I thought we were done with the sleep regression...

[Nousername2015]

On my knees here. Ds is 5 months old and has never been a great sleeper but I'm running out of ideas and patience now. He cannot/will not sleep for more than 3 hours at a time. Before the 4 month sleep regression hit we could get a 4/5 hour stretch and then another 3 hours which I was more than happy with. We were at a christening yesterday with most of our nct group who were talking about the 8/9/12 (!) hour stretches they get at night which has convinced dh that there is something 'wrong' with our baby. I'm just tired, he's bf so the night wakings fall to me to deal with.

Bedtime is 7pm, room is dark, white noise is playing. Change into bed clothes then big breastfeed. Sometimes he will fall asleep when feeding and I can put him down, sometimes it's a couple of rounds of twinkle twinkle with rocking. Where I can I try to put him down slightly awake.

He has a dummy and sometimes also holds a comforter as his hands can be busy if he isn't properly asleep. He never gets into a deep enough sleep where the dummy falls out. We usually end up cosleeping from 4/5 onwards as he won't settle.

If he's been asleep less than 3 hours he usually gets rocked to sleep if he wakes, otherwise it's a feed. He's a great napper and goes down about every 90 mins in the day.

Any suggestions/advice would be very welcome. I do get annoyed and frustrated at still being up 4+ times a night and I know that dh wants to try leaving him to cry which I'm not sure about. I think we'd be handling this better if every other baby at any groups I go to wasn't some kind of magic sleeping machine! Sorry for the rant.

Oh Nousername2015 we've had few good nights but last night we were up alot.
I've realised that if I put him down too early he struggles to stay down and then thats the trend for the night. Might also be that if I put him down later I go to bed with him which helps him settle.
How old is your LO? The time between naps has changed naturally from every 2hrs to every 2.5 - 3hrs now he's 6.5months.
We're (sort of) doing this:
Up - 2.5 hrs down for 1st nap
Up - 2.5 hrs down for 2nd nap
Up - 3hrs down for 3rd nap
Up - 3hr - 3.5 hrs down for the night.
I read about the 2,3,4 nap schedule although my LO is too young for it but the theory behind extending their awake time in the afternoon seems to work for my DS. He would never be able to do 3.5 hrs before his first nap though!!!

Ds turns 6 months on Tuesday. Most recent nights have been awful, taking hours to get down then up after 40 mins I don't think he can settle himself through the sleep cycles caused by him bring fed/rocked to sleep. In the day he's knackered and hasn't yet met some of his milestones. We're away at the moment but me and dh have agreed to work intensely on the bedtime routine when we are back and try to teach him to fall asleep himself.

OP sorry to hear your still having a rough time of it! Hopefully once you get stuck into focusing on bed time routine he gets better for you! It's something we need to work on too is self settling, during the night its not too bad if we get to her quick enough it's just a case of dummy in put back onto side and pat her back. If we leave it she ends up waking herself up talking and running her hands down the cot bars lol.

Ladylolly lucky you getting 3 nap's! I've tried so hard to get DD to have 3 naps as she only sleeps 30 minutes at a time. But nope she has 2.

Up around 8am
1st nap between 10 & 11
2nd nap anywhere between 2 &4.
Then bath and bed between 7 & 8.

She had 3 really good night's when we were at my parents only getting up once. But now we're home normal service has resumed up at least 3 times for a feed. Really want to try cut down night time feeds as returning to work next week for a couple of days. But don't want to not give her them incase she is hungry as she does usually take them.

First tooth is through so think that was really upsetting her and past 3 nights she has been so drooly and red cheeked hopefully they all just pop up now!

Hi ladies.

Op our babies are very similar in age.. my ds will be 6 months on Thursday (born 14 jan). Sorry to hear you're still having a rough time of it. Hopefully when you're back home you can get things sorted. Does he take long to settle once he's woken?

Littleelephant aww bless her for getting her first tooth. Has she been okay in general with it? We have no signs of teeth still - do you op?

Ladylolly my ds is now at 3 hours between naps. Anything else is a no no unless were in the car!

We've had 2 really good nights -as in he's only woken once for a feed and that's been at 10.30 so we've not even gone to bed at that point. HOWEVER we have a new obstacle which is the last 2 days he's woken between 4.30-5 am and won't go back to sleep! I actually don't know what is worse. .. at least with multiple waking I could feed back to sleep very quickly

He would wake around 7/7.30am and at that point I'd get ready for the day while he played in his cot. Then I'd have all day with him to go out as soon as we wanted. There is no way I'm getting showered and dressed at 4.30am :(

I suppose I should be grateful that he's slept from 11-4.30 but he won't go back to sleep till 7.30 am which is what time he would normally wake up! Im hoping this is a (very short) phase

Hope you have good nights tonight.

There were a few nights last week when she woke during the nightime crying which she never does so I knew something was up. She was just a little grumpier (than usual) and really drool and wanted to bite down harder on everything than normal and was taking an interest in the teethers from the fridge which she wasn't into previously.

