When will it end? - sleep regression 😭

I could’ve wrote this myself! My little girl is 4.5 months and the last few days the sleep regression has got way worse. I feel like it’s my fault somehow. During the day her naps are now like 30 mins on average and it’s a battle to actually get her to sleep. We’ve had a few evenings when she’s screamed before bed which has never happened before. She will sleep on the snuzpod for about half an hour before waking up.. then she will continue to wake up all night. Sometimes it’s very 5 minutes. 😭😭😭😭😭

Oh and she won’t even entertain the idea of having a daytime nap in the snuzpod. The only real way she sleeps now during the day is in the carrier which isn’t ideal at all.. esp now it’s so warm

Hey. So my little one is currently going through the sleep regression stage, he's just turned 5 months & it started around 3 weeks ago maybe a bit less, I feel exactly how you do, from what I've heard and been told from 4 months to 6 months can be tricky, some start sleep regression a bit early some start it later, it can't be helped, your little one has probably hit their peak and it will settle down more. One thing ide say has helped me is not changing anything, I heard people say they should be in a dark room ect, but then also heard I shouldn't change whatever I was doing before the regression hit. So I do all the same things. Although it doesn't stop him waking, when he does its not pure chaos. Before he would fall asleep as usual, but would wake 5/6/7 times a night's screaming his head off and crying. Now he takes ages to settle, but will wake maybe 2/3 times, I feed him one of those times. You'll hear people saying, oh don't pick them up don't feed them ect, do what works for you!...

...there is no right or wrong, you'll feel stressed and sad, and so overwhelmed, you'll cry and want to walk out the room. This is OK, the 4 month sleep regression is commonly known as the hardest stage of a child's development. So just know it's not just you, I hope the time passes. Make sure your sides are stocked up with bottles and nappies at the ready, hunger and wet nappies won't help if they wake. Look for sleep signs, I now put my little one to sleep at 7 not 8. Even if you don't think they are tired, getting them upstairs/to their room of sleep with stop them kicking off before hand. These are things that have helped me, they won't stop the drama but they will help. Stay strong, there is light at the end ✨️

@Amy so the screaming will be because they're overtired. They have shorter "catnaps" and wake during the night. I find timing my babies naps with bottles, that way he naps at the same time daily and will slowly adapt. Try get them up to bed earlier than usual, they need to make up for lost sleep xx

It lasted about 8/9 weeks for us. Hang in there. I know it feels like it will never end but I promise it will xxx

@Holli thank you. I’m so worried this won’t change and it’ll be a permanent thing. I hear so many parents say ‘well my child never learn to self settle and will wakes up 8 times a night and they’re a year old’ 😩

@Amy I know same here, but, not all babies are the same, the same as us adults. In that moment, I couldn't think of anything worse than letting him scream and cry in hopes he will "self soothe" I have friends who mostly say the same thing, "do what works for you. And get some sleep" please don't worry yourself in thinking this is permanent. One day soon you'll put your little one to sleep and they will do just that, sleep. And this will be over, this is by far the hardest obstacle in regards to development and sleep for babies, you're doing amazing, if feeding your bubba helps them sleep then so be it, at the end of the day, some babies contact nap, some never have, some self sooth some don't, they're individuals, something people forget. What works for one baby won't work for another. The chances are, if your baby slept well before regression they will again. Oh, and try not to google stuff, I lay away at all hours googling answers, to then find myself upset or worried. Learn from YOUR baby, you know them xx

Came across the post as I was searching for help with the regression 🥲 very helpful tips in the comments. Has the regression ended for anyone here 2 months later?

Hi, I posted this but since then once she turned 6 months and moved into her own room with the bigger cot things got sooo much better. She happily sleeps 9-12 hours every night, and if she wakes she'll fall asleep on her own. I didn't think I was going to get past the sleep regression and I'm sure there will be rough patches in the future but for now things are going sooooo well. Did no sleep training, just phased out feeding her to sleep if she woke at the middle of the night.

Wow this is so encouraging. Your original post is literally the exact thing I’m going through and I’m thinking is it ever going to end. Nice to know there’s hope 😭 Do you think she’s calmed down because she is on solids now? Also did you not have any difficulty moving her into her own room? This feels impossible for me as we’ve been cosleeping/side cot since birth

@Sherina My daughter has a dairy allergy which we didn't know about for a few months (kept getting told it's colic).. so poor Baba suffered a lot so we had to contact nap during the day and at night held her to sleep for atleast an hour before transferring her to next to me cot but even then she woke up every 2 hours every night to be held or fed again. I genuinely thought I wasn't going to make it past the hard times, especially seeing other moms having an easier time with the babies made me think I was the problem. I started solids when she was 5.5 months but to be honest it didn't really make a difference. What made the sleep regression worse was when she was learning to roll, then rolled to her belly and got stuck. Once she became comfortable rolling, then she just drifted to sleep on her own in a comfortable position, which turned out to be sleeping on her front. She's a light sleeper so having her own room actually helped because she didn't wake up from our snoring and shuffling around during the night.

@Sherina During the day I started to slowly introduce getting the baby used to the cot in her own room, either by encouraging play time in there or by putting her down when she's sleeping. I think that helped her get used to be room. Then overtime night time transfers got easier. I think if it doesn't feel like the right time, try again a few weeks later. I just embraced now the fact my daughter does things when she's ready no matter what I try

I'm on week 8 of the 4 month sleep regression and it feels never ending. Its a good day if she get a nap longer than 40 minutes and only wakes up 3 times in the night. She doesn't seem any better. Do they suddenly just start sleeping or is it slowly. Like one nap they might manage to sleep a little longer.