4 month regression

[Chunkamatic]

OK, so i've been reading a few of the threads on here relating to the 4 month sleep regression and have a few questions...

DS2 is 15wks and has all of a sudden lost the ability to sleep. He has never been significantly great but would go to bed at around 6.45pm following bath etc and apart from a few stirrings for the dummy to be replaced would sleep till between 12am and 2am. Then he would come in to bed with me for the rest of the night.

As of Sunday he seems to have decided against all this and has either been very hard to get him to sleep, or if he does go off will not stay asleep. When he is in bed with me he seems more fidgety also. This is the same for daytime and nighttime sleeping - his 45 min naps have shortened themselves to 20 mins max unless we are out in the pram.

He is desperately trying to roll over and has obviously become much more alert in the last week or so, so I do believe he is going through some pretty big stuff developmentally.

So, anyway, my question is; Is there any point at all trying to coax him out of this - if so what techinques can I try to settle him in to some sort of sleepy state? He already has a dummy.. which has become a PITA to be honest!

I have DS1 who is 27mo to look after so it is hard to spend too long concentrating on getting DS2 to sleep when he is awake as well.

If I just have to try and ride it out - can anyone tell me how long I should expect it to last?

Any help or advice appreciated!

After another very disturbed night... bump!!!

I've just posted on this elsewhere but at this age and stage, we got rid of the dummy and used PUPD. It took at week but dd is now a brilliant sleeper who goes down easily at 7pm and sleeps until 8am. Used it on ds too and can really recommend it.

My DD is 15 weeks (corrected) and we are going through a very similar thing - although her naps are a bit better (usually 40 mins, sometimes longer)

Just wanted to post solidarity. Might try PUPD myself...

whats pupd?!

Pick Up, Put Down!

Thanks for your replies... I've got the BW books so am familiar with PUPD. I have a feeling that the key might be getting rid of the dummy - there just always seems to be a reason not to do it! And he really really roots around and struggles if he doesnt have it... DP has a stretch of 4 days off coming though so maybe I just need to bite the bullet and get on with it.

BlameItOnTheBogey how old is your DD now? Did you use it for all sleeps? Can you be honest and tell me how hard it is - I am one for following the path of least resistance so if i think it's not working will give up after not very long (which to be honest is probably how we got to this stage!)

It may be his growth spurt as i had a similar thing. Also my DD (25wks) became very fidgety whilst learning to roll over, once she mastered it she now sleeps usually 8pm til 8am- on her front (bum in the air!) so i wonder if he is wanting to get comfy and get on his front. So maybe extra tummy time and get him rolling!

Thanks sleepy - he's so nearly there it is quite frustarting to watch! DS1 was just bad all the time at sleeping so it was hard to distunguish any developmental blips iykwim!

for me this happened with both my babies. slept right thru from 6 wks and stopped at 16 wks, unfortunatly this has never got any better. dont know how to change this any ideas.

My 4 month old has also started to be a unsettled sleeper at night - has never slept through but would sleep from about 7pm to 3am for a feed, and then sleep again until 6am - but for the last week or so I have been up and down all night! and last night was up for three hours with her. Feeling a little disheartened as thought things would get better not worse!

Agree that the trying to roll over seems to be a factor - while I was trying to get DD back to sleep last night she was just trying and trying to roll over and sit up!

Has made me feel a bit better that it is not me 'doing things wrong' but that 4 months seems an unsettled time for one reason or another - lets hope it gets better soon - I need sleep!!

i feel your pain!! my 21 week old has in the past week decided it is impossible to settle herself.

she has started rolling over and i hear her crying and find her face down in her cot unable to roll back onto her side. i'm really hoping this will stop soon (please say it does???) as she had me up 15+ times last night. she just instantly cries on waking. it has coincided with me dropping her 4-5amish feed and i thought she may have been hungry but she only takes 4oz on her 8am feed so can hardly be starving!

does pupd really work and how long does it take? i'm finding she won't settle unless i cuddle her anyway so maybe i should just try and shorten the length of cuddle?

we're off to france on friday and i'm dreading it!!

The 4 month sleep regression happens whether or not babies are starting to roll etc. It happens because their brains are working on a developmental spurt which seems to happen to all babies (although not all have messed-up sleep as a result). If your DC is working on rolling or other new skills as well, they will be extra unsettled.

More info on the 4 month regression here, here, here and here.

It will get better (we survived) but there's not much you can do about it in the meantime. I just fed DS every time he woke up and co-slept to get through it.

Chunkamatic, the people on the third link here are developmental psychologists who say that it's virtually impossible to teach babies how to go to sleep a different way when you're in sleep regression territory - their brains are working too hard already. So this is not likely to be a time when trying PUPD is particularly likely to be successful. Of course, you can still try if you're desperate, but be aware that it's more likely to work from 5 / 5.5 months onwards.

thanks for the links AngelDog - makes sense having spent two hours up with my DD again last night while she was wide awake at 2am trying her hardest to roll over!