4 month sleep regression- let the games begin!

Lolo427 · February 2016

Good morning,

So DD is 14 weeks today but appears to already be starting the sleep regression. For the past 3 nights she's been up every 1.5-2 hrs and takes a good 40 minutes to get into a deep sleep before we can put her down in the raised P&P. I figured as things come we can post ideas and experiences here. Maybe STMs have experiences and ideas that work?

So far we have her swaddled (swaddle up 50/50) with one arm out and have a night routine of pjs,song, bouncing on yoga ball ( the ball really is the only thing working for her but KILLS my back). She has the baby Einstein soother but it just wakes her up more. What else does everybody have going on to combat this (or upcoming) sleep regression?

gumby22c · February 2016

I think we're going through this as well. LO is 14 weeks tomorrow, and his sleep has gone to crap this week. Which is great, since I'm sick.

rubirubi89 · February 2016

I hope that's not it. Mine is barely 12 weeks but last night woke up every hour and change. I need coffee. FML

bellie1223 · February 2016

Mine is 13 weeks and only recently finally started sleeping 5-6 hour stretches then in the last week has gone back to waking every 2 hours or so. I was wondering if she started her sleep regression a little early.

I haven't found anything that helps so far unfortunately, we've just been trying to generally keep her bedtime routine consistent and hope that it mitigates her grumpiness.

I started a new job this week and my husband is home with bebe's, we're both stressed out and hoping this phase passes quickly!

Lolo427 · February 2016

My husband suggested attempting her to sleep in the MamaRoo (which she doesn't particularly like during the day- we get 20 minutes MAX before she loses her shit); The thought being the movement will help put her in a deeper sleep so we don't need to bounce her ourselves but I'm worried about starting a brand new habit we'll have to break in a few months.

VexedMommy · February 2016

Something that works to put my LO to sleep is to sit with my knees drawn up and a blanket/comforter/throw over my legs. I put LO on my thighs facing me and begin to sway my legs gently from side to side. The sleepier she gets the wider I let my legs spread apart from each other, the further my feet get from my behind and the more slack I allow in the blanket. By the time she's pretty much out she's laying flat on the couch and my legs are straight on either side of her. If she startles or wakes up I just tighten some of the slack in the blanket and draw my legs higher up again and we start over.

ETA: So basically I turn myself into a human hammock. The tricky part is the transfer to the PnP. The position I end up in is comfortable to me so I wait until she's dead asleep to attempt that.

kmd91 · February 2016

Our little guy just hit 3 months and nothing yet, but I have this strong feeling that he's gonna have a bad 4 month sleep regression, just cause he has always been such a great sleeper. Been sleeping 10-12 hour stretches since 8 or 9 weeks, only got up once most nights before that after we were cleared at 2 weeks to let him sleep. I've had it really easy with sleep, so I just have this feeling that I'm overdue for sleep trouble.

Pontot31 · February 2016

Cosleeping and the swing is the only way we survived with my daughter.
Dreading this again this time.

jdal1206 · February 2016

Ahh I was wondering what this might be...LO had been sleeping pretty well (5/6 hr stretch to start then up every 3hrs till ready to wake up for day) but then just past 12 week he has been getting up every 2hrs to eat/cuddle and then back to sleep...I'm following for the tips as I don't have any suggestionsď

HungryRunner76 · February 2016

Oh man. DD #1 hit the regression hard from months 3-4. With a reflux baby this time I can't imagine her (dd#2) being any worse than she already is.
Anyways, unfortunately, the only thing that worked for us is time and lots of coffee. Keep your routines up the best you can because that somewhat helps now but more importantly helps as they get past the regression.

angelinthepit23 · February 2016

F Me wtf is this?!? So never heard of this before, obvi FTM. So when LO wakes up is it because they are hungry or just need to be soothed back to sleep?! Please tell me they aren't a purple cry of death mess at like 2am!!

My lil guy has been an amazing night sleeper since day one, only gets up when hungry.

