January 2016 Moms

4 month sleep regression

has anyone started going through this with your current little one or another child? My girl is 3.5 months and has started sleeping pretty terribly. Shes soo hard to go down suddenly, wakes up a few times after putting her down, waking early. Last night she had a crying fit for an hour and we had no idea what was wrong. Thought maybe it was gas so we gave her gripe water, nothing worked. So my guess is this sleep regression may have started early. Or maybe its a phase? 
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Re: 4 month sleep regression

  • kimber308kimber308 member
    edited May 2016
    My LO in the past has slept 11 1/2 - 12 hours straight without waking...... I know I have/had it good.

    Well the last 2 nights she has woken 3-4 times crying and crying. I've had to feed her at least once during the night to soothe her, which I haven't done since she was like 7 weeks old. She also has had a terrible cold and I'm sure is having trouble breathing normally through the night. I'm wondering... is it the sleep regression or the cold? Time will tell......... 

    She is 16 weeks... 4 months next Monday.
  • jodiedrich18jodiedrich18 member
    edited May 2016
    We are thinking LO is going through it possibly now or just leap 4, she is 16 weeks tomorrow, 4 months on the 12th. For the past week, she has been incredibly difficult to put down for sleep and she is waking more often...and when she wakes, she is babbling, rolling, smiling, and otherwise having a grand time in her crib. Before this started, she was super easy to get to sleep in the evening and during her one or two wake ups a night to nurse those would be 15 minutes tops. She was sleeping in decent stretches with a 6-7 hour first one, then 2-3 hour stretches the rest of the night. Now....it takes a good hour or two in the evening just to finally get her to sleep. She will nurse and pass out in my arms, I lay her down, and boom, whimpering and crying, and we have to keep trying the cycle. She's up every 2-4 hours. She's also decided a paci is no longer an option for soothing during bed or nighttime. She's become incredibly vocal and her facial expressions are changing when she's doing or watching things during the day so I'm chalking it up to a growing fascination with the world. This is normal from what I've researched, but dang, I want some sleep.
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  • Let's pray it's just the 4th leap! I've been reading up on that, too. Please sleep tonight, child!
  • @kimber308 hoping the same for you! If I could gif which sadly I'm no good at, I would post a GOT "Brace yourselves...Winter is coming" type picture. Except instead of winter, it is no sleep of course.
  • My baby slept 11/12 nights too! Going to bed at 730pm. She always struggled with baps but bedtime was amazing. We would start routine at 7 and she would be out by 730. Last night it was 11 when she finally stayed asleep. Then was up at 2 and 6. I'm prayibg it doesnt last long. 
  • kimber308kimber308 member
    edited May 2016
    Ugh... you ladies are worrying me!!!
    I don't want it to last..
  • cyanopecyanope member
    LO used to be a decent sleeper (sleeping in six hour stretches, only waking up once or twice a night to eat)...until she hit 14 weeks. She is going on 17 weeks now. She wakes up 3-4 sometimes 5 times a night. She woke up SEVEN times on Friday. She wants to eat every time she wakes up. She will eat for 5 minutes, and then go right back to sleep. Then, she's up again two hours later. I'm grateful that when she wakes up, she's not up for long, but this constantly interrupted sleep is killing me...
  • cyanope said:
    LO used to be a decent sleeper (sleeping in six hour stretches, only waking up once or twice a night to eat)...until she hit 14 weeks. She is going on 17 weeks now. She wakes up 3-4 sometimes 5 times a night. She woke up SEVEN times on Friday. She wants to eat every time she wakes up. She will eat for 5 minutes, and then go right back to sleep. Then, she's up again two hours later. I'm grateful that when she wakes up, she's not up for long, but this constantly interrupted sleep is killing me...
    My DS has done this since day one and we are on week 16 now. I've never slept for longer than 3 hours at the most since he was born (even that's very rare), so I know exactly how you feel. I guess the good news for me is that I'm so used to never sleeping that it can't possibly get worse. Right? I might just die of sleep deprivation if it does. 
  • #teamnosleep
  • In the same boat. Baby girl is a horrible napper. Literally won't sleep during the day unless she's being held. But at night, she goes down about 9 and sleeps in our and until around 11 or midnight, takes a bottle and sleeps easily until about 8 am.

