# 4 Month Sleep Regression / Growth Spurt?...



## xGemx

What is this? Obviously it means baby puts on a bit of weight but what's all this about sleep regression??

My little boy was sleeping through the night beautifully until recently. He now wakes every 2/3 hrs. There is also alot of tears and he's very hard to console at the moment. Usually he's very easy to console with a cuddle and a bit of a breastfeed.

My happy baby seems to be constantly unsettled right now and I'm trying to find a reason for it.


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## jojo2605

Hi Gem, my LO is just the same at the moment and is almost exactly the same age as yours.

I too have heard these phrases banded about on the forum and so did a little bit of research today on it. 

I stumbled across a blog where a woman recommended a book called The Wonder Weeks by Frans Plooij which covers this type of thing. There is a website relating to it too. I may get the book to have a read of! 

Just thought I'd pass that on...

Edit: Sorry, forgot the link to the blog... *https://moxie.blogs.com/askmoxie/2006/02/qa_what_are_sle.html*


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## Lisa1302

I haven't read the article above, but my understanding of the 4 month Sleep Regression / Growth Spurt is that because they are having such a big spurt they can't get enough calories in during their normal waking hours...therefore they regress back to when they were much younger i.e. waking every 3 hours or whatever, in order to get the calories they need to grow, basically they feel hungry most of the time. 

It could easily be that making him wake. I thought Izzy was having a spurt, and she was waking in the night..it lasted quite a while though, a number of weeks, and no amount of milk seemed to satisfy her for long, and this didn't even stop when i started to wean her onto fruit and veg (because she was on small amounts at first just once a day) I didn't notice a change back to her old sleeping routine until she was on 2 meals which included porridge plus all her normal milks, although she was generally more satisfied even with the small bits she was getting.


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## petal040

The growth spurt is a big mental spurt - your LO might not put on more weight than normal. 

The feeding is to increase calorie intake - and so it is worth bearing in mind that milk is likely to contain more calories than many weaning foods, e.g. pureed veg... also (I may be wrong about this) I have been told that 'hungry baby' milk does not have any more calories or nutrition in it than normal formula milk - just that it has potato starch added for 'bulk' - so it tricks babies body into believing it is fuller than it is, if that makes sense. 

I'm just saying this because many people wrongly believe their LO needs to start weaning when they hit this spurt, as they are waking in the night hungry, which makes mum worry that they aren't getting enough food. It's true that they are waking for food - but milk is the best food for them - it is not a true sign of needing to wean - hope that makes sense! Obviously some babies do need to wean early but that is for reasons other than this growth spurt. Hope that makes sense!!!

Because it is a mental spurt - it is a lot for baby to cope with, adapt to and take in. It can be a little overwhelming (a bit like the moody teenager hormonal moments I suppose)... and so you have a grumpy and clingy baby on your hands as well as being sleep-deprived with sore boobies and a niggling feeling that you should start sleep training or something because everything that was going so well has now fallen to bits! Lol!

My LO is going through it just now. It's been about a week and a half so far - but particularly bad the last three nights and today. I feel your pain. 

I think (and again am not sure about this - but have heard somewhere) that the increased feeding leads to increased milk production (or a change in the composition of the milk), and that once this has happened things should calm down again. Fingers crossed for that!!!

Then you have the 5 month spurt to look forward to.......


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## Vicks

Joe seems to have started the dreaded 4 month growth spurt too! In the last week he's been waking again during the night after sleeping through since 6 weeks, but he doesn't seem to want a bottle? I watched him the other night and he was kind-of crying but still asleep and then settling again?? He's also more difficult to settle during the day too.
I'll be watching this thread for anymore tips!! 
x


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## petal040

Maybe we should start a growth spurt support thread haha... as I've read quite a lot of posts about this in the past couple of days! :)


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## Kbee

me too girls!!
I'd forgotten how draining the sleepness nights are!!
xx


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## xGemx

Terrible isn't it. 

Willy was SO fretful this evening I gave him half a dose of Calpol. Maybe I shouldn't have done that? But as a concequence, within half an hour he was back to his old self, playing with his toys and laughing. I also got the best feed down him that I've had all day. 

He's also drifted off in to a comfortable sleep. ADo you think maybe it could be teething thats his issue? He is very dribbly but I cant see anything in his mouth. No red gums or rosy cheeks. He is however shoving everything in his mouth.

These little ones are such a guessing game

x


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## angelmummy

my 16 week old has been grizzly for the last few days too. crying and whinging a bit more than usual and difficult to settle also drinking so much milk i can hardly fill him, worse in the evening, and also has been going all night without waking from 9 till bout 6 or 7 but last few mornings has been waking bout 4 or 5 so i assume he is having big growth surt too. 

good to know we are all not alone and are all going through same things. i was beginning to think about weaning but think i will wait and see if growth spurt passes now.

marie x


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## Shifter

Just echoing everything petal said.

