4month old sleep not enough for anyone

[Astrid7]

Hi,
I have a 4 month old who was sleeping fairly well but no longer is. I've read lots about the 4 month sleep regression so am guessing it's this but I don't seem to be able to move past it. My baby is exclusively breastfed. He goes to bed at 7:30pm after a bath and milk feed in our bedroom with the white noise on and lights off. He can usually settle himself to sleep when put down awake. He also settles himself to sleep for most naps in the day although finds it difficult to stay asleep himself since he hit 4 months. I've been dreamfeeding him at 10pm but it doesn't seem to make any difference. He wakes at 1-1:30am, 3:30 and then up for good at 5am but still very tired. I cannot get him back to sleep at 5am. I've tried resisting the feed at 3:30 as he never takes much before he's completely zonked on me and I have to put him back down. He's also not very hungry at 5am.
I'm worried I'm going to foster these bad sleep habits and we're not going to get out of this cycle. Any help or advice on what to do? He used to go 6-7 hours without feeding at night so I know he can do it, it's not all hunger related.
I can't survive on this little sleep and he's waking up tired not refreshed also.
Thanks

It sounds exactly like the 4 month sleep regression which both my two had in different ways. I remember vividly with my first being so worried about reinforcing night wake ups etc but in the end she settled back into a one nightly feed by 6/7 months herself without much input. with my second I was much less worried as had a 2 year old who sleeps 11 hours solid a night so I now know it doesn’t mean bad sleep forever. So just managed as best I could with the wake ups and things are slowly settling down (6 months now). As long as you keep the room dark, little stimulation and make sure the baby knows it’s still night they will come out the other side. Other than feeding or trying to settle there’s not a lot you can do and basically do whatever will be quickest so you can sleep. If BF can you feed lying down? It is tiring but definitely not the worst I’ve heard a baby sleeping! Do you have a partner? Could they do dreamfeed with EBM or formula so you can sleep say 8-1:30 uninterrupted? Even that will make a huge difference. Keep going! One day it will be a distant memory. Until you have another one and they remind you 🥴.

Hi @Astrid7
I was in almost exactly the same position as you just last week. I have an almost 5month old who had always slept well as a newborn, giving me 6/7hr stretches. Until about 4 weeks ago when she suddenly started waking every couple of hours. She's also EBF and i feed on demand, so i initially thought she was going throuhh a growth spurt, until it just did not stop. I was reaching the end of my tether and was unsure of what else I could do - she self settles at naps and at bedtimes and I had tried to feed her more during the day/ensure she wasn't overtired but nothing seemed to be making a difference. Until one day, a few days ago, she gave me a 4hr stretch. And the next night a 5hr. And now she's back giving me 6hr stretches. I don't want to count my chickens JUST yet, but I'm hoping the regression is over, which would tie in with my wonder weeks.
Anyway, I've totally waffled but I just mean to say, other than keeping her routine the same, and sticking with the positive sleep associations, there was literally nothing else I did. Just had to wait it out. Fingers crossed your regression won't last long!