Lolo427 · February 2016

Basically babies brains are developing as such that they cycle in and out from light/rem sleep to deep sleep much more frequently, just like adults. Adults though, can self soothe back to sleep; Babies haven't learned this skill. My girl isn't a crying mess, she's just very, very alert. We rock her for 10-15 minutes and she falls asleep, try to put her down and BAM awake. I think this is a self preservation method as instinctually as coming out of deep sleep is to check surroundings and safety and whatnot. Of course the safest place for baby is with their parents.

She wakes up and we've been feeding her and she scarfs down the bottles. Sometimes she goes right back to sleep (which has me wonder if she's really hungry or if we're creating another ridiculous habit of comfort feeding at 1 am) or she'll take 15-60 minutes to go back to bed. Hopefully no purple babies for anyone.

Pontot31 · February 2016

My DD never cried. She just always was awake. Like for 3 hours in the middle of the night. Good times.

AmoLovesAud · February 2016

Ugh, we're not there yet (11.5 weeks) but I'm already dreading it. My SIL didn't get more than 3-4 broken hours a night for months (nephew's 4 month sleep regression rolled strait into teething and a growth spurt. Kid is almost 2 and still doesn't STTN.) LO only gets up once or twice a night right now, and she's fairly easy to get to sleep as long as she's warm, dry and full. I don't know how I'll manage going back to 'newborn mode'!

cdepperschmidt · February 2016

Ugh! I'm with you.. DS was doing 3-4 hours stretches. But now we seem to be back to up every 1.5 to 2 hours.... He is almost 13 weeks.

Lolo427 · February 2016

VexedMommy said:

Something that works to put my LO to sleep is to sit with my knees drawn up and a blanket/comforter/throw over my legs. I put LO on my thighs facing me and begin to sway my legs gently from side to side. The sleepier she gets the wider I let my legs spread apart from each other, the further my feet get from my behind and the more slack I allow in the blanket. By the time she's pretty much out she's laying flat on the couch and my legs are straight on either side of her. If she startles or wakes up I just tighten some of the slack in the blanket and draw my legs higher up again and we start over.

ETA: So basically I turn myself into a human hammock. The tricky part is the transfer to the PnP. The position I end up in is comfortable to me so I wait until she's dead asleep to attempt that.

So I tried this tonight and for a solid ten minutes it worked- like a snake charmer over a cobra *really worked*. Then she remembered she needs to be difficult and promptly lost her shit for 45 minutes. Will attempt again tomorrow.

VexedMommy · February 2016

Lolo427 said:

VexedMommy said:

Something that works to put my LO to sleep is to sit with my knees drawn up and a blanket/comforter/throw over my legs. I put LO on my thighs facing me and begin to sway my legs gently from side to side. The sleepier she gets the wider I let my legs spread apart from each other, the further my feet get from my behind and the more slack I allow in the blanket. By the time she's pretty much out she's laying flat on the couch and my legs are straight on either side of her. If she startles or wakes up I just tighten some of the slack in the blanket and draw my legs higher up again and we start over.

ETA: So basically I turn myself into a human hammock. The tricky part is the transfer to the PnP. The position I end up in is comfortable to me so I wait until she's dead asleep to attempt that.

So I tried this tonight and for a solid ten minutes it worked- like a snake charmer over a cobra *really worked*. Then she remembered she needs to be difficult and promptly lost her shit for 45 minutes. Will attempt again tomorrow.

Glad it worked for a little bit at least. If nothing else, it's probably a relaxing change of pace from the bouncing.

natalknitter15 · February 2016

Wow - We are experiencing this at 100% in my household. My baby had been sleeping 8-10 hrs per night ever since he was about 6 weeks old. We hit his 3 month birthday and it's like we have a new baby in the house. He's up every 1.5-2 hrs. Sometimes crying and sometimes just lying in his crib chatting away to himself. We aren't sure how best to comfort him - Feed? Rock? Bounce him around the house? I feel like we're back in the newborn stage again!