    Not recently. She's giving us a hard time about going to bed at midnight, occasionally refusing/fussing until around 2 am. Up from 4-5, then up again at 530. Wakes up for the day at 730. Not cool.
  • Glad I'm not the only one!!! Its like a switch has been hit. @m6tonner best hashtag
  • kaym6kaym6 member
    We are playing those games over here as well 
  • We are getting a total mixed bag from Griffin.  He's 20 weeks, but 14 adjusted.  So while we are just entering the leap based on adjusted age, I feel like we've already experienced a good wave of this sleep regression a couple of weeks ago.  He has been waking sporadically, last night being one of those nights.  We had to go in 4 times between midnight and 12:30.  He finally went back down, but was back at it again around 2.  After putting the paci. back in three times, we just brought him into our room.  Once we did that, BAM, he was out from 2:30-7:00 a.m. 

    The upside to this though is, he's finally kicking his last MOTN feeding.  He hasn't had a bottle during the night for the past 3 nights in a row.  So I think we are making progress with getting him to sleep longer stretches.  We were only getting 3-4, sometimes a 5 hour stretch.  Now, we are consistently getting 5-6 hour stretches, and even when he does wake up that first time, he is able to go back down within 10-15 minutes, without needing to eat.  We've had to go into his room and soothe him 2-3 times within that 10-15, but I'll take that, over a 40-45 minute feeding session. 
  • Going on 4-5 weeks of this. Like most of you ladies DS was sleeping a 6-7hr stretch then about two 3hr stretches after that until he hit 3 months old. Now he's back to newborn like sleep. The other night it was sleep 1hr, awake screaming for an hour, sleep for an hour, awake screaming for an hour.... For the whole night. I want my happy good sleeper back, so very tired 
  • So I read that if it is the four month sleep regression, it doesn't go back to normal? :-/ We have to weather the storm and teach baby new ways to soothe? Or is it just a phase like teething or a leap?
  • cali1710cali1710 member
    edited May 2016
    kimber308 said:
    So I read that if it is the four month sleep regression, it doesn't go back to normal? :-/ We have to weather the storm and teach baby new ways to soothe? Or is it just a phase like teething or a leap?
    I read that too
  • Meg920Meg920 member
    My LO started sleeping through the night at 10 weeks. We are going to be 17 weeks tomorrow and she has been waking up 2-3 times a night. I tried to let her cry for a bit last night in hopes that she would put herself back to sleep. She was down at 8 and woke up at 12 and the woke up at 3:30 and soothed herself back to sleep. 

    I am am worried that she is going to get used to eating at night, and I really do not want that!
  • cali1710cali1710 member
    edited May 2016
    For some reason its not poating my whole response. 

    @kimber308 I read that too. I guess we have to reteach them how to go to sleep. I don't know where else to start. Is it ok to start sleep training at 4 months? I feel shes too young for the cry it our method. I read they don't learn to self sooth until between 4-6 months ... I read the 4 month sleep regression doesnt effect some babies. Lucky parents. 

    @Meg920 I'm in the same boat. I don't want her to get used to food during the night nor do I want her to need that to fall asleep. She has always had nights where shes woken up around 3/4 for food but that was slowly going away. She was having more and more 10-12 hours sleep nights. 
  • LO has always slept pretty terribly. She's never had a stretch longer than 3 hours (OK maybe once or twice but that's it), and she often wakes up between feedings and needs us to put her binky back in. So I don't know how it could get worse. Im exhausted. However, last night she had a 4 hour stretch, and today she's been napping over an hour so far and she has NEVER napped for longer than 30-40  minutes. She's in her 4th leap (almost 15 weeks) so maybe (hopefully) sleeping will get better?
  • kimber308kimber308 member
    edited May 2016
    cali1710 said:
    For some reason its not poating my whole response. 

    @kimber308 I read that too. I guess we have to reteach them how to go to sleep. I don't know where else to start. Is it ok to start sleep training at 4 months? I feel shes too young for the cry it our method. I read they don't learn to self sooth until between 4-6 months ... I read the 4 month sleep regression doesnt effect some babies. Lucky parents. 

    @Meg920 I'm in the same boat. I don't want her to get used to food during the night nor do I want her to need that to fall asleep. She has always had nights where shes woken up around 3/4 for food but that was slowly going away. She was having more and more 10-12 hours sleep nights. 