Glad your LO is doing much better! I don't envy the 4am start. Hopefully that'll pass I think every baby goes through a phase of wanting to start their day that early.

Last night we had a pretty good night up at down at 8 up at 12.40, 4.20 with no stirring then awake at 5.25 where I ran in got her and took her in beside me lol and that was us till 7.45 so all in all a pretty successful night.

We have a rock solid bedtime routine but DS still is up after 20 mins and 20mins and 20 mins again every night to then settle for a longer stretch. We do vary his bedtime though. I have no idea why he won't settle at night as he settles for naps pretty well and will sleep for 45mins most of the time, sometimes up to 2hrs for naps

It's so hard when they won't settle because not only are you up most of the night with them you also have no evening because you spend it settling the baby. What's so frustrating is I know he can link sleep cycles because he does it during the day in his pram or in the bed during naps and for 3hr stretches at night.

lolly Exactly the same going on here except our longest stretch all night is about 3 hours. Last night was much better, only up at 12 and 4 but we are on holiday at the moment, it's boiling and we'd had a really busy day so ds was exhausted. But still, he can get himself through a sleep cycle! We've had a couple of instances where we've been able to get him down sleepy but awake. He's just started really babbling all the time and putting his feet in his mouth so I'm really hoping all this is developmental... And temporary!

elephant That night you had is wonderful! Long may it continue.

mya ds was born on the 12th so very close in age! I'm hoping that moving him to his own room when we get back will have the same effect as it did for you. Regarding the early waking, we usually bring ds into our bed at that time as he won't settle. Have you got black out blinds up as I know it's the light shining through the edge of ours that wakes ds up.

Hi op.
Yeah we bring him into our bed at that time but usually lying down and feeding to sleep works but not anymore. And we have blackout blinds and curtains in his room and ours
We had a really good night last night- bed at 8,woke at 3.30 and then up for the day at 6.
However he's poorly with a really bad cold and has been sleeping a lot on the day so I think last night was a huge fluke
Hope you're having a lovely holiday and glad you had a good night last night too :)

How's everybody getting on? I hope things have improved for you all!

Ours is still pretty much the same we've had a couple of really good night's then we just go back to the usual routine. Today the 2nd tooth popped through tho . Can't believe how big my girls getting! I'm hoping that we can now settle down during the night.

To make things worse SIL had a baby last week got a text saying he slept 7 hours last night . Grŕrrr. Im secretly hating SIL right now haha

I can imagine elephant! A close friend had a baby last week and we've made an agreement to never mention sleep to each other!

Well ds is in his own room now, was actually easier to do than I thought. We are still up every few hours but I can handle it and he is not waking up screaming anymore and is quick to settle again so I don't really mind. He's started sitting up and rolling over both ways which I think has helped him to chill out a bit! I've added breakfast to weaning too so there's lots of change going on.

I managed to get him down fully awake and drop off by himself last night so I thought I'd nailed it and he would sleep through but he was up. He didn't nap enough in the day though.

Aw your poor little girl, teething sounds rough. Hope you both get a break from it for a little while now a couple are through.

Hope everyone is ok. We seem to be in non stop regression here, now unable to get ds into his cot. I can get him down fine at the start of the night, awake even, but it's onlt ever a couple of hours before he wakes up and then it's constant. We've tried everything, weaning, bottle of formula, white noise, comforters, feeding to sleep, not feeding to sleep, moving into own room, you name it! Except controlled crying. I don't really feel ok with it but out of ideas here!

Oh no OP! I'm so sorry to hear that. I'm all out of ideas here.

Things have improved for us just now but we'll see how long it lasts. She's started eating more of her breakfast In the morning and for her Dinner If we're having something that she can eat she gets a bowel of that if not she gets a 10 month+ jar. And a wee pudding after that. I think she may have been hungry. 2 days in a row we've only been up twice and yesterday slept In her cot until 7.25 this morning was 7 but she went to bed a bit earlier.

Does you Ds get a bath or anything before bed?

Not every night but he does get a flannel wash if no bath. Baths seem to stimulate him more than settle.
I don't think he's getting enough sleep in the day. He's still on 4 naps but they only last longer than 30-45 minutes if he is in my arms. I try to put him to bed for naps.
He's eating breakfast and dinner, in my opinion he's eating a lot! He also started rolling a few days ago and is using a lot of energy now so I don't get how he can't sleep!

Sounds like you've made fantastic progress, well done and enjoy the sleep!

Op, I'm with you! !

All gone to pot here too

Getting him into bed at 7.30 pm. He wakes by 9. Then at 10 or 11 and will not go back down. In fact he gets hysterical but then he comes in our bed at 11.30 a day will sleep till 5.30 am.

I am out of ideas. I literally do not know what's going on anymore!

He has 3 naps a day totalling 2-3 hours

Funny that our boys are so similar in age and sleep habits.!