Elyse1384 · February 2016

DS didn't have a 4 month sleep regression (hoping for a repeat with DD!), but I have to say the 8/9 month sleep regression was the WORST! I think it felt extra horrible because for a couple of months he had been sleeping long stretches through the night beautifully (7pm-6am) and suddenly he was up every damn hour! It lasted a week or so. I hope this doesn't happen to you, but most of my colleagues also found the 4 month regression (if their LOs went through it) to be nothing compared to the 8/9 month!

Our personal approach during the sleep regression was to keep as much consistent for DS as possible. For example keeping lights off, no verbal engagement (other than humming a song for comfort) and by that point no middle of the night feedings. That seemed to help ensure that despite the frequent wakings, he still understood it was not time to get up and there was not "benefit" to being awake (eg a feeding). Once he got through it, he was right back to his usual 7pm-6am stretch.

solitude1984 · February 2016

My LO hit 14 weeks on Wednesday and is definitely sleeping worse. His daytime naps have also started to suffer. He used to be able to sleep through all kinds of noise, and now he wakes up if he hears the slightest sound. Anyone else experiencing this?

Edit: Also, he wakes up every 30 min. during a nap. Sometimes I can coax him into sleeping more, but often I can't.

SJFTCA · February 2016

solitude1984 said:

My LO hit 14 weeks on Wednesday and is definitely sleeping worse. His daytime naps have also started to suffer. He used to be able to sleep through all kinds of noise, and now he wakes up if he hears the slightest sound. Anyone else experiencing this?

Edit: Also, he wakes up every 30 min. during a nap. Sometimes I can coax him into sleeping more, but often I can't.

LO was 12 weeks yesterday, and he's been waking up 30 mins into each nap for a couple of weeks now. I lay him down in the crib awake, and he's learning to go back to sleep on his own. He typically will kick and squirm and make some noise, but he will usually go back to sleep. Sometimes it takes 20 minutes. I've read that nap times usually shorten around 12 weeks (to about 75 mins), so I try to get about that much time out of each nap. Today he has lasted 60 mins and 75 mins for each nap (with a wake up btwn). He's STTN, and that hasn't been affected so far (I'm so afraid it will be eventually!).

I also use a white noise machine, even for naps, and LO usually naps in the crib. I wish I had blackout curtains for the nursery, and I'm wanting to invest...just not sure which kind to get.

Lolo427 · February 2016

solitude1984 said:

My LO hit 14 weeks on Wednesday and is definitely sleeping worse. His daytime naps have also started to suffer. He used to be able to sleep through all kinds of noise, and now he wakes up if he hears the slightest sound. Anyone else experiencing this?

Edit: Also, he wakes up every 30 min. during a nap. Sometimes I can coax him into sleeping more, but often I can't.

Yeeeuuupppp. If she's sleeping on us (which is 90% of our naps) the only hope is baby wearing or rocking chair to get her through that 30/45 minute wake up. We try putting her down in her P&P (mind you the bottom vibrates so there's still movement) and within 10 minutes she's up. I'm not sure which is worse- sleep association but sleeping better or sleeping like crap but not habit forming. We did the Sooth Ladder last night which didn't work to put her to sleep, but for a good 10-15 minutes I could see her trying to work herself in how to get back to sleep. She ended needing us which is totally cool but at least it gave her room to try in a safe comfortable way.

Also- link share on an advice blog entry I really enjoyed:

https://blog.udemy.com/baby-sleep-regression/

Edit : typos.

bellie1223 · February 2016

@solitude1984 mine is the same way with noise, she could sleep through the loudest noises when we first brought her home, but now she wakes up to the littlest creak in the floorboards and our walls are paper thin, super disheartening! I usually try to put her to sleep at night and for naps with white noise blasting and that has helped!

@SJFTCA, I don't know if you're crafty at all but I made black out curtains just by sewing black fabric onto the back of the pattern I wanted for curtains. They were super cheap and block all the light, it's been a life saver!

SJFTCA · February 2016

bellie1223 said:

@solitude1984 mine is the same way with noise, she could sleep through the loudest noises when we first brought her home, but now she wakes up to the littlest creak in the floorboards and our walls are paper thin, super disheartening! I usually try to put her to sleep at night and for naps with white noise blasting and that has helped!