    Hey @cali1710 the good news (for me) is that LO slept through the night last night 6:45-6:00 AM. Ah... it felt so good! Now I'm wondering if this is four month sleep regression or a leap? I guess tonight and the rest of the week will tell. I'm wondering if the good sleep will come and go or just always be terrible from there on out. As for sleep training, I know it says that they won't learn to self soothe until 4-6 months, but we started sleep training shortly after 3 months. It only took a few nights and now we just put her down at night and leave the room - I do feel it's taught her to self soothe and she is able to do so now, so when she wakes up at night she's able to put herself back to sleep (except during this rough patch). I will say, though, the first night was 7-10 minutes of tears, and each night was less from there on out. I don't think I would have done it if it was worse. I feel, though, as a parent, it's like, "what do I know?" because everything is always changing.
  • @kimber308 amazing! Thats great news. My Lo slept 730-630 last night so fingers crossed!! I'm hoping to start the sleep training though. I just find it ao hard to do a)because I just want to go to bed lol. And b) I'm not sure I can handle the crying for so long. What do you do? Just wait until she fell asleep on her own or went in and put a soother in and walked back out? 
  • @cali1710 I'm so glad to hear it! Great news for us... but I'm wondering if the regression will come and go, or if it was just a leap and is gone? Ugh... I hate the anticipation of what the night will bring. 
    As far as sleep training goes, my LO had it tough because she doesn't take a pacifier. When we started she just would be in her crib until she fell asleep. Some crying and flailing, then it turned into looking around and making noises with an occasional cry. She has had this thing, though, where she wakes up an hour after we put her down and we don't go to her. We just let her practice soothing herself - she uses her fingers and gives a couple yelps/noises/flails, and then will fall back asleep. I think it's good practice for if she does wake up at night but really doesn't need me. However, she usually doesn't wake up at night, so I didn't have to deal with that. But the couple of nights she did wake up this week, I felt that she really did need something and was going through something, so I got up and soothed/fed her if she needed it. I don't know what I'll do if it continues.
  • @kimber308 thanks for the advice! My LO uses a soother so she gets upset when it falls out. For her nap this morning I tried letting her cry and flail for a bit then went in, put her soother back in and she calmed then started getting fussy again so I waited a few min, went back in, put her soother in and she eventually dozed off. It doesnt help her learn to sooth herself but it helps when I don't have to rock her to sleep. Baby steps lol. But her naps are generally only half an hour so maybe this will also help them lengthen. 
  • cyanopecyanope member
    After three weeks of LO waking up 4-7 times a night, the last two nights have only been twice. She had six hour stretches both nights too. Fingers crossed we made it over the hump. I'm just hoping she had her sleep regression early, and it's back to smooth sailing. LO will be 4 months old this week. 
  • cyanope said:
    After three weeks of LO waking up 4-7 times a night, the last two nights have only been twice. She had six hour stretches both nights too. Fingers crossed we made it over the hump. I'm just hoping she had her sleep regression early, and it's back to smooth sailing. LO will be 4 months old this week. 
    Same! LO slept through the night last night and the night before. I'm hoping it's all over, but I feel like it may have just not begun yet. :( Time will tell!
  • grkgdss00grkgdss00 member
    edited May 2016
    Ours started with a sleep PROgression in week 16... up to 8.5 hour stretches which has never happened before that. Week 17 hit and she's been up 3/4x per night again. Lord help me. Her naps have also been horrible. It's like 30 minute max and she's awake. We're on the tail end of the 4th leap too, so could be that.
  • grkgdss00 said:
    Ours started with a sleep PROgression in week 16... up to 8.5 hour stretches which has never happened before that. Week 17 hit and she's been up 3/4x per night again. Lord help me. Her naps have also been horrible. It's like 30 minute max and she's awake. We're on the tail end of the 4th leap too, so could be that.
    Omg my LOs naps are the same. Unless being held, they are half an hour. On the dot. I'm hoping these get better soon 
  • kaym6kaym6 member
    @grkgdss00 were on the tail end of the 4th leap over here and it took me four hours to get my son to stay asleep long enough for me to leave the room last night, make it stop! This leap never ends haha 
  • After 5 weeks I'm crossing my fingers things are getting better, after getting up every hour or two... The very longest getting one 3 hour stretch at night for the last 5 weeks... LO only got up twice last night. Asleep by 8 and got up at 1:30 and 4:30 and up for the day at 6:45. This is how his sleep used to be before we started this regression so I would Love just to go back to that routine. I'm really hoping it wasn't just a fluke. I actually kept waking up and freaking out bc he hadn't gotten up yet and wondering if he was ok! Hang in there ladies!
  • We've been waking 6-7 times a night.  He falls asleep anywhere between 7:30-8:00 p.m.  His first wake up is sometime around 10:30-11, from there, it's every 1 1/2-2 hours.  We usually have to in and soothe him with his paci. "shhhh" and wait 2-3 minutes in the room with him.  Every 2nd or 3rd wake up, only calls for DH or I to do this procedure once.  It's usually 2 times per waking period that we gotta do this.  He can't always get back to sleep after the first time we go in.  Once he spits out the paci. if he isn't in a deep enough sleep, he wakes himself up again and we gotta go back in for round 2 of soothing. 
  • Our son was sleeping 7-8 hr stretches before his 4 month regression.  He's 17 weeks this week, and for the past 3 weeks he's been waking up 3 times a night and will usually be awak for an hour around 4-5am.  I'm so exhausted that I could care less about sleep training right now.  I've been just nursing him to sleep so I can survive at work at this point.  It's been rough.  I pray everyday that he will go back to his 7-8hr nights at the end of this leap...the sleep deprivation is torture after being so spoiled with good nights sleep before.
  • My daughter was sleeping 8 or more hours at night weeks ago and it was wonderful. She is about to be 14 weeks and all of a sudden its so much harder to get her down at night, she wakes up so easily if the paci falls out, and she's started this thing where she needs to hold on to me to sleep. My hands or my shirt. Sometimes it works if I give her a bit of blanket to grip but mostly I have to walk/nurse her to sleep. 

