When you think your baby is finally getting a good night’s sleep, he suddenly starts to wake up and you think that again, you have to start from scratch. Little by little you get to know your baby, you know what he needs at all times and little by little he gets more sleep at night. In reality, in babies when they are between 4 and 5 months old, their sleep pattern can change, for the better … or for the worse.
For some babies, it is very mild and brief, but for others it is a difficult phase marked by a lot of crying, frequent nighttime awakenings, and interrupted naps. This period can last from a few days, a few weeks to a few months.
Why does sleep regression happen
Simply put, the four-month sleep regression marks a permanent change in your baby’s sleep habits. It shouldn’t be called regression as it is more like a progression in terms of development, but it does alter the baby’s sleep patterns. This is because the baby’s brain is beginning to mature and begins to have the sleep phases of an adult but as a baby, it spends more time in the deep sleep zone.
Adults go in and out of REM and non-REM sleep several times during the night. We move a lot, we get up, we go back to sleep, but as we are adults we do not need help. The same thing happens to babies, but they have shorter sleep cycles than adults, lasting between 45 and 60 minutes, which means that your little one will move or wake up every hour or so throughout the night and naps.
Causes of regression
There are also some factors that can make sleep regression worse. For example:
- If you help him sleep by singing, rocking or feeding him, when he wakes up in the middle of the night he will want you to do it again, he will need that stimulus to fall asleep again.
- Babies are lightest sleepers between 4 and 6 in the morning so if they don’t fall asleep at 4 in the morning it will keep you all awake until the sun rises.
- By moving more you will also want to explore movement and sleep less.
- He is hungry.
- When a baby is very stimulated or exhausted, it can also impair their sleep at night.
How to deal with sleep regression
First of all, you will have to think about the root cause of sleep regression in your baby and what may be causing these regressions. Maybe he’s used to being rocked or singing to him before he goes to sleep and needs it in the middle of the night, every time he wakes up. It is a good idea to wait a few weeks to see if sleep improves on its own, if not, then some tips should be taken into account, such as:
- Follow a sleep routine with your baby both during the day and at night.
- Positive sleep environment. The baby’s room should be warm and dark. You can use white noise like a fan, hair dryer … or music to help them fall back to sleep between sleep cycles.
- Make sure he has his basic needs covered: heis well fed, he does not have a dirty diaper, he cares for you all the time and also he is neither hot nor cold.
- If your baby is tired, try to get him to sleep longer during the day and go to bed earlier at night. This reduces stress hormones (which can cause you more nighttime awakenings).
- If your baby is 4 months old, keep him awake for up to 2 hours and avoid overstimulation.
