4 month sleep regression?

[Julie Kenwell]

My 15wo boy has been a lsn from almost day one.
Since he was around seven weeks he was catnapping in the day, but his night sleep was pretty good.
For quite a while he had been waking just once, or not even at all doing 8/10 hour stretches at night.
But about a week and a half ago that all ended and he has been waking a lot again at night, like a newborn!
He has had days where he is very cranky and is hard to entertain. He has made strange already whereas my older boy didn't make strange until about 4.5/5 months.
He has done a few longer naps in the day recently I've noticed which is unlike him, however this isn't every day.
I'm wondering if this is the four month sleep regression?
He has quite a long wake time, somewhere between 1.45 and 2.10 some times.

[FPT23]

Hi! Guess what? It sure is the 4 mth SR

My LO is 15 weeks as well. During this time they are sorting their sleepy cycles... Their days are starting to extend too. I could have written what you wrote myself!

We've been getting long naps not always consistently either. He's also been NWing and seems more crankier from the OT/wonder weeks/changes!

A time varies between babies! But here is the link so you have an idea

Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!

The best thing we can do is hang onto the ride and help them with it! Maybe we can help tweak your routine and see what's going on? Doesn't hurt lots of changes during this time.

Could you post your EASY routine please? if you can

[Julie Kenwell]

Haha! Yea the easy is difficult atm!
Here is roughly how today went:

Wu 7.30 and eat
Activity until..
Sleep 9.30 - 10

Eat 10.15
Activity
Sleep 11.55 - 1250

Eat 110
Activity
Sleep 255 - 315 (he fell asleep in the car and woke up when I called with my sister in law)

Eat 330
Activity
Sleep 515 -6

He is formula fed and takes 5oz in feeding.
So after he wakes from his fourth nap he takes another 5oz
Bath with older brother then another 5oz at about 7.30/7.45 before bed and is asleep at 8.30.
As I said he is very lsn!!
Up until the last week or so all his naps have been 30mins and he is honestly happy when he wakes from them! So the 45 min/ 1hr naps are a very new thing.
He is an independent sleeper, goes to bed with just one lullaby and white noise. But when he night wakes, he is not even looking for a feed, I give him a dummy only when he wakes at night and he goes straight back to sleep. There could be up to 4 nws though. It seems so strange when he was doing so well. I'm just worried using the dummy for nws will cause a habit even though he doesn't use it to go down at the start of the night or for naps.x

[FPT23]

His A times are a little long but if he's happy then he's happy! The morning nap is 30 mins which is an indication of OT. You could consider playing around with A times and maybe shorten it and see if it helps lengthen his nap a bit. NWs could be a cause of OT but during this time it's also very common and developmental. That's great that he goes to bed so easily! Share the tips haha!

Honestly, I wish I had better advice on this one but I feel it's all part of the SR that happens. I'm currently going through the exact same. I think my LO woke up every 2-3 hrs last night too

Hugs!!!

[tathi-b]

I feel your pain! It's hard...

Can I just ask what LSN is?

When my little girl went through the dreaded 4 month sleep regression the only way I found to fix it was to take her back to a 3hr EASY.  Within a couple of days she was less tired and less cranky.  She still woke up a couple of times in the night but was a lot easier to settle!  Her sleep regression lasted almost 4 weeks but it went away just as suddenly as it appeared!

Hope this helps.

xx

[FPT23]

LSN= Low Sleep Needs

[tathi-b]

Thanks!

[Julie Kenwell]

Hi thanks for the advice! We did have a few decent nights sleep but then a few days ago he made strange again during the day and that night the night waking a started again! So we're back to lots of crankiness and minimal nights sleep!
I read somewhere that if your baby is going though leap four, it peaks at week 17 which is where he is at now, so I'm putting this latest set back down to that!
I also noticed in the last few days that he isn't feeding as much either, he will only take a few oz and when I try to offer more he just gives off.
I think I remember my first boy doing something similar around this age too but it only lasted a day or so, whereas this is day four! Eeek.

[FPT23]

We are on week 17 too and it's been chaotic too

Hugs and hopefully it passes soon!

Stick to routines and sleep wind downs! It will pass eventually

[Julie Kenwell]

Fingers crossed! I've been toying with the idea of just taking the dummy away altogether since he only needs it for resettling at night. How are u managing to resettling lo?
I think you're right, consistency is key to survival!!

[FPT23]

Well
I'm currently working on removing the pacifier. I do it with naps for now and we are on day 3 with no improvement lol. He resists the nap and nothing I do is enough. Eventually he passes out haha but I know in time it has to stop so I'm staying persistent which I think is key. The paci was starting to cause issues as I was slowly removing the swaddle. I figured the sooner I remove the better and "easier" it should be as opposed to 6+ mths down the road.

I used to resettle super easy with paci and a head rub. Now I don't bother resettling naps until we get over this bump.

At nights I still use paci, for now. (Again, doing naps first) ....and I've been known to just turn on the swing when I'm too tired haha! Since I rarely use it, it's never become a prop. He usually only wakes once to eat at the time being but last week or so, he was having several NWs in which I just picked up and held him. I think at this time you do what has to be done and then you can work on removing anything that was a prop around 5 months. Or at least, that's my theory.

[Julie Kenwell]

What I'm wondering though is when do you know that the regression is over and the NWs are just a habit that has to be addressed?x

[FPT23]

Generally, the 4 mo SR is technically never over. What happens around the 4 mths is that they change their sleep cycles. Basically, it changes from baby sleep to our sleep in a way. So just like we wake from time to time at nights or with noises, they start to now also- problem is they can go back to sleep and need help doing that it's simply developmental.

I personally feel the best time to address any AP or NWs etc that came about during the 4 mo SR is around the 5 mth mark. But it's never too late to keep good sleep habits and wind downs now.

[Julie Kenwell]

So unless I do some form of sleep training he will wake every 2-3 hours from now on? Oh yuck!
I thought it might have been just a wee phase that he would snap out of on his own!

[FPT23]

They do snap out of it on their own. My LO woke every 3 last night

What's your EAS like now