Does the 4 month sleep regression really end?

[August21yellowbaby]

My 4 month old son is waking every 50-90 minutes every night. I'm getting very depressed and feeling very guilty because I am getting frustrated with him. I have suffered depression for 10 years and my mood is very much sleep triggered (I have been on sleeping tablets from the age of 13) before he hit 4 months he was sleeping 9pm-2am quick feed then 2am-6am quick feed then awake at 8ish and this worked perfectly for us.
I absolutely do not expect him to sleep through, I don't even sleep through, but I am at my wits ends with the fact that there is no end to the day for me, no bedtime no time to wind down

He is BF but we have started introducing a bottle of forumla before bed this week but so far no difference.

I can't co sleep as I'm feeling very touched out by the end of the day and when I do try co sleep I am too anxious and can't sleep

I try to settle him in his cot by putting dummy back in, shushing him, rubbing his head but the only thing that gets him back to sleep is breastfeeding

I feel like giving up breastfeeding but I'm scared the only difference will be I will have to get up and make a bottle every hour

I need to know if this ends or if this is how he will sleep for the next year or so 😭

Please no negative comments I am very fragile and tearful right now

Hi,
Oooohhhh you poor poor thing. My boy is 16mo now but we went through one hell of a 4 month regression... till he was about 6 months old. I was so damn tired it was like I was rocking on a boat during the day.

I also breastfed to sleep and I think this was the issue. Eventually I transitioned to patting him to sleep in the cot. I started off by shushing and patting his bum whist feeding him to sleep, then after a few days of that would un lach him as he was falling asleep, over a few days pulled him off sooner whilst shushing and patting. Then eventually was able to do it in the cot and could sometimes resettle him with shush pat.

When he was about 5mo I introduced a comforter which he became attached to and by 6mo he could self settle with it - again did it gradually by having the comforter with him as I shush patted him.

One thing I wished I'd done was have my husband do some (or even one) of the night wakes with a bottle. He was just so attached to me so kept waking up wanting me. If you can, share the wakings a) for your own sanity and b) so baby isn't completely reliant on you to get back to sleep. If baby wakes within an hr of a feed, try burping and resettling with shush patting instead and hopefully it'll reduce the number of wakes.

Ugh it is such a tough time. Good luck xxx

It's really hard

It DOES get better but baby sleep is a real rollercoaster especially in that first year with times it gets easier then harder again

The only way I got through it was safe cosleeping - it took me abit of practice to sleep like this as I struggled with anxiety at first but I just did my own research on it and then gradually I slept loads better cosleeping than I ever had trying to get him in and out of a cot for what like 30mins if that before he woke back up at this age

Have you looked at the basis website I found that really helpful https://www.basisonline.org.uk

Appreciate the other posters advice about shush pat might work with some breastfed babies, absolutely 100% never worked with mine - he was/is v high needs though

Ps you are right there is no evidence that formula makes babies sleep more

instituteofmums.com/2016/07/01/should-babies-really-be-sleeping-through-the-night/