In order to understand infant sleep regression, it’s important to understand that a baby’s sleep is very different to ours.
Their sleep cycles are shorter, and even the various sleep phases, between REM and NREM, follow a different pattern as they are not yet fully developed.
An infant’s sleep changes gradually to eventually become similar to an adult’s sleep, this occurs around the age of four.
The four month old sleep regressionis actually a simple transitional phase, referring more to a development stage rather than actual regression.
It can, however, disturb baby’s sleep, increase their demand for milk and cuddles...
Let's see the best way to handle it!
Newborn sleep schedule up to 4 months
During the early months of an infant’s life, babies sleep for most of the day and their wake windows are very short, about an hour and a half.
Their primary need is for contact, so it’s only natural for them to fall asleep in your arms; while feeding, while inside a baby carrier wrap, or even while on the move in their pram (the movement reminds them of the motion they felt when snug inside their mum’s tum).
What sleep changes occur at four months old?
Around the fourth month, an infant starts to develop a circadian rhythm, i.e. an understanding of the difference between day and night. Sleep cycles become longer, with phases of deeper sleep. In addition, a baby spends more time awake.
These major changes to baby sleep cycle can disturb their sleep.
4 Month sleep regression signs
What are the signs of sleep regression in babies?
- Seek out the breast more or have a bigger appetite
- Demand for physical contact or cuddles increases
- Difficulty falling asleep or sleeping for shorter intervals
- Increased night waking
- Become fussier, unsettled and more irritable
How to deal with sleep regression
Four-month sleep regression can be a difficult time for parents, who have to learn how to cope with the big change occurring in their little one’s sleeping pattern and the fact that they suddenly take longer to settle. Don't worry, it’s only a temporary phase that’ll last a couple of weeks!
Here are our tips for four month sleep regression on how best to deal with it:
- Be patient, it’s a delicate time and your baby needs you to be positive and calm.
- Help calm and soothe your baby at bedtime, caress them, reassure them and create a stimulus-free, dark environment at just the right temperature.
- Try to aid sleep by not allowing your baby to stay awake too long and become overly excited, as this will make it more difficult for your baby to settle down to sleep afterwards.
- Pay attention to signs of tiredness in babies: yawning, fluttering eyelids, fussiness. Put your infant down to sleep at the right time and not too late.
- Remember their wake window is about 2 to 2½ hours, so try not to avoid exceeding this time before settling them down for their next nap.
- Offer them more milk if they have an increase in appetite, a baby needs more calories at this time.
- If you haven't already done so, now is the ideal time for establishing a firm bedtime routine, which will be become the baseline for years to come.
What’s a baby bedtime routine and why’s it so important?
A newborn bedtime routine is a series of actions that are repeated each evening, in the same order, just before bedtime: having a bath, changing into sleep suit, closing the curtains, saying goodnight to all your little one’s teddies, reading a book, their evening feed...
This series of repeated actions can reassure and help an infant settle calmly, preparing them for sleep. Setting a firm bedtime routine is the most important thing you can do for your baby to aid a good night's sleep!