    Once we're all finally out, she's up again between 1-3 crying. Just to get some sleep I bring her into bed with me and let her side nurse until she falls back asleep. I havent done that since before i went back to work. Once we are cuddling though, she's out. 

    Whats the difference between a leap and regression?
  • @Knottie84607381 The 4th leap happens right around the time of the 4 month sleep regression. Leaps happen more frequently than the regression periods.  The huge significance with the 3/4 month sleep regression is that, the sleep habits that are created during this time will most likely have some sort of permanence in your LO's sleep habits from here on out. It's suggested that other periods of sleep regression will occur between 9-10 months, 18 months and 2 years old.  Leaps happen throughout the first 77 weeks of your child's life.  They occur every couple of weeks, sometimes less or longer, and last from anywhere between 1 week to 6-7. 

    Leaps are linked to the development of your baby, which could include sleep habits, where as the regression is associated with sleep behaviors and patterns only. 
  • mamadcbmamadcb member
    I've seen this thread for a while but unfortunately now I can chime in. We've had a few rough nights so far, with last night being the worst. His longest sleep stretch was 3.5 hours and the remainder were an hour and 15 minutes. I do think his wakings seem different than before. When I went in an hour or so after his previous feeding, he stopped crying the minute I walked in the room. Then he ate, was calm and sleeping again, and when I put him back in the crib he started to cry immediately. What I'm getting at is that these wakeups seem less about food and more about comfort and closeness, because this is a boy who could go 8 hours without eating before and is gaining weight like a champ. So the question becomes how to teach him to sleep without my help, and that's going to be a challenge. I feel more comfortable doing real "sleep training" at 4 months, so we still have a few weeks to go...
  • @mamadcb  my little one had a rough patch and seems to be getting a bit better but I do agree with you that it seems to be more about comfort than it does food. Even for naps we will get her to sleep in her arms and the second we put her down she wakes up and she's crying. I agree that sleep training is pretty useless up until this point because it's going to change and you're going to have to retrain them to sleep. Now the only question is what route do you go to train them.. Let's just hope that maybe it's a growth spurt or teething and it won't last long. Maybe it's even the 4th leap and then It'll be over after the month
  • Dear god my little one has officially hit the sleep regression. Since thursday she constantly wakes at night. Won't go back down for forever and sometimes it takes a few hours. Please tell me someone has found something that's worked for them! 
  • nackienackie member
    We started it last week.  He went to bed at 7:30 and he's already been awake 3 times and it's only 12:30.  How long does this last?
  • I'm hoping a few days ha. But thats not likely. If it is the regression then it says anywhere from 2-6 WEEKS! Fml
  • nackienackie member
    Ugh.  I almost fell asleep while driving to daycare on Friday.  I don't know how I could survive 6 weeks of this
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