Can the 4 month sleep regression be just naps, or do I still have a big storm coming? 😅

TW: This post mentions good night sleeping and will include numbers. Milestone meeting is also mentioned.

I want to lead by saying that I know that I am lucky to have what I have with regard to my son’s night sleep. I am afraid of losing it when I return to work. I am due to return to work when my son reaches 4 months old exactly, funnily enough (3/30).

My son rolled over for the first time at 13 weeks, which was so exciting! We were in the process of transitioning him out of a swaddle and had to cut cold turkey when he did so. We had three nights of awful sleep, and then, to our surprise, he started sleeping through the night, from about 8 pm to 7 am. Prior to the swaddle being removed he was sleeping from 8 pm to 3 am, waking for a feed, then sleeping again from 3:30 to 7 am.

The problem is his naps. For the last couple of weeks, he naps, well. Like shit, to put it mildly. He will only fall asleep in my arms (rejects his father and grandma entirely unless they borrow one of my shirts) and if I put him in his crib or bassinet, he will wake within 15 minutes. Ultimately I feel it’s more important for him to at least get the sleep, so I end up holding him in my arms for the bulk of his nap time to ensure he at least gets enough sleep to not be overtired.

Part of me is hoping that this is it for regressing—I am so dreading the thought of him hitting a terrible regression right when I go back to work. But I’ve seen so many mixed experiences; some people say it was apocalyptic, others say it had no effect on their baby at all.

Any advice or anecdotal experience? My son is put down drowsy but awake following his bedtime routine and can often, but not always, finish falling asleep on his own from there. (If he doesn’t, he is rocked the rest of the way to sleep and we do not leave him to cry or fuss.)