Sleep schedules for under 6 months

I was wondering if under 6 months is too early to get a solid sleep routine in?

Our bottle fed tiny lady is 4 and a half months old and we had been smugly congratulaion ourselves that for the past 8 weeks she would sleep from 7pm to 3am and 3.30 am to about 6.30 - 7am. Just once up during the night was great. Everyone told us that she'd "be dropping that extra night feed soon".

HOWEVER, this past week she has added an extra feed so now sleeps 6.30pm - 11pm, 11.30 - 3am and 3.30am - 5am!! So less night sleep and more feeds. She is making up the shortfall with slightly longer naps during the day. Her bottles aren't getting any bigger and I was thinking she may need the extra food as she's getting bigger and it's so cold?

I try just to go with the flow and take my cues from her and she's a really happy contented little thing. So I was wondering if it's worth it to try and implement a sleep regime, or it will sort itself out over time. I would LOVE the old schedule back as my body clock is tuned now to the 3am - 7am schedule and getting up at 5am is not fun in this cold! ;-)

Any feedback, thoughts or stories would be appreciated.

Huge hugs :hug: I know what you're going through, and apparently its really common for sleep to deteriorate at 4 months, it did for us, and at 10 months Jazz is still waking between 3 and 5 times at night :o I think though, at 4 months, they are going through a growth spurt, so i wouldn't be too quick to try and drop the feeds if she seems to need it.


I have just bought the book "No-cry Sleep Solution" and as tonight is our first night I can't say that it is successful however it reads as really do-able and really mum-friendly, nothing too strict or harsh (no crying it out techniques), and I would really recommend even just reading it. Reading it has made me feel better already. It does go from newborn to 2 years. From what I gather the aim is not to get them sleeping through 7-7 or whatever, but to minimise 'unnecessary' wake-ups, so wake-ups that aren't for feeds or nappy changes or because they're cold etc but bub has just woken up and needs help to get back to sleep. So the book takes that approach, at working out ways to get bub comfortable and 'secure' i suppose you would say enough to get themselves back to sleep, and only really wake for feeds etc.

Anyway, worth a read so you can see if its something you think would work for you. I am hopefully and excited, as for us it seems like every question and concern answered about her sleep (or, more to the point, lack of sleep!).

Yep, Google 4 month sleep regression and you will find it is really common. My DS2's sleep went really bad at 4 months of age.

:hug: Here's hoping it won't last too long for you :)

It is definitely possible to have a 4-6 month old sleep through. With my other 2 however I never found that they just slept better on their own, I had to help with that. I patted in the cot, and stayed with them, but I made sure they settled in their cot and they knew it was for bed once they were in. Saying that, I did wait until they were on solids to do that as then I knew they weren't waking hungry. Prob easier to wait until nearly 6 months, because your bub could be getting hungry at 4.5 months. Good luck xo