I have The Wonder Weeks - it's a really good book and has helped me to understand what is going on in Jack's head and how I can help him. That Ask Moxie article is also very helpful, I came across that a while back too :thumbup:

The 4 month growth spurt lasted 10 days for us but the sleep regression lasted over 5 months, we are only just coming out of it now. I let poor habits form during those 10 days that were very, very hard to undo! And there is typically another phase at about 8 months, so these ran together for us.

My top tip would be - feed them when they wake but still make sure you put them back to bed awake and let them settle themselves some of the way!


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## Callie1000

My LO started crying after her "bedtime" feed this evening and the after trying the usual methods of comforting her I tried more feed - she wolfed it down then went off to sleep as normal...now I'm wondering if this the start of the growth spurt (she's 4 months on Monday). I hoping this doesn't affect her sleeping through the night too much!! I too will be keeping an eye on this thread for tips!! x


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## xGemx

Shifter said:


> My top tip would be - feed them when they wake but still make sure you put them back to bed awake and let them settle themselves some of the way!

VERY IMPORTANT! I got myself in all sorts of problems with my now 4yr old. I let him fall asleep on me every night, and eventually I spent hours every evening just trying to get him to settle down on me. Then getting him to self settle after all this time was very traumatic for us all.

I bresdtfeed, but at the moment I'm having to 'top him up' with formula just to get him to nod off as he's SO hungry. I am wondering if theres a teeth issue too though because he's a little off his feed til he's had some teething powder. Then he's ravenous!!


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## petal040

xGemx said:


> Terrible isn't it.
> 
> Willy was SO fretful this evening I gave him half a dose of Calpol. Maybe I shouldn't have done that? But as a concequence, within half an hour he was back to his old self, playing with his toys and laughing. I also got the best feed down him that I've had all day.
> 
> He's also drifted off in to a comfortable sleep. ADo you think maybe it could be teething thats his issue? He is very dribbly but I cant see anything in his mouth. No red gums or rosy cheeks. He is however shoving everything in his mouth.
> 
> These little ones are such a guessing game
> 
> x

Hmmm - I'm wondering about teething too - my LO woke several times last night not hungry, cried quite intensely for about 30 seconds, without really waking, then went silent again. I'm thinking possible teeth pain?

My LO is very dribbly too - everything goes in her mouth - she bites down on everything - but also does not have any red gums or rosy cheeks. We've got her a teething necklace so have been trying that, but as I'm not sure if she actually is teething or not I can't tell if it makes much difference lol :)

Last night my LO woke three times for feeds and about three times not for a feed :wacko: Luckily my mum is visiting today so has taken her out for a walk to give me a break, and she is babysitting tonight too so me and OH can go out for a drink at the pub across the road :happydance:


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## tillymum

xGemx said:


> VERY IMPORTANT! I got myself in all sorts of problems with my now 4yr old. I let him fall asleep on me every night, and eventually I spent hours every evening just trying to get him to settle down on me. Then getting him to self settle after all this time was very traumatic for us all.

Gem-x and Shifter, Do you mind me asking how you eventually got your LO to settle? as during her 3-4month growth spurt we got into some bad habits and I really need to break these now before it gets worse. Basically now she will only sleep if I feed her and she falls asleep on boob. When I put her down she will wake again and I have to BF her again for her to settle. If I put her down awake she gets very upset and I have to BF her to get her to sleep!! In the evenings I am up and down the stairs 4 or 5 times. Also in the day she will not go into her cot for me, screams and screams, the only way I can get her to sleep in the day is to put her in her pram when she first yawns and rock her to sleep. 

I thought we had sorted out her 4 month sleep regression as we had 3 nights this week sleeping through again - success I thought!!! No, last 2 nights she won't settle again in the evenings and woke last night at 2am, 3am - managed to get her back to sleep with a soother, then woke again at 4.30am for a feed! So that article that was posted makes a lot of sense to me!

My Dh has persuaded me to go out tonight and my MIL is babysitting and I just know she won't be able to settle her and I'll be home after an hour.


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## Shifter

tillymum said:


> xGemx said:
> 
> 
> VERY IMPORTANT! I got myself in all sorts of problems with my now 4yr old. I let him fall asleep on me every night, and eventually I spent hours every evening just trying to get him to settle down on me. Then getting him to self settle after all this time was very traumatic for us all.
> 
> Gem-x and Shifter, Do you mind me asking how you eventually got your LO to settle?Click to expand...

:rofl:

I'll tell you when we crack it!

