4 month sleep regression - your experiences...

Hi All
I would be interested to read about any experiences with the 4 month sleep regression...
What did your bubs do?
Did they go back to a normal pattern after?
HOw long did it last?
etc

Little J is 4 months and 1 week.. and we have had a really unsettled week.. so i am not sure if this is the sleep regression or if he is developing bad patterns etc etc or if he is in pain or something.
He always wakes a couple of times a night for feed/chg etc. i am happy with this and think he is pretty good overall - he self settles a lot of the time etc. has never slept through and the longesthe has gone is 6 hrs i think. i am ok with this as he is still so young and i figure he will sleep through when it is right for him (right??).
The last week or so he sleeps ok til about 11 and then wakes about every 90 mins.. quite uposet some of the time. i wasnt sureof he had tummy ache or if he just needed a cuddle. usually he goes back to sleep after a feed...
He has woken around 5am and been unsettled til about 7 on and off all his life - i think with wind pain.. but that had begun to settle down..
Last night was a bit better... so maybe we are coming through it...

Just wanting to know how the sleep regression 'presents' etc from your experiences and any advice you have on the above also...

FWIW he is trying to roll - goes onto his side (does this a LOT in his sleep and last night i noticed he was able to get back onto his back by himself, other nights he has gotten stuck on his side), he also seems to have become a lot more verbal and has found his hands- reaches out to things, sucks hands etc etc - so lots of developmenthappening at the moment too...

Just subscribing here, I'm also interested to hear about others experiences

For us, DD would cry when it was sleep time and be really hard to settle. She would also only sleep for 30 mins at a time in the day, and wake about 2 hourly overnight. it lasted a couple of weeks. The same thing happened at 8 months.

I always feed to sleep and co-sleep during those phases (and at many other times too). It has never caused a 'problem'...i.e. DD went back to self settling and cot sleeping and long stretches of sleep when she was ready. that being said, she still hasn't slept through the night and still wants at least 2 feeds overnight.

I am just running with it atm. I know I can gently massage her patterns if I need to...but I am loving the all night cuddles atm while she cuts 4 teeth...

mamapan - i've been meaning to reply in our baby buddies thread but haven't got around to it.

i think we're going through a similar thing here. DS is bf & was waking 3-4 times a night. i didn't mind because his first sleep was usually 4 hours (max 7 once i think, but usually between 3-5hrs) & then up every couple of hours from then & i also agree with your thinking that they'll sleep through when ready. he started this somewhere around 7-9weeks old (just can't remember now!). then at 3 months we moved him to his cot. the first two nights were okay but then he got sick & his sleeps have got progrssively worse since. during that time he learnt how to roll both ways & so i thought that was the cause of it but in the last week we have deteoriorated completely. for the last three nights it is a massive battle to get him down at all & it's taking us about 2 hours each night. then he might sleep for 2 hrs from 9 & then it's pretty much every 60-90 minutes from then on. after one night of that, we took him out of the cot & back to the pram bassinet - not ideal imo but it was where he'd previously had his good sleeps. but it doesn't seem to make a difference to the number of wakings, just it's much easier to get him back to sleep after the feeds.

we've tried settling first but all he wants is to feed - no difference whether he has one side or two at the feeds to how long before he wakes.

i wasn't sure if it was also related to the weather? it's been warm in melb & so i thought maybe that's why he's waking so often to feed overnight?

our day sleeps have totally regressed as well - yesterday i finally got 90 minutes in the afternoon but that was it from 6am. he has been feeding to sleep recently, which i don't mind, but yesterday was refusing the breast, like he knew he was going to fall asleep! i've tried rocking, co-sleeping, patting, shhing etc & it all results in hysterical screams. but not really screams of pain, if that makes sense? he's soooo tired but just can't be convinced to sleep.

oh - and we're super clingy here too.

anyways, sorry - that was all very long winded but just wanted to let you know that you're not alone. i keep telling myself it's just a phase but here's hoping it's a short one!!

