How To Survive The 4 Month Sleep Regression
In this article, I will talk all about the 4 month sleep regression. We’ll cover what it is, why it happens, and some tips for navigating this time period to help everyone get more sleep. If you’re reading this as an exhausted parent in the thick of the 4 month sleep regression, rest assured—there are things you can do to help your baby sleep better during this time.
4 Month Sleep Regression
What Is The 4 Month Sleep REgression?
The 4 month sleep regression is a disruption in sleep that occurs in many babies due to biological changes to their sleep patterns right around—you guessed it—4 months of age. This can be a challenging time for parents, especially because some babies seemed to sleep well before this and suddenly are struggling. During this time period, babies might fight sleep, not stay asleep for long periods of time, or require significant caregiver assistance to fall and stay asleep.
It should be noted that not all babies will go through this in the same way, or at the same time. Some might start showing signs as early as 3 months old or as late as 5 months. Additionally, some babies will experience significant disruption in sleep, whereas others may get through this change with little disruption. More on that below.
Why Does The 4 Month Sleep REgression Happen?
The 4 month sleep regression is related to a permanent change that occurs to a baby’s sleep patterns. Prior to this change, babies have only two sleep stages. Following this biological change around 4 months, they will have more adult-like sleep cycles that last between 90 and 120 minutes. As a result, they cycle between 5 different stages of sleep, including a light stage of sleep every 90-120 minutes. It is during this lighter sleep that babies often wake up.
Some babies will check in with their surroundings upon waking and simply fall right back asleep. Many babies, however, particularly those who are used to being fed to sleep or held to sleep, will realize that their environment looks and feels different than when they fell asleep (i.e. they’re not warm and cozy in their parents’ arms eating or being rocked), and they will wake up and cry out because they notice the change. The combination of 4 month old babies being more aware of their surroundings plus this change to their sleep cycles resulting in light stages of sleep with more frequent waking can result in a significant increase in the number of overnight wakings.
Although this is colloquially called a “regression”, it should be noted that this biological change is a completely normal part of your baby’s development. And it’s also important to know that any disruption to sleep is only temporary. By following the expert advice in this article, you can get back on track much more quickly.
Other Development at 4 Months Old That Can Contribute to Sleep REgression
We already talked about the largest biological change to a baby’s sleep patterns that occurs around 4 months, but there are other changes that occur during this time that can also impact your baby’s sleep.
New Gross Motor Skills: many babies at this age have begun rolling either one or both ways, or will soon. Babies are always eager to try out their new skills. This can result in disrupted sleep.
Dropping The Swaddle: Paired with this gross motor development is another key change that can impact sleep—swaddles are not safe for babies who attempt to or can successfully roll. Babies who previously slept well in a swaddle now need to transition out. I used a swaddle with all my newborns and always recommend them to my clients as they can truly help improve sleep in the earliest days and weeks, so this can definitely add to the challenge as baby starts rolling.
(Note - I have a favorite products for transitioning safely out of a swaddle - Merlin’s Magic Sleepsuit. Also, some families successfully choose to instead transition to a a non-weighted sleep sack—check out this whole article I wrote on how to dress your baby to sleep including my favorite sleep sacks.)
Baby is Growing and Hungry: As you’ve already discovered by now, your baby is constantly growing. One potential pitfall of this growth (read: hunger) combined with more frequent night wakings is that it can result in something called “reverse cycling”. Picture this: your baby is used to falling asleep while being fed, so you take the same approach to your night wakings during the 4 month sleep regression and feed them every time they wake up. Over several days or doing this, baby becomes used to consuming many of their calories at night instead of during the day. The result will be baby having genuine hunger in the middle of the night and making a challenging period of frequent night wakings even more lengthy.
More Awareness of Their Surroundings: We touched on this briefly above, but it’s important enough to reiterate. A baby who now wakes more frequently during the night due to the natural change in their sleep patterns and who is also more aware of their surroundings will be able to recognize that the environment they wake up in (on their back on a crib mattress) isn’t the same as when they fell asleep (being fed or rocked to sleep in their parent’s arms). Additionally, more awareness of their surroundings can result in more distraction during daytime feeds, which can also contribute to reverse cycling.
IS the 4 month Sleep Regression PReventable?
If your baby is not yet 4 months old, you may be reading this and wondering if this is something you can prevent.
In short, you cannot prevent the biological changes to your baby’s sleep patterns—these will occur no matter what and are a part of normal development.
However, as I’ve mentioned earlier, some babies breeze right through the 4 month sleep regression whereas others really struggle with disrupted sleep. By creating healthy sleep patterns and habits in your newborn starting as early as day 1 home from the hospital, you can avoid much of the challenge of the 4 month sleep regression. Instead of your baby having to be fed to sleep or rocked to sleep, and thus expecting that each time they awaken during their new sleep stages after the 4 month regression, they will simply drift back off to sleep peacefully.
