4 mo 45 min sleep cycle

[MadAboutFourteen]

My DD has hit the 4 month sleep regression and only usually naps in 45 min cycles during the day. Wakes and wants dummy. Fine at night. Is the only way through this to teach her to self settle, or does the waking resolve itself on its own?

I don't think self-settling is something you can teach; I think it's a developmental milestone that will come as her brain develops. When she's able to self-settle, she will do so.

Be thankful that she's fine at night ! (And many mothers would envy you your 45 minutes . . . ) :)

If you can catch them just as they start to wake up and quickly settle them back to sleep (using dummy, breast, whatever it takes) then they will often go back to sleep for a whole extra sleep cycle. So instead of a 45 minute nap, you'll get an hour and a half. Supposedly if you keep doing this eventually they will get into the habit of sleeping for longer periods.

cut that was what I assumed. I try to catch her right away but if my timing is off by a second, she won't settle!

I did what pp suggests with DD1, think it was around six months but can't remember for sure. She was patted to sleep (on her tummy). I stayed in the room (quite nice to pause and read a book) and as we approached 45 minutes and she started stirring, I continued patting. I did this for about a week before her naps for longer. Might have been a coincidence.

DD2 naps for 25 minutes and won't go longer no matter what I do, which is the subject of another thread.

Stepfaux I did the same with dd except to get her back to sleep I would rock her or stick my boob in her mouth, depending on where she was sleeping.

Like you I don't know for sure whether it was this which worked or if she just naturally started sleeping for longer.