four month sleep regression
What is the four month sleep regression?
It’s a biological change in the way your baby sleeps, their sleep cycles are maturing from baby-like to adult-like. It can happen from 3-5 months old, and it can cause major disruption to day and night time sleep. The reason why the regression is so disruptive to sleep is because your baby becomes really aware when they come out of a sleep cycle, and usually need help getting back to sleep, especially if they have a strong sleep association. The regression can also happen at the same time they are going through a physical milestone, like rolling or trying to sit up which is also disruptive.
The most important thing to focus on is that this is a positive sleep change, and it’s temporary.
Here are my top tips :
Introduce a routine - sticking to age appropriate routines, and having a solid bedtime routine can be really helpful for your baby. This will make sure they aren’t having too much or too little sleep in the day which can lead to overnight sleep struggles.
Teach independent sleep - around 4 months is a great time to start practice some self settling. Babies with a very strong sleep association like a dummy, being rocked to sleep or being fed to sleep can sometimes need that sleep association to get back to sleep when they wake overnight. Find a settling technique that works for them and try and be consistent with it.
Full feeds in the day - around 4 months is prime age for distracted feeds! Babies can start to rely on their night feeds to catch up on calories they ideally should have had in the day. Focus on getting their daytime calories up to hopefully help their night sleep.
Keep their room dark - this will make any resettles/feeds quick and easy and remind your baby that it’s still night time and can help encourage them to try and go back to sleep more easily.
Practice new skills in the day - if your baby is learning a new skill such as rolling or trying to sit up, then give them ample opportunity to practice these skills in the day. This makes the new skill less exciting at night time.
Have lots of coffee and rest when you can. I promise this regression will pass!
