Source
r/Parenting•
SecretAgentBean

4 month Regression

Infant 2-12 Months

This regression is some b.s. I am crying internally for myself, my partner and for the babe. I know she not giving me a hard time, she is having a hard time.

We fed, burped, did the “top off” with a little more feeding. Bathed her, using lavender body wash, fresh diaper. Rocked, needed more feeding, fell asleep in our arms. We said: “oh my goodness! Is this it?! Have we cracked a code?!” Nope. Awake after 5 min down in the bassinet. All day it’s been this way. Naps today were only successful in my arms; yes 45 min naps in my arms. This includes a white noise machine and darkened curtains.

Tell me it gets better. Tell me if there is anything I can do. Send help LOL

Posted Sep 23, 2021, 12:56 AM UTC

611
barnacles07•

The four month regression is when we chose to sleep train because she was already a mess, so may as well start on the habits we wanted to keep. She was fully night weaned by that point. This doesn’t work for everyone!

My only advice is to intervene minimally — keep the routines the same; do your best to avoid changing something you’ll just have to change back when the regression is over. Avoiding lots of intervention is what I’m convinced has kept all of our regressions to less than 10-14 days.

All the regressions suck, but 4 months and 18 months were two of the most confounding for us. It definitely gets better!

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barnacles07•

Agreed on sleep training! We knew it was what we wanted ahead of time, and did the TCB method (essentially modified Ferber). We did nights first and then naps, and the whole thing took about a week. She’s slept great ever since, except for the regressions. I’ve heard tell of the 2 year regression and I’m not excited about it, haha

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barnacles07•

I’m already anticipating a sleep regression sh*tshow because I’m expecting baby #2 less than two weeks after her second birthday, so I think it’ll be a long haul for us. It’s good to know the same methods work, it just takes a little longer than others!

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BeccasBump•

I don't know what to tell you. My 4mo is an easygoing little chap, but at the moment he'll only go to sleep in his cot if I hold his foot in the air 😂

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SecretAgentBeanOP•

Okay you had me going till the end 🤣 thank you needed that laugh!

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lnmcg223•

It gets better! That 4 month regression and the 7 month regression where our baby learned to pull-to-stand were the hardest ones we had!

It will pass! It will get better! Just keep your routines strong and ride it out the best you can! Hang in there!!

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xVicereine•

A lot of people have said to keep the routine the same and not feed- our baby was fully night weaned at 10 weeks (she did this herself) but the only thing that will soothe her when she wakes up right now is a bottle. I give a bottle in the bassinet if she wakes up and it puts her right back to sleep. Luckily she only wakes once for a feed and then will continue to sleep for a few hours. I’m in the same boat with you, I have to hope it gets better!!

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lberm•

Is she going through a Leap? Look up the Wonder Weeks, in case you’re not familiar… hang in there, it will pass soon!

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SecretAgentBeanOP•

I will definitely look this all up right now! Heard of none of that until your comment! Thank you

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Team-Mako-N7•

I resorted to cosleeping during the 4 month regression as my baby was waking every hour and struggling not to wake himself up every time he was put down. It was the only thing that saved my sanity. If you do choose to cosleep, make sure to set up a safe sleeping space.

In our case it's taken until now (just turned 6 months) for his sleep to start to normalize. To be fair, we also weaned from the swaddle during this time, lol. So we definitely had a contributing factor. We didn't want to sleep train, and suspected it wouldn't work for our baby anyhow. He's now gone back to sleeping in his own bed without a problem! So IMO do what you need to do to get through it.

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