Community› The Bump Month Clubs› May 2015 Moms
May 2015 Moms
New Discussion

4mo sleep regression

lilsunflowermommalilsunflowermomma member
in May 2015 Moms
I'm pretty sure my LO has hit the 4mo sleep regression phase. He's been waking up more often through the night - like every 1-2 hours, as opposed to his once every 4-5 hours. I've been reading up on it and I learned that starting a fairly consistent night time routine is crucial now. I've been putting him to bed around 8:30-9:30 every night (after we read, bathe and then massage) but I read he should be going down around 6:30-7 or even earlier, depending on how many naps and the length of them throughout the day. I'm a FTM and I was always told that the first 3 months were the hardest. I felt so blessed my DS was so easy! When I thought things were going to get even better than they already were, I'm afraid they are getting worse and going to stay that way until the 8/9mo mark. I EBF and he will not take a bottle so I can't get any help from my SO. I've been trying every day at least once and he hates it. I have to throw away precious milk since he won't eat it! He's also not eating as much during the day - probably because he's so excited to investigate this new world - but eats a ton at night. So basically, I'm exhausted!! Any advice? Is anyone experiencing this too?
Report Reply to Post

Re: 4mo sleep regression

  • lilsunflowermommalilsunflowermomma member
    I apologize if this thread may seem to be a repeat of a couple others out there.
    Report Reply
  • Loading the player...
  • kremerj1kremerj1 member
    There's a couple of different problems you have here. On the sleep, I can't help because DS gets up every 3 hours and has been for most of the 3.5 months. On the bottle problem, try having your SO try giving him a bottle. It might help for you not to be around. If that works, then you can try giving the bottle. My DS loves the bottle, to wear I have to give him a bottle before bed of pumped milk. He gets lazy and won't eat when he's tired and I don't want him waking up again.
    Report Reply
  • laceybee29laceybee29 member
    Have you tried different bottles or teats? I had to try a few before my daughter would take bottle. I'm in the UK & use NUK bottles & latex teats not sure if those are available to you to try.

    Re sleeping - my daughter has been sleeping through since 9 weeks we did nothing to encourage this she just did it & she goes down between 6:30-7:30. She's just turned 4 months for past 2 weeks she has been waking around 3am & just wants to play. She will wake for 2 nights then sleep through 2 nights then be awake next few nights. It's really tough. She also isn't going to sleep as early goes down between 8-9 now. We haven't hit a routine or tried any "sleep training". I don't have any advice, but just want to say you're not alone!
    Report Reply
  • OlgaN15OlgaN15 member
    As far as the sleeping goes, my LO started waking up extra times due to sleep regression. As a pp said, he just wanted to play. That being the case, I just didn't get up when he woke up, and just waited for him to fall asleep again on his own. He's sleeping even better now than before.
    Report Reply
  • lilsunflowermommalilsunflowermomma member
    @kremerj1 I've tried to have DH give him a bottle before, but he doesn't put much effort into it, gets inpatient and then hands DS back to me. I talked to him last night about how I desperately need his help. He said he would try again for me.

    @laceybee29 I have tried different nipples and finally found one he didn't choke on. It's the Como Tomo - it has a big base to it so resembles the breast more. He just likes to gnaw on it rather than eat it. I think he thinks it's a toy. I haven't tried the Nuk yet, but it's worth looking into.

    @OlgaN15 That probably would work for me, but I may have made the mistake of having DS co-sleep in the bed with me. It worked wonders in the beginning because we both slept more and he just ate when he wanted to through the night. Now I think it may be backfiring. He kicks the crap out of me when he wakes up at night. I'm going to try to a new sleeping schedule and once that's established I'll try and move him to his bassinet, then to his crib. I feel like I may be overwhelming the LO with all these new things so I'm going to try one thing at a time.

    I'm glad I'm not alone! I tried to put him to bed earlier last night and he woke up every 15 min for 2 hours until he finally settled down. Then woke up every 2 hours after that. :(
    Report Reply
  • alliebsmithalliebsmith member
    My LO loves the Phillips Avent Natural bottles, the nipple is designed to resemble a real nipple and she has always been receptive to it.

