4 Month Sleep "Regression"

You’ve just come out of the newborn bubble feeling like you are really starting to get the hang of things when all of a sudden you’re hit a curve ball.

You might start battling to get any naps to be a decent length or you might be waking to your babe every couple of hours overnight. What’s going on!?

This is what is often referred to as the 4 month sleep regression.

It’s completely normal, many families go through it, and it can be utterly exhausting!

Somewhere around 3 to 4 months your baby’s sleep undergoes a massive leap in development. Their sleep patterns mature and they are now having to navigate through more complex sleep cycles and this can get a little messy.

This is in fact a positive progression (even though it doesn't feel like it 😩) and it's a *permanent change* so it doesn't just pass or have an end date.

Don't despair! Some babies will adjust to these changes quite well and you may not even notice any disturbances, others will adjust with a little time.

However, in some cases the disturbances can be quite significant and families can find themselves in a vicious cycle that lasts weeks or months.

How you’re baby reacts will largely depend on their genetics, sleep hygiene and the family’s general approach to sleep and settling.

So when things get tough, how can you support your little one through this progression so everyone can get a bit more sleep?

1. Focus on strong sleep foundations

Sleep foundations are what set your baby up for sleep success. By optimising your little one’s health, sleep space, routine, feeding, and pre-sleep rituals you are reducing any unnecessary disturbances to their sleep.

(Read more about establishing strong sleep foundations)

2. Practice settling your baby in their sleep space

A lot of the time, your baby waking isn’t the actual problem. It’s completely normal for us to rouse at the end of a sleep cycle or throughout the night when we enter light stages of sleep. We can certainly reduce unnecessary wakes as mentioned above, but we can’t eliminate spontaneous arousals.

The real issue that many parents face is that once awake their little one’s doesn’t know how to put themselves back to sleep without intervention (feeding, rocking, patting, dummy replacement etc) so they call out for help which then disturbs everyone’s sleep.

You can teach your little one how to fall asleep on their own with minimal or no parental intervention. Once they have the confidence to fall asleep independently in their sleep space at the beginning of naps and bedtime, they will find it a lot easier to continue sleeping through the lighter stages of sleep or resettle themselves if they do wake and all their needs have been met.

The good news?! You’re not alone, and it’s never too late to take action if you find yourself in a situation with your baby’s sleep that is not sustainable.