@SJFTCA, I don't know if you're crafty at all but I made black out curtains just by sewing black fabric onto the back of the pattern I wanted for curtains. They were super cheap and block all the light, it's been a life saver!

Fancy! I'm so NOT crafty, so I'm thinking that's not an option for me. I wish I had that crafty/creative gene, but nope. The baby could probably make something that would look better than what I could make

angelinthepit23 · February 2016

@SJFTCA you can purchase blackout film at Home Depot. You cut it to fit the window and it's like a window cling. We have it on our bedroom windows, once it warms up a little more we will put in on the nursery windows.

SJFTCA · February 2016

angelinthepit23 said:

@SJFTCA you can purchase blackout film at Home Depot. You cut it to fit the window and it's like a window cling. We have it on our bedroom windows, once it warms up a little more we will put in on the nursery windows.

Whaaaaat??? That sounds amazing! Thanks for the tip :-).

dramaphile · February 2016

SJFTCA said:

bellie1223 said:

@solitude1984 mine is the same way with noise, she could sleep through the loudest noises when we first brought her home, but now she wakes up to the littlest creak in the floorboards and our walls are paper thin, super disheartening! I usually try to put her to sleep at night and for naps with white noise blasting and that has helped!

@SJFTCA, I don't know if you're crafty at all but I made black out curtains just by sewing black fabric onto the back of the pattern I wanted for curtains. They were super cheap and block all the light, it's been a life saver!

Fancy! I'm so NOT crafty, so I'm thinking that's not an option for me. I wish I had that crafty/creative gene, but nope. The baby could probably make something that would look better than what I could make

We bought some blackout curtains at Bed Bath and Beyond and they work well.

Kristi4938 · February 2016

I am so glad I found this post. LO turned 14 weeks yesterday and the last two nights have gone to shit. She was sleeping so well and suddenly is up every 2 hours. I feel like I have a newborn again but without the benefit of daytime naps since she doesn't want to do those either! This also happens to be the same time we weened her from the swaddle. The last two nights she has been in a sleep sack. Last night when I was at my whits end, I put her in her swaddle me with arms out, and she slept from 3-7. So my question is, is there a safety difference between using an arms out swaddle versus sleep sack? I want her to stick with the sleep sack transition if there are issues with arms out swaddling, but she seems to prefer that one. Anyone have insight on this? Or is it just coincidence and she is just going through sleep regression at the same time that we switched to the sleep sack? Would love any input as I can't find much on dr Google.

Lolo427 · February 2016

We were told by the pedi that swaddling with arms out is completely okay as baby can still lift herself if needed. She's been having a rough time transitioning so we use the swaddle up 50/50 with one arm out, one in. She also room shares with us so comfort wise we're completely okay with it.

Kristi4938 · February 2016

Lolo427 said:

We were told by the pedi that swaddling with arms out is completely okay as baby can still lift herself if needed. She's been having a rough time transitioning so we use the swaddle up 50/50 with one arm out, one in. She also room shares with us so comfort wise we're completely okay with it.

Awesome! Thank you so much!

dearp · February 2016

Merlins Magic sleep suit has been heaven for us. LO sleeps almost 12 hours a night. Even if she wakes up she ends up falling back to sleep within a few minutes.

smnewby · February 2016

@dearp we bought that and it looks sooo big on our lo. The sleeves go up to her wrists! She is 13weeks. Does yours fit correctly like the picture or awkwardly as well?

hlz128 · February 2016

Is the 4month sleep regression always a huge difference in sleeping? I think DS may be starting into this phase because his pattern has changed but it's nothing drastic like the majority of what I've heard/read. Can it be small changes?

VexedMommy · February 2016

hlaverett88 said:

Is the 4month sleep regression always a huge difference in sleeping? I think DS may be starting into this phase because his pattern has changed but it's nothing drastic like the majority of what I've heard/read. Can it be small changes?