Hi I am interested in this 4 month regression thing as well. So far we haven't experienced any sleeping problems with our little girl (night sleep that is) as she has always been a shocker when it comes to day sleep, napping 3-4 short times a day.

I have another problem though. She had been refusing to feed. Last Sunday she wouldn't take her 6:30 am feed (her last feed was 10 pm the night before). We managed to get 20 mls into her. We tried some more throughout the day and the same result happened. We managed in the end during the afternoon and evening to feed her her but only managed 1/2 of her usual daily feed. The following day the same thing happened. I thought she was sick or something but she remained happy as ever.. What the!!! She feed best when she is almost going to sleep or better still is actually sleeping. In the last day or two I have been doing her 6:30 am feed at 6 am while she was still sleeping and encouraged the carer to do the same. This is the only way we could get some milk into her. I know she is capable of feeding a lot (240ml )because this is how much she takes during the evening while sleeping and feeding. The funny thing is she does not require feeding to sleep. Often if she is sleepy while I was feeding her she would reject the bottle. I had to wait until she is in light sleep before I could re-insert the bottle and she would suck away.

Does anyone have similar problems?

Mamapan, Miss E, Sloane Just by chance came across this thread searching through google and have been meaning to write up on our regular posts!!! How funny! Hello to Kahlan too!
Sam has been sleeping through the night for at least the last month. Bed time is around 6-6.30pm with dream feed at 10pm ish and then he was sleeping through til 6am. Last week he had his needles and for two days he hollered at this time to go to sleep. He was almost hesterical and I was using the dummy and rocking and anything to calm him down, almost broke my heart seeing him like that. Then on Saturday 5 sleeps in a row he self settled just like that. It was fantastic and we were so proud of him. Then Sunday night he was very hard to settle and then woke at 3.15am and then at 5.15am. Last night woke at 5am. Sam is breast fed and all these new early morning awake times I have given him a 10 minute top up. Two of those times he cried when I took him off which made me think he was hungry but seeing as he wakes at 6am for me to go to work Mon and Tuesday I just kept it short and got him back off to sleep. So it sounds pretty common that they change their patterns around this time. I found a great exert from a book on here about their development at this time so will try and post it on here cause it really made a lot of sense in understanding what is happening with them at this time.

I found this on another forum and found it really intersting and it helped me understand a bit more about the wonder weeks and changes:



What is happening during these 'Wonder' weeks?
We know that development in physical skills happens in 'steps' - one day a baby can take a step and start to walk, whereas the day before he could not take that step. Similarly, it is thought that the way that a baby can think, feel, notice and understand what is happening around him (mental development) might also happen in steps.
For example, at around the age of 8 weeks, a baby can begin to recognise more of the people and things that she can see around her.
At about 6 months she can start to realise that some people are around most of the time (her parents for example), while some people are strangers. Before that time she did not know that some people were strangers.
Changes in thinking can show up in changes in what a baby can do, and how she behaves.
During these times when a baby's ability to understand the world around him is changing, he may need more attention.
He may cry more, be more fussy and need more comforting. This may be due to other reasons, such as being unwell.
Some of the babies lose their appetites.
Some babies who have been sleeping well may take more time to go off to sleep and wake more often.
Some young children who have been happily exploring their world may become more clingy, and become upset much more easily.
They may show an increased need for body contact with their mothers.
Sometimes these weeks are called 'regression weeks', because a baby or young child will seem to have gone backwards in her development. In fact, she is making a big step forward, but this step is confusing to her, and she will behave more like a younger baby.
The 'sunny' weeks
When the baby has fully 'climbed' this developmental step, there may be several weeks when she is happier. She can happily try out her new skills. She may be less easily upset (less temperamental). She may allow you to be out of sight more often, and go off to sleep more easily.
Temperament
Some babies are generally easier to get on with than other babies. They tend to be happier, cry less and go to sleep more easily.
Other babies are easily upset and cry a great deal more often.
Even 'easy' babies have these fussy 'wonder' weeks. It may be easier to help them calm down when they cry than it is to calm a 'difficult' baby, but there will be times when they are more distressed than usual.
Other things that can cause a baby to be fussy
Babies can be fussy for many other reasons.
A baby who is unwell or in pain is likely to be more distressed than usual. A nappy rash, for example, is very painful, and will cause a baby to cry more and have more difficulty going to sleep and have restless sleep.
It is often thought that babies are unsettled when they are teething. Research has shown that babies are not more distressed when they re teething, but not everyone is convinced. Maybe the teething has coincided with a fussy developmental stage.
An older baby who is separated from his parent may be very distressed when she returns. This is likely to be due to separation anxiety, not 'just a phase'.
Some babies have developmental delays or major health problems, which could alter the times that they go through these mental developmental milestones.
How to help your baby during these 'wonder' weeks
During these fussy weeks, babies seem to manage the developmental changes more easily if they get extra attention, get held more often and have extra comforting when they go to sleep.
Parents need to know that there will be these more difficult times, but that there will also be times when their baby will be happier and more easy to get along with.
If parents are not able to give their baby as much attention as he needs, the baby may find this mental developmental step more difficult to manage.

