4 month sleep regression

[Tal85]

I've been dealing with the 4 month sleep regression for about six weeks now. Just as I thought things were improving we had an awful night last night. I've been tracking my son's nighttime sleep and daytime naps to see if there's anything I can learn from the info that will help us. Yesterday evening he was awake for hours and missed a nap, excitedly playing with daddy and then crying lots. I think it ruined the night's sleep. He'll be five months next week and I think he needs a naps schedule. Does anyone with experience recommend a strict schedule at this age or just keep an eye on them and make sure they don't stay awake longer than a couple of hours?

I explained to my husband that an overtired baby sleeps worse at night but he thinks if he sleeps too much in the day he'll sleep worse at night. I tried to explain about cortisol and adrenaline levels but he was very dismissive and not supportive. He's never done a night shift since our son was born. It matters to me that our baby is well rested and happy and in return I'll be well rested and happy. Any advice appreciated!

Hi! What I've found has helped us with our now almost 10 month old is following wake windows. It doesn't work for everyone as I know every baby is different but if you look up wake windows online it explains them. At at about 5 months I think the wake window is about 2 to 2.5 hours of being awake before needing a nap. We've followed them strictly from about 3/4 months and it really has helped avoid overtiredness. There's a few accounts on Instagram "TakingCarababies" is the one that I followed and it really helped explain baby sleep.

Hope it helps!

Thank you! I think that a routine is more what I'm looking for rather than a strict schedule that's just hard to fit in with life! I used to notice he couldn't go more than 1.5 hours without sleep but now he's more alert and wanting to play he can go longer. I think I need to be more mindful of ensuring he naps when he needs it even if he can keep on playing for longer!

What I've noticed the more tired they are the more hyper and playful they seem to get. They'd happily play until they drop and fight naps the late they're left. We haven't really got a schedule except that morning starts between 6 and 7 (he wakes naturally around then) so you know that by say 9:30 he'll need a nap. Then say he sleep an hour and a half, you get until half 2/3 before the next nap. It's hard going at first because you feel like half your time is being spent making them nap but it does get easier. We use the free version of the huckleberry app on our phones that track sleep, after a few uses it calculates the nap sweetspot and honestly it's been a god send. Most days now he naps 2 hours for the first nap and about an hour and half for the second nap, which for the most part gets fewer wakenings at night other than the usual feeds. After a while I started to feel more relaxed because I wasn't as knackered because he wasn't as knackered and screechy and was sleeping better at night. Only awake for a feed and straight back to sleep whereas days with rubbish naps he wakes more often at night and for longer periods. It's exhausting and then you're worth absolutely nothing the entire next day. The 3 nap schedule I was able to either sleep myself, eat, clean the house or whatever else needing doing and it really made me feel more human. My OH also doesn't do any of the middle of the night stuff (98% of the time he doesn't even hear the baby wake up) so I just told him for my own sanity that unless you're going to do all the nights then this is what we have to do during the day and he was happy to stick with it, especially once he realised how much more energy the baby had, how much less he whinged and how much less of an inpatient tired arsehole I was.

Sleep begets sleep at that age and not every baby will show obvious signs of being sleepy like eye rubbing or yawning. If you’re struggling with timings then definitely try the free Huckleberry app to track sleep and suggest sweet spots for nap times.

Thanks all. I have been using the huckleberry app for just over a week which has what got me thinking about how his naps affect his sleep at night. Yesterday there was a big gap between his last nap and going to bed and we had the worse night he's ever had last night. He woke seven times 😴

Hopefully it gets better the more you track it and follow it. Even if you're out, when you know its nap time try and get them to sleep in the pram. I've had to do it a few times, can never get more than a half hour in the pram when out but it still helps to keep the overtiredness at bay.

Fingers crossed you get a better night tonight 🤞 we still go through nights of super disturbed sleep but definitrly a lot less now

When baby does have a daytime nap:

• How long is that nap usually for?
• How do you get baby to sleep?
• What does a typical daytime routine currently look like in full? (including feeds and sleeps)