4 month sleep regression - is it always awful?!

[Eggcellent29]

Hello you lovely Mums!

So. I’ve been lurking around on these forums and I am terrified of this dreaded four month sleep regression!! My LO is 3 months, so it’s looming!

My LO has always been a good sleeper so the idea of all that going out the window is very scary 😱

Is there anyone out there who found that their LO didn’t go through this, or went through it and it was fine/not that bad?!

Help a worried mummy out! 🙈🤪

It never materialised with our twins (they are now 12m), so you could be lucky like us!

I've got three children, youngest is six months and oldest is 4. We only had the terrible 4 month regression with the middle one and he was a terrible sleeper anyway, so it might have been that.

I dont think it's as common a problem as, say, teething.

Ds1 didn’t have one but ds2 and it’s still going 2 months later. It’s pot luck. Don’t stress, you’ll be fine 😊

DS is 6 months and he started sleeping badly just before 5 months. He's still not as great as he was but the main issue we had was his terrible mood during the day. It was to do with learning to roll over and possibly teething but honestly he was a misery guts for at least 2 weeks straight. Then one day he mastered rolling over and was a different baby. 4-6 months is a big leap developmentally so it can all be associated. Hopefully you escape unscathed!

My first was a terrible sleeper so the 4 month regression didn't do much. My second is a pretty good sleeper - can't say I've noticed any regressions and he's 7mo now.

Didn't notice it with either of mine - DS1 was a great sleeper always and DS2 is a rubbish sleeper always.

Ds was horrendous and nearly broke us.

Dd was a breeze because we co slept.

Thank you all for your replies! I feel slightly more hopeful now 😂

Fingers crossed he will continue to snooze!

DS wasn’t a great sleeper and then the four month sleep regression hit like a bulldozer! DD is 16 weeks on Monday and I’m on tenterhooks wondering if / when it’s going to hit. She’s been waking in the night a bit more recently but tends to be soothed back quickly with a boob in her mouth (we cosleep some of the night). I’m half wondering if that’s it! Probably not but would be great if it is. She’s generally an easier baby and better sleeper than DS was, although I’ve heard of lots of people with very chilled babies who’ve been hit very hard by the four month sleep regression so not sure how relevant that is.

Mine only had sleep regression for a few days and then went back to sleeping through! Hopefully you won't be affected

DD1 sailed over this. She was a good sleeper and absolutely nothing changed around this age (went a bit tits up at 7 months, but that's another story!) DD2 had a couple of shitty weeks at the 4 month mark - but it's certainly not inevitable!

I don't remember it being too bad and she was sleeping through by 5 months so it didn't last long.

DS1 it didn’t affect him. DS2 went back to feeding overnight and still does most nights now at 10 months.

I didn't notice it with DC1. Not there yet with DC2!

How does your baby get to sleep at night? It seems to affect the babies who are rocked/fed to sleep the worst IMO. Purely anecdotal but just what I've observed from people I know!

It was horrible for my LO from 4 to 5.5 months with 1 to 2 hour wakings and then I sleep trained. Before I sleep trained I was feeding to sleep. I wonder if bf babies have a worse sleep regression as they are more likely to feed to sleep.

That’s interesting about the being fed and rocked to sleep!

He’s not fed to sleep, he prefers to eat when he wakes, have a play and then sleep and repeat!

Hard to say with the rocking! He sleeps in a sling in the day but I just pop him in and get in with the day, I don’t deliberately rock him off iyswim. Same at bed time - he falls asleep laying on me but isn’t rocked, he just dozes off whilst I read, chat to dh etc and then is rolled into the next to me!

He’s generally such an easy sleeper (famous last words) so let’s hope he stays that way 😂

Although I have noticed he’s gone from sleeping in 9/10 hour blocks at night to ‘only’ 6. But I don’t mind that as it’s nappy change, feed and back to sleep with relative ease.

On a side note - did any of you lovely ladies notice any changes to their appetite around this time?

Both my DDs have been great sleepers and neither of them have ever had any sleep regression one is nearly 6 and the other 14 months.

It was horrendous with my first, but his sleep has always been awful. He's now 8 and still has sleep regressions every so often.

My youngest never seemed to go through any sleep regressions. He's still a great sleeper.

I fully believe that these things are different for every child.

@weepingwillow22 did sleep training through the regression work? My LO will not settle at night at all and then he will wake up thinking it’s playtime in the middle of the night! Not sure if this is the regression but islets certainly horrible!!

Never experienced the 4 months sleep regression. Dc1 was a great sleeper and stayed that way. Dcs 2 and 3 were still such terrible sleepers that it couldn't possibly get any worse, infact they improved very slightly if anything. In my experience it's not a thing. I know that's not the consensus though!

We were unlucky with the four month sleep regression! My DS slept through from about 8 weeks until he turned 15 weeks, I remember telling everyone how amazing it was that he was such a good sleeper. Then he turned into the worst sleeper on the planet overnight. He literally woke up every 45 mins to 2 hours from 15 weeks until he turned 11 months. But every baby is different!

Mine was but more 5 months.
Just please please remember it's normal and will pass. Their brain is going a million miles an hour and life may feel a slog for a while.

Also don't get into the whole sleep training thing. You're only supposed to do it once they're six months. Often by then they' sort themselves out anyway. 🤞

My biggest change was the nap situation and having to relearn everything. Be kind to yourself and your baby!