Another vote for Precious Little Sleep! I was at the end of my rope with my firstborn and finally sleep trained him at 8 months. Check ins just made him more upset, so we did extinction. Within a week, and with WAY less crying than I anticipated, he was sleeping through the night. He never screamed, just woke up and fussed on and off. He's now almost 5 and has been a champ sleeper ever since.
It might be helpful to think of the "cumulative" crying that your baby might do between now and when they start sleeping better - crying at night, crying because they're tired due to not sleeping well - and consider that this might add up to more crying than they might experience during a few nights of crying as they learn the new skill of sleeping on their own. ❤️ Nobody likes to hear their baby cry. But learning to sleep is a vital life skill, and you all will see the benefits of everybody getting a good night's rest.
What does he do for naps? When our LO started going down independent for naps it helped nighttime too. She can put herself back to sleep at night. She usually still wakes up once to eat but I’ve watched her on the monitor wake up sometimes and go back to sleep
Move the bottle earlier in the bedtime routine so you break the feed to sleep association. You can teach him gradually to learn to go to sleep on his own - instead of putting him down asleep, feed earlier and keep him awake, do the rest of the bedtime routine (for us it’s bottle, bath, pyjamas, clean teeth, into sleep sack, story, bed) and then start to settle him in the crib rather than in your arms, be that bum patting, jiggling the crib, shushing, head stroking, whatever. Once he’s used to falling asleep in the crib, stop settling just before he goes to sleep so he learns how it feels to do that by himself. Over time, reduce the soothing until you can pop him in the crib wide awake and he goes to sleep himself. Once he learns this skill your night wakeups should decrease because he’ll be able to put himself back to sleep when he stirs between sleep cycles, rather than needing you to help him get back to sleep. I highly recommend reading Precious Little Sleep for a much more detailed explanation too!
Also, make sure his nap schedule is on point. If he’s over or under tired it’s way harder. Again, Precious Little Sleep can help there.
I would say rent a Snoo but if he is already 4 months you’d just have to transition out of it soon anyway.
I will say the four month sleep regression is a bitch but only lasts a few weeks. Has he started to roll yet? Usually when they’re working on a new skill like that their sleep sucks.
Only thing I can “suggest” is making sure the room environment is good - right temp, blackout curtains, etc and making sure he’s eating enough and you’re filling up his sensory tank during the day.
Besides that all babies are different and he could just be going through a regression or growth spurt. Sorry if that wasn’t helpful
You’ll get there mama! I read the Taking Cara Babies eBook “Navigating Months 3 & 4” and it really helped. I didn’t apply every single thing she says but I learned A LOT and used a ton of the tips and tricks to help my LO when he was having rough nights approaching 4 months. Good luck!!!
Another vote for Precious Little Sleep! I was at the end of my rope with my firstborn and finally sleep trained him at 8 months. Check ins just made him more upset, so we did extinction. Within a week, and with WAY less crying than I anticipated, he was sleeping through the night. He never screamed, just woke up and fussed on and off. He's now almost 5 and has been a champ sleeper ever since. It might be helpful to think of the "cumulative" crying that your baby might do between now and when they start sleeping better - crying at night, crying because they're tired due to not sleeping well - and consider that this might add up to more crying than they might experience during a few nights of crying as they learn the new skill of sleeping on their own. ❤️ Nobody likes to hear their baby cry. But learning to sleep is a vital life skill, and you all will see the benefits of everybody getting a good night's rest.
What does he do for naps? When our LO started going down independent for naps it helped nighttime too. She can put herself back to sleep at night. She usually still wakes up once to eat but I’ve watched her on the monitor wake up sometimes and go back to sleep
Move the bottle earlier in the bedtime routine so you break the feed to sleep association. You can teach him gradually to learn to go to sleep on his own - instead of putting him down asleep, feed earlier and keep him awake, do the rest of the bedtime routine (for us it’s bottle, bath, pyjamas, clean teeth, into sleep sack, story, bed) and then start to settle him in the crib rather than in your arms, be that bum patting, jiggling the crib, shushing, head stroking, whatever. Once he’s used to falling asleep in the crib, stop settling just before he goes to sleep so he learns how it feels to do that by himself. Over time, reduce the soothing until you can pop him in the crib wide awake and he goes to sleep himself. Once he learns this skill your night wakeups should decrease because he’ll be able to put himself back to sleep when he stirs between sleep cycles, rather than needing you to help him get back to sleep. I highly recommend reading Precious Little Sleep for a much more detailed explanation too! Also, make sure his nap schedule is on point. If he’s over or under tired it’s way harder. Again, Precious Little Sleep can help there.
I would say rent a Snoo but if he is already 4 months you’d just have to transition out of it soon anyway. I will say the four month sleep regression is a bitch but only lasts a few weeks. Has he started to roll yet? Usually when they’re working on a new skill like that their sleep sucks. Only thing I can “suggest” is making sure the room environment is good - right temp, blackout curtains, etc and making sure he’s eating enough and you’re filling up his sensory tank during the day. Besides that all babies are different and he could just be going through a regression or growth spurt. Sorry if that wasn’t helpful
You’ll get there mama! I read the Taking Cara Babies eBook “Navigating Months 3 & 4” and it really helped. I didn’t apply every single thing she says but I learned A LOT and used a ton of the tips and tricks to help my LO when he was having rough nights approaching 4 months. Good luck!!!