Predicting the 'wonder' weeks
Since most babies follow a similar pattern, it is possible to predict approximately when a child may have a fussy ('stormy') time. Some babies may become more distressed a week or so before or after the times listed here. Some babies may become quite distressed some times, but pass easily through the predicted 'stormy' time at other stages (they may also become very distressed for quite different reasons).
In the first year of life, the stormy times seem to happen around
5 weeks
8 weeks
12 weeks
17 weeks
26 weeks (6 months)
36 weeks
44 weeks
53 weeks (around 12 months).
Just as physical developmental stages do not stop when a child reaches 12 months of age, mental developmental stages will also continue, and there will continue to be 'good' weeks and more difficult weeks. Any parent of a teenager will be able to confirm that they still are having good and bad weeks.
Predicting 'sunny' weeks
The 'sunny' weeks can also be more or less predictable. The 'sunniest' weeks tend to happen around
6 weeks
10 weeks
13 weeks (around 3 months)
21 weeks
31 weeks
39 weeks
49 weeks
58 weeks.
Reminder
Even though 'wonder' weeks can seem like difficult times when babies are clingy and unhappy, they are very special weeks because the babies are making a new big step forward.
References
Richter, J. & Woolmore, A. (2004). Regressive Periods, Maternal Depression and the Development of Insecure Attachment. Paper presented to WAIMH World Congress, Melbourne, Australia. Jan .
Rijt-Plooij, H.H.C. van de & Plooij, F. X. (1992) Infantile Regressions: Disorganisation and onset of transition periods. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology. 10, 129-149.
Sadurni, M. & Rostan. C. (2002) Regression Periods in Infancy: A Case Study from Catalonia. The Spanish Journal of Psychology. Vol 5, No. 1, 36-44.
Vanderrijt, H. & Plooij, F. (2003) The Wonder Weeks. Kiddy World Promotions. BV.
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thanks jetta, that article is great!

Our weeks don't line up at all..I think she is about 19 or 20 weeks now...and sleep/getting to sleep has gone to the doghouse! She used to be a great self settler, but now it can take up to 20 mins to get her to sleep during the day and often end up patting her while she is crying and eventually she goes to sleep.
Night sleeps are worse though, she used to sleep from about 6.30/7pm to 6 or 7am, sometimes waking up at 2 or 3am for a feed then would go back to sleep pretty much straight away. The last few days she's been going to bed as normal, maybe takin ga little longer to settle, but will then be awake in an hour's time, so i give her a feed and back to bed (might let her stay up for an extra half hour or so). Then she has been waking up at 11pm when I go to bed, then 5 or 6am for another feed. She takes ages to go back to sleep and the last couple of nights I have resorted to putting her in bed with me just to get her to go to sleep and so I can get to sleep too. i don't mind sleeping with her but don't want to make it a habit, and I know DF doesn't like it too much.

She keeps rolling onto her tummy when she is going to sleep which I think is part of the problem..but please tell me it will end soon!! Or maybe this is my payback for having such a good night sleeper when she was a bit younger! Lol