All little ones go through phases differently. There are some common threads, but kids reactions are on a bell curve. If you've got one on the low end of that bell curve that's awesome. On the other hand, it may not have gone into full effect yet. Unfortunately, it's one of those things you can't necessarily pin down except in hindsight.

hlz128 · February 2016

VexedMommy said:

hlaverett88 said:

Is the 4month sleep regression always a huge difference in sleeping? I think DS may be starting into this phase because his pattern has changed but it's nothing drastic like the majority of what I've heard/read. Can it be small changes?

All little ones go through phases differently. There are some common threads, but kids reactions are on a bell curve. If you've got one on the low end of that bell curve that's awesome. On the other hand, it may not have gone into full effect yet. Unfortunately, it's one of those things you can't necessarily pin down except in hindsight.

Thank you. Hopefully it stays on the low end of the curve

bravoandprosecco · February 2016

LO is 14 weeks and still up multiple times at night (bed 8ish up at 12, 3,5,6 up for the day) just checking to see if I'm alone or if any other mommy's are with me?! Working on this little sleep is tough, and yup he gets up and eats! BF at night but does get some formula at daycare bc I dont produce enough. Oh, and he only takes 3 30 min naps during the day!

rachswi · February 2016

Sarah052085 said:

LO is 14 weeks and still up multiple times at night (bed 8ish up at 12, 3,5,6 up for the day) just checking to see if I'm alone or if any other mommy's are with me?! Working on this little sleep is tough, and yup he gets up and eats! BF at night but does get some formula at daycare bc I dont produce enough. Oh, and he only takes 3 30 min naps during the day!

I'm glad I'm not alone!! Yes - LO has been getting up 3-4 times each night. Last night he was thankfully only up twice but that's the exception. It's hard since I BF too and LO stopped taking a bottle from anyone but me (which really defeats the purpose of a bottle!). I'm hoping he'll get better. Now I'm just functioning on coffee.

smnewby · February 2016

Sarah052085 said:

LO is 14 weeks and still up multiple times at night (bed 8ish up at 12, 3,5,6 up for the day) just checking to see if I'm alone or if any other mommy's are with me?! Working on this little sleep is tough, and yup he gets up and eats! BF at night but does get some formula at daycare bc I dont produce enough. Oh, and he only takes 3 30 min naps during the day!

You are definitely not alone! We have nearly the exact same wake up times! The 8-12 stretch i am fine with but then the subsequent little wake ups are killing me! I know my work is being affected too!

AmoLovesAud · February 2016

IDK if what we've got going on is the 4 month sleep regression or not (LO has been coughing and sneezing more lately, so I suspect a cold, and our HVAC is being loud, so while we wait for repairs that could be waking her up), but we went from 1 wake up per night to 3. She's sleeping in later though, which I guess is nice, but she won't go more than 4 hours when she was going 6-8. Definitely hungry most of the time, the others I offer it and she takes it but only for a minute or 2. I don't want to develop a sleep association but I'm exhausted and want to go back to bed! Hopefully it doesn't last long enough to get too bad.

natalknitter15 · February 2016

My LO has been up 2-3x/night for the past several weeks, just like a lot of you. My coworker is telling me I need to start letting LO cry it out, as he sometimes seems to just want snuggles and is not actually hungry or wet. My "gut" feeling is that him being up a few times in the night is perfectly normal and not a sign that he's developing poor sleep habits. What do you think?

Lolo427 · February 2016

natalknitter15 said:

My LO has been up 2-3x/night for the past several weeks, just like a lot of you. My coworker is telling me I need to start letting LO cry it out, as he sometimes seems to just want snuggles and is not actually hungry or wet. My "gut" feeling is that him being up a few times in the night is perfectly normal and not a sign that he's developing poor sleep habits. What do you think?

3-4 months is still wayyyyy too early for CIO, babies still need to eat in the middle of the night (I.e. 4 month growth spurt) Likewise there is no understanding what's going on, just that the cries that usually get mom or caregiver to come aren't working. Always,always, always go with your gut.

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4 month sleep regression- let the games begin!

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