Ditching the dummy in the 4 month sleep regression

[FizzingWhizzbee123]

DS2 is only 3.5 months by started the sleep regression at 12 weeks, so this has been going on for 3 weeks now. His sleep is getting worse and worse. He wakes 1.5-2hrs after bedtime and every 1-2 hours overnight. Last night there was only 20 minutes between some wakes. We’re both exhausted

He’s in Leap 4 too, and he’s learned to roll from back to tummy so that’s disrupting sleep and he’s had to be unswaddled while he still has some Moro reflex. He has a lot going on!

He wants to either feed back to sleep (definitely not always hungry) or have his dummy. He has a poor suck (tongue tie issues that has been cut but still dodgy) so it pops out while he’s trying to actively suck it. Very frustrating for all involved.

I’m feeling like it’ll be months before he can put it back in himself and that he keeps waking for it so it’s becoming more of a hinderence than a help (although I definitely cave past 3am when he’s waking constantly).

I tried to ditch it cold turkey tonight - gap between feed and bed and no dummy. He wasn’t happy but finally managed to settle after cuddles, sucking his finger and knotted muslin.

I don’t know whether persevere or whether he’s just too little. He’s just hit all these milestones so early 😕

Hi OP,

My LO also hit all his milestones (so far) early...and tbh it’s an absolute nightmare. I read somewhere that the earlier they hit their milestones the worse it is for their sleep. Lucky is! He rolled at 14 weeks, sat and crawled at 5 months, pulling to stand at 6 months and now a few days into 7 months is trying to free stand 🙈

So to offer my perspective...the 4 month regression was early and hellish for us too. Currently in the 8 month regression (early), equally hellish. He never had a dummy, but we removed the swaddle and transferred him to his big cot the same week the first sleep regression hit. It wasn’t on purpose...a horrendous misfortune some might say 😂

But now looking back...he wasn’t sleeping anyway. At least we got it all out of the way. I’d say ditch the dummy and ride this regression out. You will come out the other side and at least you won’t have to deal with dummy withdrawal once he’s started sleeping better. That being said, I know how hard it is. If you cave at 3am after you’ve been up 6 times already, I wouldn’t sweat it. If he finds his thumb he might not need the dummy anyway. Once mine got used to being unswaddled he found his thumb, and learnt how to sleep on his front, and that’s how we came out of the first regression. Hoping the current one ends soon!

Good luck!

Thank you! Really nice to hear from someone who can relate. I hope you get through the 8 month regression soon!

Im also of the view that his sleep is so bad at the moment, maybe time to just bite the bullet. We’ve moved him to the big cot tonight too, so he has room to work out the rolling without hitting the sides. Trying cold turkey with the dummy and will see how it goes. He woke 30 mins after bed and managed to settle again with his thumb. Woke again around 10.30pm and again was sucking hod thumb but it escalated and he wouldn’t settle so I’m giving him a feed to ensure he’s not hungry. However aiming to not feed him again in less than 3 hrs time so.... let’s see what happens. Bit worried about him sucking his thumb instead as I know it’s worse for teeth but at least short term, it’s not an issue. Hoping he’ll attached to a muslin instead and outgrow the need to suck soon.

Ok....so last night was weirdly good and I can’t quite believe it. After the brief 10.30 wake and resettle, he woke up at 11pm and strongly resisted any method of settling so I fed him in case he was genuinely hungry and made sure he took a full feed. He then didn’t wake up until 4am for another feed! Then slept through until 7.30am. I kept waking up to check he was still breathing as I couldn’t believe it. No sure if it was a fluke, moving to the big cot or losing the dummy but he did so well. Not convinced it’ll happen again yet but I sure hope so!

Ahh that’s great! Even if it was just for one night, take the win 😝
Mine once slept for 9 hours and I was up the whole night checking he was still breathing. We’ve never repeated that miracle haha.

Ah no 🤣 let’s hope for a repeat soon!

He just completely settled himself to sleep for his first nap with just a tiny bit of quiet grizzling. I’m really proud of him. I’m hoping that will help him start to learn to link his sleep cycles. He does seem to have found his thumb but I don’t think that’s a problem at him age, I’ll just have to see how that goes as he gets older. Am working on him taking the muslin as a comforter which will hopefully give him an alternative to the thumb when he’s a bit older.

That’s amazing! Well done!
I think as long as they’re not sucking they’re thumb by the time adult teeth come in (around 7), it’s ok. Mine didn’t take a dummy and I was also worried when he started sucking his thumb but actually that’s how he self-soothes and it’s attached to him so you don’t have to keep putting it in all night long!