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Original poster

Does 4 month sleep regression to all babies?

28 replies

123456kent · 19/01/2018 15:29

My dd is 3 months and I am very happy with our sleeping patterns at the moment. For the past month the pattern has roughly been (sometimes deviates from this) bed at 7.30pm with a feed, dream feed at 10.30pm, feed around 4am ish and then wake up 7-8am. I’m very well rested and so is she mostly. She’s bf, with one bottle during the day.
I feel very nervous about this regression I’ve heard that’s coming up. I didn’t cope well with little/no sleep for the first few months, I was very tearful and anxious. Will it definitely happen? Will it come and go or stay permernantly bad? What can I do to help? I’ve heard I need to stop helping her to sleep with feeds/rocking/dummy but these work well for us.
She’s the sort of baby that gets very hysterical very quickily when tired, so I dont try and put her down sleepy but awake at night (or ever actually)
Thanks

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smilingthroughgrittedteeth · 19/01/2018 15:34

My son has never had any sleep regression, he slept through at 12 weeks and still does at 2.5.

My daughter missed the 4mth one but was hit by the 9mth one which meant we didn't sleep for 3 weeks but she is back to sleeping through.

They are all different so try not to stress about something that might not happen, just carry on with the routine you have now.

elmo1980 · 19/01/2018 15:50

I was told horror stories about the 4 month regression and like you I was dreading it as mine slept through from 10 weeks but apart from a couple of nights where I had to spend a few minutes settling him back down that was it so think it's own of those things where it can happen but not every baby is the same.

OhPleaseNotThatAgain · 19/01/2018 15:52

Neither of mine had it. Both good sleepers like yours. I never told anyone though!

IWouldLikeToKnow · 19/01/2018 16:17

Mine didn't ..... he just didn't sleep to start with!! GrinBut I know of babies who definitely didn't have it so I would 't worry too much.

BellyBean · 19/01/2018 16:26

Dd had it mildly, whereas a friend was battling 45 min wakes so it definitely varies

angelopal · 19/01/2018 16:55

DD didn't get it. She was sleeping through at 3-4 months and stayed that way.

DS is 4 months and has always been a bad sleeper unless being held. So not been hit by it as no change Smile

WowserBowser · 19/01/2018 17:08

Mine didn't have one

Pickleshickles · 19/01/2018 17:12

My first two did, my middle one spectacularly so. My third hasn't at 6 months old yet.

Ellajayden · 19/01/2018 18:31

Me and my best friend have baby's exactly the same age and my son went through it but her daughter didn't

earlylifecrisis · 19/01/2018 18:55

Neither of mine did. Dd slept 12 hours From 12 weeks and never looked back unless ill.
DS woke a lot till 7-8 months - no worse at 4 months than the rest of the time!

Thurlow · 19/01/2018 18:56

Neither of mine did either and at 6 and 15m both are very good sleepers. Some just like their sleep!

Froggyonaplate · 19/01/2018 18:57

Four months was when mine started to improve, so it definitely didn't hit us. We had a bad one at 12 months but he turned out to be ill. Fingers firmly crossed that you sail through.

Lules · 19/01/2018 19:00

My first did really badly. My second hasn’t had it yet but he’s only 16 weeks. But, babies change all the time. Sometimes you get good weeks, sometimes bad. You just have to go with it. Don’t worry about something which hasn’t even happened yet.

plimsolls · 19/01/2018 19:02

Not mine.

In fact, I spent so much time dreading it I didn’t enjoy the excellent sleep I was getting at the time!

I don’t think mine ever had a sleep regression in the way one would expect and certainly not at the “expected” times. Her sleep tended to be a bit worse if she was teething and also just before any big physical milestones like crawling and walking. Her sleep went to crap when I weaned her as I didn’t realise she couldn’t tolerate some of th food so stomach aches would keep her up at night. No regression though!

MoodyTwo · 19/01/2018 19:04

I was up every 45 min with mine, but he is a terrible sleeper anyway, he still wakes 2-3 times at a year old x

plimsolls · 19/01/2018 19:08

P.s. you asked what helped.... I actually still feed mine to sleep in the evening but I did stop feeding her to sleep in the night. If she needed a feed in the night, I would try and stop before she fell asleep or just rouse her a little off the boob and then cuddle her a bit with some white noise or womb sounds on. I left the noise on after I put her back down in the cot and kept my hand on her tummy. After a while (weeks) she was ok just to be put down again, pretty much. Except when ill.

If your child is a deep sleeper then you might find feeding to sleep isn’t a problem at all, as they’re sleeping deeply enough not to wake up during the light sleep cycles. The reason they say not feed to sleep is because if the baby falls asleep on the boob and then put down, they then gets startled when they are in light sleep phases and realise that they are not attached to a boob anymore. Deep sleepers don’t always notice that!

Desmondo2016 · 19/01/2018 19:10

I've not had it in 4 babies
Of course, there's fluctuations all the time with sleep patterns etc but I think we are too prescribed with our expectations and acknowledgements and everything baby related these days. I think it's healthier to just go with the flow and keep expectations low until they're about 18 😂

PearlyGatesMontenegro · 19/01/2018 19:11

Mine didn't. Slept through from 3 months. Unless there's a 14-16 month regression, cos he's definitely been through that 😔

ASqueakingInTheShrubbery · 19/01/2018 19:24

Mine didn't. Slept through from 3 months. Fed to sleep every night until she stopped breastfeeding.

Original poster
123456kent · 19/01/2018 20:40

“In fact, I spent so much time dreading it I didn’t enjoy the excellent sleep I was getting at the time! “
This is definitely me. I’m too anxious about the future to enjoy the present, which is (I consider, others may not) good sleeping, for her age.
Of course have jinxed this by saying she goes down at 7.30pm each night, she has been crying hysterically for the past hour!
I know I should stop feeding to sleep, for those reasons pp says above, but she just loves to eat, then have a suckle in her sleep, until she falls off in a deep sleep. It just works so well for us both! (At the moment)

OP posts:
Sparrowlegs248 · 19/01/2018 23:11

No. Not with my first. His sleep was horrific from the start and gradually and very slowly got better.

My second, yes. He slept 8 -4am from about 6 weeks to months. And never again!

Sparrowlegs248 · 19/01/2018 23:13

6 weeks to 4 months.

JeansAndANiceTop · 19/01/2018 23:21

She’s theee months old. It’s entirely normal to feed to sleep. If it works now, then it works. Stopping doing it before she is ready to do so risks grumpiness all round.
If it’s not a problem now, don’t try and fix it.
My DS didnt have a 4 month regression and is fed to sleep (he’s almost 7mo). We will cross that bridge when we come to it and not before.

greendale17 · 19/01/2018 23:22

I don’t know of any baby that didn’t have it

KnowYourPlace · 20/01/2018 11:28

I fed to sleep until around 10/11 months. Once DS was properly weaned I gradually stopped doing it, knowing that he definitely didn't need it. It was still nice to snuggle, but no longer practical once I went back to work. I wouldn't say he was delighted about it to begin with. But after a few tough nights he got used to the new routine and started sleeping through on his own.

Try not to worry about the future. It all sorts itself out in time. Do whatever works for you now. Only worry about changing if it starts not to work.