Sleep regression or modify sleep pattern?

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Before -
7:00 pm - 6:00 am stirred once for 7oz feed at 3am
6:15 am 7oz feed
8:00am 45 min sleep
9:30 7oz feed
10:30 90 min sleep
1pm 7oz feed
4:30pm 30 min sleep
5:30pm 7oz feed
In bed asleep for the night by 7

DD seems to have dropped the night feed for a few days, but has suddenly waking up for the day at 4:30/5!

This has thrown all the times out for naps and feed but we leave the same amount of awake time etc. Except making up for the dropped feed by feeding every 3 hours instead of 4

Is it a case of not actually being ready to drop the night feed? Is her bed time to early/late? Too many/little naps?

Or, just bloody sleep regression? And I just have to accept my life now 😴

How old is she? Anecdotal I know, but I have 3 children. The two little ones wake at 5am and have done since around 9 months old (they are almost 2 and 3) my eldest did the same and stopped doing it around 7 years old. I think its pretty common and you do get used to it.

Yes sorry might be helpful! 4 months

Are you feeding straight away when she wakes at 4.30/5?

No, trying to resettle, but about 30 mins later she's very fussy and wide awake. I didn't want her to get in to the habit of feeding at that time. Earlier in the week I could successfully resettle if she stirred

She’s still very little and having nightfeeds at that age is totally normal. You were probably able to settle because she had her bottle at 3am? Id trying feeding straight away and treating it as a night feed because 7-4,30/5 is still a long time to go without milk at 4 months. My DS settled into this pattern naturally at about 6 months- sleeping 7-5 then having a BF and back to sleep till 7.30. I’m totally all for feeding in the early hours and being able to go back to sleep instead of having a super early wake up!

She had started going 7-6/7 for about a week, if she woke in the night she would resettle without a milk.

Now when she wakes at 5 she's chattering and playing, and even with an instant feed stays awake for at least an hour and a half. She doesn't stir until 4:30/5 now.
Is it worth setting an alarm to dream feed at 3ish? Almost trying to get her back in to the habit?

Four months is the most notorious sleep regression. Most babies get over it fairly quickly but my twins did not. At 3.5 months they started sleeping through and I thought I’d won the lottery, twice. It lasted a week and they didn’t sleep through again until they were 16 months (now 20 months and still don’t sleep through most nights).

Most of my friends had 2-4 weeks of hell at 4 months then an improvement. We had two weeks of absolute hell - up all night screaming, then a year of slightly less hell.

Honestly, many babies go through a phase of waking at that time - mine have gone through several. If they’re still sleeping I’d call it a win. I just went to bed earlier and found I could get a lot done by my normal wake up time!

Could you try to feed about 10-11pm?

Have you tried a dream feed at 10/10.30? I never did but it’s something a lot of people try.

As PP says it is common for them to go through phases of waking early aswell , at 4 months it’s hard to tell what causes it because tbh anything goes with baby sleep when they are that little. They can lull you into a false sense of sleeping well and then they don’t again. Well done being able to resettle without feeding at that age tho. Only now at just turned one am I able to settle without the boob if he does wake during the night at all. Nothing wrong with playing about with trying different things though. Maybe extend the wake times in between the first two naps? Do you have black out blinds to stop the sun getting in now it’s very light in the mornings? Have you tried bringing her in with you? In the mean time I’d also just go to bed earlier to get a good stretch in yourself. I’ve always found the early wake is easier to deal with if you’ve have a good stretch yourself. It’s boring but it won’t last forever. She’ll be in a new phase before you know it!

We have blackout blinds, but because of the heat the last few days the windows have been open and I'm wondering if the dawn chorus disturbed her...

We did bring her in a few weeks ago when her sleep was off then, but not working this time round, she just plays and natters.

Any idea what length of time she should be awake for between naps?

Her naps are a battle at the moment too.

Some times she goes down after 45 mins and others it can takes me nearly three hours, but she will be super grumpy.
Struggling to gauge if she's over/under tired. Sometimes she will only nap for 30 mins max, and then she'll have a 3.5 hour nap!

But she's a nosey madam and I think she just doesn't want to miss anything

She's out for the count at 10-11, would I wake her gently and then try to feed her? Nervous of her waking up too much at that point

I preferred it when she woke up at 2/3 and had a feed, I think it's still dark enough for her to nod back off. But she doesn't stir anymore then either