That's great he rolled over! What a clever boy! Our day is

Up between 7 & 8.
Half a weetabix at 8.30 some toast.

Into living room and goes from door bouncer to jumperoo

First nap usually around 10 (depending when she got up) usually lasts 30 minutes.

Up between 10.30 - 11 have a play on the floor with toys

11.45 lunch full 7 month+ jar with a little snack after it (rice cake, couple of watsits) and water

Have another play in door bouncer put on Alvin and Chipmunks. Play on the floor with differect toys. Into jumperoo. Maybe go for a walk.

3pm snack time yoghurt or bread sticks and cheese or some fruit.

Then anywhere from 3.15 onwards we have a nap. Again usually only 30 minutes.

Play again dinner at 4.30/5 another full jar for 10 months+ then a pudding 25 mins later. Then depending how sleepy she is start bath anywhere between 7 & 7.45.

I'm pretty sure your days not too different from ours. At least he can settle himself in the beginning DD just rattles her hand along the cot bars and tells stories until I give up.

Maybe it's his little teeth? It felt like DD was teething for months and touch wood since they 2 teeth have popped up she seems more settled

1. It's normal!

1. STOP comparing yourself to your NCT group!

When my children were babies (17 and 14 years ago) no one had invented the 4 month sleep regression. Consequently no one talked about it or expected it. Some babies sleep better than others. They don 'think all or even mostly 'regress' at four months.

Morning ladies. I do wonder when this will all change. I do however know that it will change at some point. Everything does.

I find this link particularly comforting when I'm questioning everything and crying myself to sleep at the thought of letting him CIO.
https://m.reddit.com/r/beyondthebump/comments/2tf1m4/whatwilllhappeniffidonttsleeptrainnmy_baby/

I was one of those who had a miracle newborn who slept for 7 hr stretches, so as much as they may boast it doesn't always last!!! Best friends DS is exactly the same was an excellent NB sleeper, now 8 months and struggling to get 2 hrs stretches.
This also makes me feel like I've done something wrong but that's a whole other can of worms.

Although my LO is still not sleeping he has improved since my first post here and reading back through the thread most of us have seen some improvements, maybe not constant progress but progress none the less and as the saying goes 'baby steps'.

We are trying to put DS down in his cot. And stopping the feeding to sleep. As soon he's settled and dozy he's picked up and held to and sung to sleep (another sleep prop I know) but it does help him settle for a longer stretch rather than popping awake after 20 mins! First night we tried it we got a 5hr stretch from 12. He's not keen on the new regime though. And is usually up every two hrs until he comes into our bed at 4am where he will happily sleep till 7-7:30 then go down for another 45 mins after that.

When he wakes in the night he is given boob then once drowsy he is picked up, held and sung to sleep like his first put down.

He's not eating lots but he's eating bits and is a chunky boy.

No teeth here yet.
He is rolling from front to back and from side to side on his back but not completely over yet.
He still takes 3 naps roughly 2.5 hrs after his last one. For 45mins - 1.5hrs depending on his mood. These mostly happen in his pushchair or lying on our bed. (I don't have the energy to sort this as well)

How is everyone doing? We've had bad nights and some better but still mostly up all the time!

Hi ladylolly.... We're similar. We've had a few nights recently where he's woken once at 3 am and gone back down easily in his own room all night.
And nights like last night where he went to bed at 7.30 and woke at 8 and then ended up in our bed at 10 and still woke multiple times in the night!
We had his first tooth last week though and he's been very very unsettled since with a bad tummy etc so I'm just going with it.
How are u getting on ?

Hello ladies! We are pretty much the same good night's and not so good night's. I've just gave up on trying to figure out solutions and just going with it.

We now have 2 teeth and think the top ones are read to pop in poor soul has been biting things non stop.

Well they are nothing if not inconsistent. No teeth here yet! (Another thing to fret about) and I think my DS is a little older that yours MYA2016 & LittleElephant123

DD was born 15 of January. Feels like she's been teething forever and poor mite doesn't get a break from it.

They were sent here to test and try us and that they do! But bet none of us would change them

DS was born the day before littleelephants then on 14 jan :)
How old is your ds ladylolly?
I was wondering if we were ever going to get any teeth and then one day last week there it was! It just appeared with absolutely no signs bit ever since has been a nightmare. I was told that they tend to come in pairs and I can see the other bottom middle one almost about to break through so it must be giving him a lot of grief
We'll sounds like we're all in the same boat. . Very inconsistent babies! I suppose at least were getting the odd good night

We can't have everything gorgeous babies that sleep - doesn't exist lol.

MYA 2016 we had 9 days between our first tooth and second. Hopefully it pops through soon! It's rubbish when there teething nothing we do helps. We've have to give DD medicine a couple times for her temperature and the pain (we think) seems to help her for a little while.

Today we've had no medicine and no teething gels. Tomorrow is another day . . .