Building independent sleep skills with your baby such as falling asleep independently in their crib or bassinet, having a bedtime routine, and not feeding or rocking to sleep can help avoid this.
I teach all of this in my eBook, The Ultimate Guide To Better Baby Sleep. It’s a no-crying, gentle approach to creating healthy sleep patterns and habits so that you can breeze right through the 4 month sleep regression with minimal, if any, disruption to your baby’s sleep. Click here to learn more.
The 4 month sleep regression hit us HARD with my oldest. Once I had the foundational knowledge and knew exactly what to do, my second, third, and fourth babies had no major disruptions to their sleep as they went through this biological change.
How To Navigate the 4 Month Sleep Regression
It’s important to remember that you’re not alone, and that all babies go through change during this time. By following the expert tips below, you can help your baby get through this challenging time and come out the other side as an even better sleeper.
Practice putting your baby down awake at bedtime
Because your baby will naturally awaken during their sleep cycles multiple times overnight, it’s important for them to wake up to the same environment as when they fall asleep. To maximize your chance of success with this:
Gradually reduce the amount of assistance (ex: if you usually rock baby to sleep in the crook of your elbow, less assistance is simply holding in same position with no rocking, so do this for night 1. The next night, try holding completely horizontally with no rocking. The third night, try putting them independently in their crib.)
Be sure you are following wake windows. In this case, ensure that your 4 month old baby is awake for 90-120 minutes between when they woke up from their last nap and when you try putting them down to sleep. This will be the optimal time to put them down.
Look for tiredness cues, and put baby down at the first sign of tiredness. Check out this article for a full list of how to spot signs of tiredness in your baby (and hunger, and gas).
Practice this during daytime naps too
I often find that I’m more patient and less frustrated when practicing new skills during the daytime instead of overnight. Putting your baby down awake is something you have many opportunities to practice throughout the day. Bedtime is the most important for helping with the overnight wakings, but practicing this multiple times a day will help baby learn that much faster.
Consider working towards a sleep schedule for your 4 month old
Some families absolutely love sleep schedules (me!), and some don’t—but what cannot be denied is that they can help make sleep more consistent. They also help ensure you have age appropriate wake windows so that you aren’t trying to put your baby to sleep when they are overtired or not tired enough. Both can result in it taking longer to fall asleep because overtired babies tend to fight sleep and be more fussy, and babies who don’t have enough sleep need won’t fall asleep well or stay asleep for long. Here is a sample 4 month old sleep schedule based on their sleep needs for their age and development along with tips for how to implement your sleep schedule.
Implement a bedtime routine
I am a huge fan of bedtime routines because they can become a positive sleep association and a strong cue that it’s time to sleep. If you haven’t yet started a bedtime routine, 4 months is an excellent time because babies at this age are better able to recognize patterns. Your bedtime routine doesn’t have to be complex to be effective. It might be as simple as feeding, change diaper, pajamas, brush gums/teeth, read a book, sleep sack on, sound machine on, lay down in crib, lights off. You can make your routine whatever works for you and your family and as long or short as you want. My main recommendation is to have one, and to make sure that feeding is separated from sleeping by a few steps (we’re trying to avoid feeding baby to sleep to help improve overnight sleep, after all!).
Prioritize full daytime feedings
To help avoid reverse cycling for an ever-more-distracted 4 month old, it’s important to prioritize full feedings during the day. You ultimately want to have baby taking in all of their daily nutrients during daytime hours so that they aren’t hungry overnight. Of course, consult with your baby’s pediatrician and follow their specific advice for your baby if there are any underlying medical conditions.
Know that this too shall pass
As hard as it can be to remember in the moment, this time of disrupted sleep won’t last forever. You and your baby will emerge from this, and you certainly aren’t alone in feeling like this is one of your toughest parenting challenges to date. While you implement these tips and work on improving your baby’s independent sleep skills, be sure you are getting support from family or loved ones during this time. After all, a mom’s mental and physical healthy is so incredibly important, and lack of sleep can negatively impact both.
What Happens IF We Get Through the 4 Month Sleep Regression and Still have overnight wakings?
I don’t recommend any formal sleep training before 5 months of age. However, if you’re still struggling with sleep once your baby is 5 months old, there are many options of how you can improve your baby’s sleep.
I work to support families one-on-one with a customized sleep plan that aligns with your individual values, preferences, lifestyles, and schedule. With customized support including multiple coaching calls with me and a plan created just for you, your baby will be getting 10+ hours of overnight sleep within a few weeks. You will have a personalized daytime routine that fits your schedule and lifestyle, specific age-appropriate guidance and strategies to help your baby sleep better, and tips for navigating future disruptions to sleep should they occur.
Click here to learn more and see if this is a fit for you and your family.
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