    Regarding sleep, my LO is 16 weeks now and she has been sleeping 12 hours a night since 10 weeks without waking to feed. I worked extremely hard at getting her to this place so here are some things that worked for us! She has a bedtime of 6:30pm, even though it sounds counterproductive, if you want them to sleep longer stretches they need to go to bed between 6-8pm. My LO is not allowed to nap after 5pm so if it's 5:45 and she's rubbing her eyes we start the bedtime routine and she goes down for the night. If she is napping from like 3:30pm I will wake her up at 5pm as well. We start by changing into pajamas, she hates bath so that's not part of the every day nighttime routine. Then she has her bottle between 5:30-6pm and we burp. After that we play for a little, quiet and low key and I keep her upright to avoid hiccups and spit up. Then around 6:15 I bring her upstairs and put her overnight diaper on. I swaddle her every night using the Miracle Swaddle Blanket or the SwaddleMe Velcro ones. Then she goes in her crib and I rub her head and sing her a song, she likes to have a pacifier so that's in her mouth. Once she falls asleep for 10 mins I take the pacifier out and leave. She also has a white noise machine that she has used since birth. Some nights she will squirm around 2-3am and I just leave her unless she's crying. Her body is trained now to not need food in the middle of the night so if she wakes up and fusses I just go in and give her the pacifier and leave and she goes right back to sleep.

    I hope you find some relief! My LO has always been formula fed so I have had my SO help and that has been so important!
    Report Reply
  • lilsunflowermommalilsunflowermomma member
    @alliebsmith I'm super impressed with your bedtime routine! What a great momma. His nap ended at 5 today and then we started his routine at 6:30... He napped for about 30min and didn't fully fall asleep until 9! Do you use a pacifier any other time of the day or just at bed time? I was adamant I didn't want to give my LO a paci because I was afraid of using it too much. I brought one for our first airplane ride to help his ears and he kept spitting it out. I don't think he was used to it. Another question for ya, has your LO always slept in her crib? Do you use a camera to watch her - or is the crib in your room?
    Report Reply
  • alliebsmithalliebsmith member
    @lilsunflowermomma thank you! It has served us well! So we use a pacifier throughout the day, she will take it if she's fussy or tired, otherwise she spits it out and prefers to chew her hands/bib/blanket haha. Also, my LO has always slept in her own room since she was born. She was in a bassinet for about the first month or so and then we moved her over to her crib around 6 weeks. I have a video monitor so I can see her while she sleeps and the screen can turn off so that when I sleep I just hear the volume and can turn the screen on if necessary. I should also mention, my LO does not nap a lot during the day maybe 30 mins in the morning and an hour in the afternoon so having a 6:30 bedtime works for her. We give her a bigger bottle before bed, half an ounce more, to help hold her over!
    Report Reply
  • shelley423russshelley423russ member
    My LO won't take a bottle or paci either. Not even from my DH .. She's very picky. Drives me nuts. I can't leave her with anyone..ever.
    Report Reply
  • courtneylevesquecourtneylevesque member
    The advice above is incredible and I hope it helps you.

    I just wanted to let you know there is a light at the end of the tunnel (even if it doesn't seem like it now!) Eventually the sleep regression will pass and you'll pretty much forget all about it even happening (until the next one, haha) My DS just finished up his and it was complete hell, but he has slowly been getting back to his regular stretches of sleep and a day ago even blessed me with a full 12 hours - I was on cloud nine the entire day.

    I EBF so I understand the difficulty in not being able to get that needed break sometimes, especially when they just want the boob throughout the night. It's rough but it'll pass eventually.

    Hang in there!
    Report Reply
  • jam4542jam4542 member
    Oh yes.... We hit the 4 mos sleep regression as well. Tired momma's unite!
    Report Reply
  • cnamommyof2cnamommyof2 member
    So my lo has been on a strick daily and night time routine since she was about a month and a half (she was veryyyyyyy colicky do there was no getting a routine in the beginning lol) but she goes to bed between 6-8 it all depends on when she wakes in the morning because she's on a feeding schedule of every 3 hours. My lo has been sleep thing through the night since about 10 weeks. We start with a bath and then pajamas. She has a small security blanket (which signals it's time for sleep) and she uses a paci (try the advent soothies they work good for breastfed babies) while I heat up her bottle I give her her blanket and paci and sing hush little baby to her. Then I turn off all the lights and she eats and then I rock her for about 20 minutes. She will be out for the night waking up around 3 or 4 to eat and then she goes back to sleep till about 7:30. I don't think it matters what your bedtime routine is as long as you stick to it. It took about 2-3 weeks of doing the routine until she finally fell into the routine. :)
    As for the bottles we use munchkin latch bottles. She never once refused them when we switched to the bottle!
    Good luck mama! :)
    Report Reply
  • mcoleman1007mcoleman1007 member
    Hi ladies! We just made it out of the sleep regression and I also wanted to let everyone know that it will get better! My LO went from sleeping 8-9 hours straight to waking up every 45-90 minutes and needing the boob to go back to sleep. This lasted about 3 weeks and then he suddenly started sleeping again (not quite the 8-9 hours like before, but now doing a 5-6 hour stretch + a 3-4 hour one after eating) - but after those LONG 3 weeks, I'll take whatever I can get! Also want to add that we did nothing different or new to stop the regression. Good luck and hang in there mamas!
    Report Reply
Sign In or Register to comment.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"