Seriously though, lots of patience and taking it one day at a time. I have made Jack's cot more cosy by putting a rolled up towel along the side and when I feed him I use the "Pantley Pull-Off" from No Cry Sleep Solution - basically take him off before he is fully asleep, and put him in his cot still on his feeding pillow so he is not going into a cold bed and is elevated - he seems to hate lying flat. It has taken a month but the pull off is finally starting to work. For a few weeks he would complain every time I took him off until he was asleep. Now he comes off first time and settles the last little bit on his own :thumbup:


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## cazza1982

Not got any advice but I just wanted to say that I am going through this growth spurt too and it is giving me grey hair! It has made him beyond cranky and to top it off, he is teething too. 

I agree on starting a growth spurt support thread....somewhere to find sanctuary at 3 in the morning when LO is up and about!! Ha ha.


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## petal040

cazza1982 said:


> Not got any advice but I just wanted to say that I am going through this growth spurt too and it is giving me grey hair! It has made him beyond cranky and to top it off, he is teething too.
> 
> I agree on starting a growth spurt support thread....somewhere to find sanctuary at 3 in the morning when LO is up and about!! Ha ha.

:hugs: I feel your pain :hugs:

My good news is - LO only woke twice for a feed last night :happydance:

Bad news is - she woke multiple other times for unknown reasons (teeth?) made noise (not crying) then went back to sleep.... which disturbed my sleep and OH's (new thing for OH, who is used to sleeping through nicely as LO doesn't normally make much noise at all at night - just grunts to be fed)... hmm...


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## Syd'sMom

My daughter is 5 months this week and has regressed tremendously. I am at the point of exhaustion and wanting an answer. Last night she went to bed at her normal time of 7:30p.m....then woke crying at 8:30, 9:30 and 11:30. Finally brought her to bed with me (mistake I know). She slept till 1:30, I fed her and put her back in the crib. She will fall asleep when we pick her up but the transfer back to the crib is awful. She wakes constantly. 
I too am wondering about teething. EEEK!


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## sun

The 4-month growth spurt is the only on I have really noticed so far. It was like Bun was 4 weeks old again - he was waking at night and fussing on the boob all day. Ours took about a week, and my supply caught up to his demand (I think my production doubled LOL) and he was almost back to normal. Another week and he was sleeping through again - so it does end! Also over that period, Bun perfected his head control, started actively playing with his toys, and started laughing!!! So he was getting alot done! 
Don't worry - it will end! I was worried it was the new normal, but he went back to sleeping :hugs: 

xx


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## Seraphim

We didn't really notice a '4 month' spurt... which suprised me because all of the others were spot on. The 3 month one was mega though, so I figured maybe we had our quota then :rofl:

But the regression, mood, alertness, clinginess, teething, waking.... ye gods, I am pooped!!


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## ticklemonster

Seraphim said:


> We didn't really notice a '4 month' spurt... which suprised me because all of the others were spot on. The 3 month one was mega though, so I figured maybe we had our quota then :rofl:
> 
> But the regression, mood, alertness, clinginess, teething, waking.... ye gods, I am pooped!!

My little boy is almost 12 weeks and i think we are having a growth spurt, he's gone from feeding every 4 hrs to every 3 but still only having 5/6 oz's. Also he use to sleep 10 hours a night, now he's waking for feeds every 4 it was last night.....this sounds like a growth spurt doesn't it??


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## PieMistress

This sounds just like Kyle just now - his night-time sleeping has gone totally haywire (although he can self settle he is waking up more often for milk .....) and he 16 weeks today ... hope it doesn't last too long!


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## LdS39

This sounds all to familiar... 
My little boy is 5 weeks in a few days and all of a sudden he doesnt nap as much during the day and also gets up every 3 hours during the night.
Its really draining me and to be honest making me quite tearful as sometimes I just dont know how to calm him. 
Hes also drooling a heck of a lot - and everything goes into his mouth.
Have DH home today, which will give me a break for a short while but how long do these spurts go for. It feels like this has gone on for a couple of weeks now...
:(


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## Bumpontherun

We're just coming out the other side of Helen's 4 month spurt. It started three weeks ago and she was waking up every 3 hours for feeds overnight and more during the day. She slept 8 hours last night from 8:30-3:30 and the same on Sun. She's been a bit unsettled between but I think this is because we've been on holiday so messing her routine up a bit.

It has been a really really hard time, I've been so exhausted and disheartened. Thinks have improved so much though and this week she has started napping in her cot during the day which she has never done before, she's still asleep now after nearly 2 hours - totally unheard of.

For everyone else going through this just hang in there, don't change anything and it will get better:flower:

p.s. I'm beginning to use the Pantley pull off technique, glad to hear it works eventually!


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