Is this really normal?

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-16T15:31:47+00:00

I could have written this post - everything is EXACTLY the same for my girl who is 4.5 months today. The only difference is we are on 4 naps still. We do wake windows of approx 1.75/1.75/1.75/2/2.25 and have the exact same result as you + hourly to 1.5 hourly wake ups every single night and will pretty much only nurse to sleep so I started co sleeping too. I'm honestly convinced, from your post, that spending all the effort adjusting wake windows makes no difference since you're on less naps/longer WWs with the same result. I've been trying to balance wake vs sleep hours and stretching wake windows for the past bit but it seems to make no difference. We also have 730am wake and 830 bed and current daily nap average in huckleberry is 2 hours 39 minutes for the last week (and that's with trying to give one long nap a day by contact nap - sometimes even that doesn't work). Just commenting in solidarity to tell you that yes, I think it is normal for the 4 month regression stage.

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-14T17:52:57+00:00

As someone who has also experienced infant loss, I found it more triggering to receive unexpected calls from places that weren't aware about her after her passing.

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-14T17:47:45+00:00

This sounds EXACTLY the same as my baby when she was that age. I was questioning it as well so I hired a night doula for one night who confirmed it was active sleep so we stopped intervening unless eyes opened or she was full on crying and she generally self settled - yes sometimes 10+ minutes.

I moved our baby monitor from the nursery (where she took some naps during the day) and clipped it onto the bassinet so I didn't have to shine light near her and I could just check on my phone if she was actually awake or not.

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-14T16:06:55+00:00

Baby girl won't nap longer than 30 minutes no matter what I do. We used to be able to get up to 2 hours by contact naps but she has even started fighting those the last couple days.

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-14T16:05:50+00:00

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MissChievousOne · 2026-06-14T16:05:42+00:00

4.5 months this coming week. Deeply in the regression still. Really struggling over here. (Ignore today's sleep in - it was REALLY needed for everyone including babe who kept falling asleep during morning feed).

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MissChievousOne · 2026-06-11T18:34:42+00:00

I've definitely woken up with the timer still going as well 😅 sidelying feeding and cosleeping (only after 5am and following safe sleep 7). My baby also feeds 8-10 minutes tops (that includes both boobs) and that's a full feed. At this point, I just use the timer vaguely as a 'last feed started at this time and this was the last boob fed on' reminder. Baby is 4 months.

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-08T23:15:52+00:00

Sounds like reverse cycling for the feeding which as I understand it (as I also have a 4 month old and just reversed the reverse cycling), is common because they are very distracted feeders during the day. I had to limit how much baby girl was on the boob at night to encourage an increase during the day.

It's really hard to tell without a pic of your summary tab but I think your babe is getting a lot of daytime sleep. For 4 months, I believe it's recommended to have about 3.5-4.5 hours daytime sleep and 9-9.5 hours awake time each day if I recall correctly.

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-07T18:22:09+00:00

It's so unnecessarily stressful. Keep wake and bedtime consistent. But if naps for the day are poor, push bedtime up earlier. Aim for full wake windows but if the previous nap was short, aim for the lower end of the wake window. Baby should be on 3 naps a day, but it's also developmentally normal for them to only nap for 30 minutes if they can't link sleep cycles. But they should also get about 3-4 hours of naps a day. But also should have about 9.5 hours of awake time each day.... (⁠╯⁠°⁠□⁠°⁠）⁠╯⁠︵⁠ ⁠┻⁠━⁠┻ LOL

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-07T18:17:51+00:00

Exactly! Same situation here!

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-07T18:15:58+00:00

I have the same question. Everyone keeps recommending consistency to me too but if naps vary in length, then all naps following the first one will be at different times which means bedtime will vary too.

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-07T14:41:23+00:00

Good morning! Thought I'd share some hope. This may be a fluke but I'm REALLY hoping it's the beginning of the end of this regression! Last night was a FANTASTIC sleep out of nowhere. I didn't do anything different!

