Was Your Baby Sleeping Well Until They Turned 4 Months Old?

Has your baby gone from sleeping long stretches to waking frequently overnight? Or have they possibly become a serial catnapper? If so, you are not alone and I am here to help!

Did you know that it is very common for sleep to fall apart around 4-6 months of age? While there are a few different reasons this can happen, we can absolutely support your little one to sleeping long stretches again and consolidating their day sleep!

The change in sleep could be caused by the 4 Month Sleep Regression or the awareness of Sleep Associations.

The 4 Month Regression

This is an important milestone that is a progression in your baby's sleep cycles. Through this regression your baby's sleep cycles are moving away from newborn cycles into longer and deeper cycles as they are experiencing a maturation of sleep. This shift and progression of sleep can be the cause of a sudden change in sleep patterns including frequent night waking or overtiredness caused from catnapping, which leads to a hard bedtime and fragmented sleep.

Sleep Associations

Around 4-6 months of age, sleep associations can become quite deep rooted. This means that your baby is likely to become aware of how they are falling to sleep and form an attachment to this. Sleep associations can contribute to night wakings because as your baby comes out of a sleep cycle overnight, they may need that sleep association present to go back to sleep, and if it is not then this can cause them to properly wake and become upset until it is replaced.

While the above could be contributing to the sleep changes, sleep is something that is very holisitic and things such as sleep pressure, sleep environment and feeding amongst other factors could also be the cause of your baby's change in sleep.

If you would like to get on top of sleep, you absolutely can and we can do this in a very responsive way within just 2 weeks!

Book a Free Call now and let me support you in a way that aligns with your parenting style and your baby's individual temperament.

References

Barry, E.S. (2020). What is 'normal' infant sleep? Why we still do not know. Psychological Reports, 124(2), 651692. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294120909447.

Burnham, Melissa M et al. "Nighttime sleep-wake patterns and self-soothing from birth to one year of age: a longitudinal intervention study." Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines vol. 43,6 (2002): 713-25. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00076

Davis, K.F., Parker, K.P., & Montgomery, G.L. (2004). Sleep in infants and young children: Part two: Common sleep problems. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 18(3),

130-137. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0891-5245(03)001500.

Hiscock, H., & Fisher, J. (2014). Sleeping like a baby? Infant Sleep: Impact on caregivers and current controversies. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 51, 361-364. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpc.12752.

Tham, Elaine Kh et al. "Infant sleep and its relation with cognition and growth: a narrative review." Nature and science of sleep vol. 9135-149. 15 May 2017, doi:10.2147/NSS.S125992