Four month regression - HELP!

[BirdIsland]

My DD is 3.5 months and seems to have started her first sleep regression. She wasn't a great sleeper anyway, but had just started sleeping 2 blocks of 4 hours at night with a feed in the middle - absolutely amazing compared to previously when she'd be awake for hours in the night. Day naps were whenever she was tired, and she would only sleep more than 30 minutes during the day if she was in her pram.

Naps are still mostly the same but she is now waking every 1-2 hrs at night! I have generally fed her to sleep in the past (she is BF), or fed her then walked her round holding her if she didn't fall asleep straight away after the feed.

I know I need to break these sleep associations, but just don't know how! She will take a dummy for daytime naps but just spits it at me at night. At night when she wakes she is inconsolable if I don't at least pick her up and walk her round, and most times I'll need to feed her even though she's not really hungry. I just don't know where to start, I know I'm meant to put her down 'awake but drowsy' but seriously, I've no idea how to get a baby to 'awake but drowsy'! It's been less than a week and I'm already shattered and dreading bedtime. Any words of wisdom or do I just need to muddle through and hope to come out the other side?

We had this really recently and we were totally exhausted. We used a sleep consultant (a friend, so mate's rates) who really helped us although people on here will probably disagree with methods.

We started trying to teach her to self settle by putting her down in the cot and letting her cry for 2 - 3 - 4 minutes. When we went to comfort her, we did everything we could not to pick her up. We did this for every putdown (especially naps, when we have more energy) and mainly only wavered in the middle of the night.

The key really was to stop feeding her to sleep so I fed her before bed but then read a book to break the association. It's really hard and hit and miss but it has worked. She wakes up twice a night now, rather than ten times.

I think if you're consistent then you can break the feeding association quite quickly but you need to be absolutely consistent and commit to a few totally shit nights.

Hope this helps! I do feel your pain. I can't believe how thrilled I am with two night wakings these days!!!

PS the other thing you can try if gradual retreat but I believe that only works from about 18 weeks.