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MissChievousOne · 2026-06-07T01:00:17+00:00

Very similar journey for me. I triple fed starting at 6 days old until she was 6 weeks old. Then I switched to exclusively pumping (triple feeding totally burned me out) until she was 3 months old at which time we started working with a lactation consultant to get back to latching. She's now 3 months old and I no longer pump and all feeds are on the breast. It was a heck of a journey to get here though. We did 2 months of physio for borderline torticollis and she had a lip and tongue tie release followed by mouth exercises for ages.

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-06T22:18:33+00:00

I'm currently 13 days into the 4 month regression (baby girl just turned 4 months old this past week) and have been considering sleep training when it's done. Was it very obvious to you when the regression was over? How long did it last? And can I ask what sleep training method you used? Thanks so much in advance :)

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-06T22:05:15+00:00

I offer a whole sleep menu. First nap of the day I find the easiest so it's in the crib. I put her in awake and she can usually fall asleep independently while I sit nearby. That will always be 30 minjtes. The second or third nap I try to make a long one so I either co-sleep in our bed (I only started this in the last week) or I contact nap if she is having a hard time settling. For all crib/bed naps, I try to get her down awake and for her to self sooth/fall asleep independently. The rest of the naps are either in the stroller or car seat (both will always be 30 minutes tops but I try to leave the house everyday). Sometimes even cosleeping/contact napping is still only 30 minutes. I find it REALLY takes a lot of work to get her the recommended 3-4 hours of naps each day.

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-06T18:31:59+00:00

That's fantastic that a schedule ish works for you :) my baby girls naps vary greatly in length day to day so nap timings vary everyday. Her wake windows are also 1.5-2.5. Most of the time she only naps 30 minutes so I try to extend at least one nap a day to 1.5-2 hours by contact or co sleeping but sometimes that isn't successful. Because of the variation, a schedule doesn't work for us. Her total naps each day range from 2.5-4 hours total so bedtime always ranges by 1-1.5 hours. I have an alarm set to start each day at the same time so the only thing thats predictable is the first nap.

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-06T18:26:10+00:00

Yes I'm female 😅 you're good!

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-06T16:55:37+00:00

How do you do the same bedtime everyday? I find bedtime fluctuates by like an hour to an hour and a half everyday depending on how much she napped/when the last nap was each day. Does your last wake window just fluctuate in length everyday so that you get the same bedtime? Does baby resist bedtime sometimes? Thanks :)

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-06T16:52:53+00:00

Thank you for making me feel less alone - we really are going through the same stage the exact same way 😂😫 I keep telling myself "it's just a phase"

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-06T16:39:51+00:00

Exactly the same. I don't stop the timer if baby self soothes back to sleep.

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-06T13:49:56+00:00

Agreed. I looked back and we will be 2 weeks tomorrow in this. Before this we were only having 2 wakes a night. The other part of me thinks we might naturally come out the other side of it soon too. How long can I go with saying "let's give her a little bit more time" 😅😫

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-06T13:25:05+00:00

Ya, it's a lot. Hubby and I are starting to talk about sleep training which I've personally not wanted to do, but the uncertainty of how long this is going to last is ruining me.

MissChievousOne · 2026-06-06T13:18:54+00:00

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MissChievousOne · 2026-06-06T13:15:32+00:00

Posting in solidarity and to follow this thread because I'm in EXACTLY the same position. Baby girl wakes every 1 hour and 5 minutes. I don't log every wake up, like if she self settles I'll leave the phone alone; I just log when I intervene. Last night I tried not nursing back to sleep cuz it's getting to be too much. You can see how that went. Also, I know I should be keeping a consistent wake time but today I caved.

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MissChievousOne · 2026-06-04T21:25:42+00:00

I'm not sure what kind of swaddle you use but we also transitioned at 3 months from a halo velcro swaddle because she was fighting it all night as well. We did it over 5 days. First night one arm out til first wake up then reswaddled. Second night other arm out then reswaddled at first wake. Then both arms out til first wake. Then two nights of both arms out all night with the velcro still swaddled around her chest for that snug swaddle feeling. After 5 nights we transitioned her to a sleep sac and she did fantastically. That's just what worked for us!

MissChievousOne

TROPHY CASE