4 month sleep regression

[Twiglet2353]

Send help.

Please.

Tips.

Magic fairy dust.

Anything.

Oh bless you.

It doesn't last forever. Try to nap in the day if you can.

My DS sleep regression lasted about 3 weeks. We did begin co sleeping as all I wanted was sleep. Although now I am struggling to get him.in his cot.

Lots.of.cuddles, reassurance and possibly an extra feed at night. That's what got us through ours.

Sending you a massive hug OP.

Im in the same boat! One night this week he’s been up 8 times. other nights it’s 3 or 4, it’s the shorter blocks of sleep I’m struggling with. Argh!

We're 5 weeks into it. Looking into sleep training.

The boy never slept well, the best we got was three wake ups a night, but now it's nearing twenty.

And yep the worst bit is when you just daze off and BAM off we go again 😩

@BullshitVivienne we're one week in. How are you coping? Hubby and I actually wish each other luck at the beginning of the night 😬

I’m in the same situation. Starting to lose the plot. Feel like it’s having a newborn but without any support.
My DD struggles to sleep in the day as well and don’t have any support to have her with people isolating.

@Twiglet2353 bedsharing seems to be the best solution for me at the moment, so the baby can just latch on to get her back to sleep. Also I feed the baby, hand her to my partner for a few hours then go to sleep. I have a toddler too so naps during the day don't happen.

I have a 5 month old. After 3 weeks of my LO waking every 1 to 2 hours I decided to start sleep training. I fed him, hugged him and we did a song then I put him down sleepy but awake. The first couple of nights he cried for 5 minutes, then 10 minutes and then settled. He is now settling himself and back to his pre sleep regression pattern of waking 2x a night for a bf which is manageable.

@crazydiamond222 at what age did you start the sleep training? I’m trying to get him to self settle in the day and sometimes he will - it’s just at night I find it so much easier to stick him on my boob than attempt self settling which isn’t helping but the tiredness is just too much and feeding is a guaranteed way back to sleep! how long did your sleep regression last altogether? :)

@forevercurious. At 4.5 months (after about 3 weeks of 1 to 2 hourly wakings) I started sleep training just at night.

I have found the opposite to you, that it was much easier to settle him in the evening without feeding than during the day. During the day he fights all his naps and will currently only nap on me in the sling. If you have any tips here that would be great

When he wakes during the night at around 11pm and 3am I do feed him back to sleep but I think he is actually hungry then so I don't mind.

In the evenings I do feed him first and he gets quite sleepy. I then make a point of semi wakening him to change his nappy and put him in his sleeping bag before I put him down.

@crazydiamond222 I don’t have any tips as it doesn’t always work and it depends what mood he is in. Some days he’ll feed to sleep, then the next nap I’ll feed him, stop and cuddle and then put him down awake, sometimes he’ll go off and other times he needs more cuddling to sleep etc. I’m going to try and work on the evening sleep of putting him down more awake, and then feed and change when I come to bed to see if that helps. Everytime I’ve attempted a dream feed he’s been too asleep so a nappy change before may help. Wish me luck!

Good luck forevercurious. I was quite surprised how quickly sleep training worked although it may have just have been coincidence with the end of the 4 month sleep regression.

Can I ask how many naps does your LO have? Mine still has 5 on an awake, feed, play, sleep schedule but I am wondering if I move to 3 or 4 more regular naps he will get better at napping alone?

Maybe I should use all this time we have at home to establish some kind of structure. I'd love to come out the other side of this and say my baby is a really good sleeper 😂

For all those with 4-5 month babies I found this article encouraging
sarahockwell-smith.com/2013/08/29/help-my-4-5-month-old-is-sleeping-like-a-newborn-again-aka-as-the-4-5-month-old-babies-from-hell/

Supposedly it is all going to get so much better at 6 months.

Can’t offer any advice as my DS was hit HARD by it. It went on until he was 6 months when we eventually had to sleep train as I was losing my mind. It’ll pass eventually, do try to rest in the day if you can xx

@crazydiamond222 Thankyou for that article - it’s really helped how I feel about the situation and I keep rereading it.

Thanks for all your replies.

I'll be damned if we don't come out of this social distancing/self isolation without sleeping babies 😂

Oh god it's actually got worse.

Oh the worst 2 months of my life.

But it'll pass

I personally don't recommend sleep training unless the lack of sleep is affecting your ability to function, and babies will become good sleepers naturally, over time

We're going through it too...I have been bedsharing it's the only way we get any sleep and don't get frustrated. I've been reading the gentle sleep book...I'm trying to be more laid back about it and not but too much pressure on myself or the baby. Also I like him sleeping with me

I find myself in fits of three am Mumsnet searching when did has a rough patch (in one at the moment) but soon I realise oh I haven't checked Mumsnet for a week, and I realise we've been back to normal and it didn't seem that long at all- it WILL pass xxx

Dd not did

Living it right now. Catnaps in the day so DD is super overtired by bedtime, then it's an hour battle to get to sleep and then a wake up every hour until about midnight at which time she'll sleep for a four hour block but then it's almost impossible to get her back to sleep after that. Very tired. Thankful for the four hour block as it's the only thing keeping me sane.
Every nap is a battle as well. I know it's been a bad night of sleep deprivation when I start to hallucinate. Mistaking the back of DD's head for her face and being like "WHAT'S WRONG WITH HER" ohh... that's hair.

That ^ made me laugh.

Well I’ve already been up for almost an hour and a half with my 4mo, so I think the regression is heading our way... Struggling not to be very annoyed with him even though I know it’s normal. Just, like, SLEEP!!!! Instead it’s all arm waving, leg kicking, grumbling, big smiles, staring at me etc. Argh.

Honestly it's horrendous. He's up for hours at a time refusing to sleep, and when he does he then only sleeps for 10-60 minutes 😩. Unless he's held of course- then he can sleep like a bloody angel....

Will he magically sleep again? Should I be trying to break bad habits now - rocking to sleep etc? Should I hold him all night and do shifts with DH knowing it will be over soon, or should I start gentle sleep training??

I fear I am joining you in regressionville 😬 I’m not sure which of us has cried more in the last couple of days!