired I felt physically sick and could barely keep my eyes open. Ds woke up a good 6/7 times still but I feel better for getting a little bit of extra sleep

Just got home after trying to sleep over at my friends. I felt too guilty. Husband is walking round with the sling and I am in the spare toom wearing ear plugs.

Good luck tonight everyone!! X

I am in shock. Ds went to sleep at 7. He didn't make a peep, I kept checking him and he was asleep then I woke up at 3 with such a sore throat and realised he still hadn't woke up once. I went to check on him and he was fine, just asleep. I couldn't sleep because of my sore throat then! He woke up at 5 for a bottle then slept until 6.30! I bet it's just a one off though!

That's brilliant zombie, fingers crossed it happens more often

We has a crap night, so confusing tho coz the evening was great, put him down at 7:30 and he slept until 9:45 without a peep then settled really easily without a feed until 10:45 so really thought the night wd be th same. I saw every hour and ended up kicking dh out of bed near 5 so we cd co sleep (dh moves so much in his sleep I wouldn't trust him not to roll over - he once elbowed me in the face overnight) ended up getting really angry and not being able to sleep myself. Thankfully its sat so dh took him for a walk while I had some sleep in th morning.

Really don't want to sleep train but reading posts on here that say dc didn't sleep thru until 2 years terrifies me, don't know how much longer I can take up all night and in charge all day

Oh no maxies, sorry you had a crap night

Last night must have just been one of them random good nights he went to bed at 7.50 and we've had one wake up so far although the neighbours are in the garden with their kids screaming and with a loud yappy dog and that's ds room side

Zombie - wow ! What an amazing night , hope it continues and you have turned the corner . Did you do anything differently yesterday ?
Maxismum , sorry you had a rubbish night . There are lots of day different methods of sleep training you can use , some do not involve crying .
DD has been so much better the last couple of nights . She is unsettled at first but has been sleeping until midnight, has a long breastfeed and then wakes up between 4 and 5 for another feed. Sometimes it takes me a good hour to get her back to sleep at this point and we have to co sleep to get any more sleep but mentally I feel
better for a three hour stretch. Naps are getting very hard , she is more active now so she really needs longer naps. She will only sleep for half an hour at a time. I think I will definitely have to do sleep training when she turns six months as my toddler is getting next to no attention as I am always trying to get dd to sleep !

Glad the nights have got better sycamore.

Definitely haven't turned a corner he's now up for the second time and wouldn't settle so he's down stairs. I gave him some calpol incase he is in any pain

Oh no zombie , is he teething ?

I don't think so sycamore I think it's his farts

He has his new milk to try but I put it off as he slept so well last night and apparently half babies on this milk just flat out refuse it

Hope he settles for you soon. What is the new milk called ? The doctor have me aptimal pepti to try , it tastes foul.