- If your sleeping newborn
has turned into an absolute terror.
So, they're waking every one to two hours at night
and will only sleep when you are holding them,
then you might be wondering what has happened?
I can tell you what's happened.
Your little one
is going through the four month sleep regression.
Now, this is not a phase.
It is actually a permanent developmental change
that has happened in your baby's brain.
And it's completely normal,
but unfortunately there's some bad habits
that we can fall into,
which can make the four month sleep regression,
significantly worse.
So, if this is something that you are going through
and you have no idea what to do,
then make sure you stick around
where you will find out what you can do right now
to make the four month sleep regression,
significantly easier
and more importantly,
what you need to avoid doing
if you want to stop that broken sleep.
But before we do,
make sure you click on that free PDF document
in the description box below,
which covers the developmental milestones
you can be expecting for your little one
in their first year of life.
This will give you an invaluable peace of mind,
as you'll know when to be expecting skills
and when to be concerned.
Firstly, let's talk about what has happened
to your baby's sleep.
So, when they're in the newborn phase,
your baby was cycling through two different stages of sleep,
light and deep sleep.
And they would have stayed asleep if they were still tired
and weren't hungry, uncomfortable or in pain,
but somewhere between the three to five month old mark,
children's sleep patterns change and they actually mature.
And what happens is instead of going through two stages
of sleep, they go through four stages of sleep.
And after the fourth stage of sleep,
they will partially or fully wake up.
And at this point,
your baby is now going to need that sleep association
to go back to sleep.
So, if you are using a dummy
or you're putting your little one,
shushing them or feeding them to sleep,
they're going to need that again.
So, typically parents will report that their baby
is now waking every 30 to 45 minutes during the day
or at night time,
they will sleep well for the first half of the night.
But towards the second half of the night,
when the baby is now in lighter sleep,
they are waking every one to two hours
and needing help to fall back to sleep
or their little one just will not go back to sleep.
So, they are waking every one to two hours,
throughout the night.
Now, that is essentially the four months sleep regression.
And there are some things
that you can do right now to make it easier.
The first thing you want to do
is keep an eye on your baby's awake time.
So, babies fall asleep best when they are tired,
not overtired.
If you have an overtired baby,
they are going to cry more at bedtime.
So, they find it harder to fall asleep.
They also find it significantly harder to stay asleep.
So, they're going to wake more often.
So, what you want to do
is if your baby is under four months at age,
you want to be giving them a nap,
every 45 to a 120 minutes.
Now, if your child is over four months of age,
so four to six months of age,
they should be able to stay awake
for two to two and a half hours and then need a nap.
Now, it is important to remember that catnapping,
so only having 30 to 45 minute naps during the day
from three and a half, four months of age,
all the way up to five and a half,
six months of age is completely normal.
The second thing you want to do
is keep an eye on the number of night feedings
that you are doing.
Now, what you want to do is do two things.
Firstly, you want to feed your little one,
during the day in an environment,
which isn't extremely distracting,
because at four months of age and up,
they tend to be extremely distracted
by what's going on in the environment
and they don't feed as well.
So, if you do it in a quieter environment,
then they are going to have full feeds.
The second thing you want to do
is just be aware of what's typical
in regards to night feedings for children.
So, if a child is three months of age,
they would generally only need two to three feeds
in the night after having a good stretch of sleep
in the beginning.
So, typically they might be able to sleep four to five hours
and then they might wake for feeds
for the rest of the night.
If your child
is anywhere between four and six months of age,
they may only need two to one feedings during the night.
And that again is after having a good stretch of sleep
in the beginning.
So, that might be five to six hours of sleep.
And then they may wake for feeds.
If you notice that your little ones feeds,
during the night are increasing.
So, when they're a newborn,
they may have only waking three times
and now they're waking four or five times.
Then you may be able to safely assume
that they are now using you to fall asleep
or that fee to fall back asleep.
What you want to do is work out what are the true feeds.
So, if the little one is having a large amount of formula
or spending a long time having that breast milk,
then that's probably a true feed.
But if they are only having a small amount of formula
or only staying on the breast for a few minutes,
then that is more likely to be asleep association.
And what you want to do is switch out those times
with another sleep association,
such as patting or shushing,
which is going to be easier
to fade than a formula or breastfeed.
The third thing you want to do is remember to pause.
Babies are extremely noisy sleepers
and they now wake between sleep cycles.
So, what you want to do is remember to pause
if you hear a little one become noisy,
just for a few minutes and see if they go back to sleep.
The fourth thing you want to do
is make sure that you keep the bedroom dark, cool and quiet.
Now, you want to keep it dark for two reasons.
Firstly, it helps to potentially lengthen the time
that they are napping in the day.
And that is because if the room is dark enough
that they can't actually read a book.
When they wake between sleep cycles,
they're not going to get distracted by what's in the room
and they are more likely to fall back asleep.
The second reason
is it can actually help your little one stay asleep
for longer in the morning.
So, typically your child's sleep will now be lighter
in the morning.
So, it's easier for them to wake up.
And if light is streaming into their room,
then it is going to tell their body
that it is time to wake up and they are going to wake early.
So, if you want your little one
to sleep in past the sun rising,
then you want to make sure that their room stays dark,
up until the time that you want them to wake up.
You also want the room to be quiet,
because when they are napping during the day
and in that early stages of the morning,
they are in light sleep.
And it's really easy for them to wake up.
So, if you have birds chirping, dogs barking, traffic noise
or family members walking around,
it is going to wake them up more easily between sleep cycles
and they are going to find it extremely difficult
to fall back asleep.
The fifth thing you want to do
is make sure you have a consistent bedtime routine.
So, every time you put your baby down for a nap
or fall asleep in the nighttime,
you want to make sure that you are using a bedtime routine
and it doesn't need to be complicated.
And it might be walking them into their bedroom,
pulling down the blinds,
putting them in their sleeping bag,
singing a song or reading a book
and then putting them down in the cot.
If you consistently do this routine,
it will tell you a little one that it is time to sleep.
So, they know what to expect
and what you are expecting from them.
The sixth thing you want to do
is give them the opportunity to sleep more regularly
in their designated sleep space.
So, if that is a crib,
then you're letting them sleep
in their crib throughout the day.
Now, this is going to make the most significant change
in regards to your baby's sleep,
because you are going to reduce the likelihood
that they will wake up frequently through the night,
if they are aware of and comfortable sleeping
in their crib rather than your arms.
So, there are lots of different ways that you can do this.
You can do it a really quick approach
or you could do a really gradual approach.
So, if your little one will only sleep in your arms,
then that is fine,
you might initially get your little one to sleep
in your arms, but in the bedroom where the cot is.
And then once they're comfortable doing that,
you might get them to sleep initially in your arms
and then put them into the cot once they're asleep
and to help with that transition,
it is often really helpful if you hold their arms
and their legs still
and just shush them to help them fall asleep.
Then once they are comfortable doing that,
you might want to just get your little one used to being
in the cot awake, but drowsy.
And you are beside them,
shushing them or sing that song to help them fall asleep.
And then you will gradually withdraw yourself
from that bedroom.
So, there are lots of different ways that you can do it,
but if you can get your little one to fall asleep
or potentially sleep more in their cot or crib,
then they are going to wake less frequently in the night,
because they know where they are
and they are not going to freak out.
Now, if your little one is catnapping
and you want some tips on how to address that
when they're under six months of age,
just to make it a little bit easier,
then make sure you check out this video.
Also remember to click on that free PDF document
in the description box below.
And I will see next week
where I'll share more parenting tips and tricks.
(upbeat music)