Sleep regression. It’s something that most new parents fear and for those who’ve already experienced it, it can feel like living in a constant state of jet lag. Sleep regression is something that occurs around the four-month mark but it can also rear its ugly head again and again over the first year or so of the baby’s development.
A 4 month sleep regression may mean refer to the phenomenon where your once-sleeping baby suddenly doesn’t sleep well at night or in the day. This might be multiple wake-ups throughout the nice, crying at uncommon times and even fighting themselves from falling asleep.
As a parent, you’re likely already exhausted so coping with sleep regression can feel like you’re on auto pioilet mode and no amount of coffee is helping. Here are some helpful tips on how to cope with sleep regression for the first time as a parent.
Stick to your routine
While it might feel like the routine that you’ve had going well for you for a while has been thrown out the window – stick with it. While it might be hard for your baby to fall asleep, having that routine still in place will help them find that much-needed sleep a lot quicker.
Instilling strong sleep habits can also be a great way to reduce sleep regressions from occurring. Not that it will rid sleep regression completely, but it’s helpful to have incorporated a proper sleep routine for your baby from the beginning.
It’s never too late to start the sleep routine so try to get this in motion even if you’re in the midst of a sleep regression. Bring that familiarity and sense of security that you need to help cement the routine back into their minds.
Create a relaxing environment for sleep
It;’s important that you’re creating a relaxing environment when they’re sleeping or trying to sleep. By being too loud within the space or being in a room where there are a lot of distractions and disruptions is only going to make the sleep regression worse.
If the environment they are in, is no longer as effective, then it’s worth considering what you can add to the space in order to make it more relaxing. From the temperature to the darkness of the room, these are all important elements that you can manipulate in order to set the right environment for the baby to fall asleep in.
Provide plenty of daytime stimulation
It’s important that you’re providing your baby with plenty of daytime stimulation because the reason they may not be doing well with their sleep currently is that they’re too wide awake.
Even when it comes to babies, they need to have plenty of stimulation both physically and mentally in order to find it easy enough to fall asleep.
Whether that’s visiting your local zoo or having a play date with friends, it’s important to ensure you’re getting plenty of daytime stimulation into your child. That way, they’re going to be more tired and willing to fall asleep as a result.
If you’re experiencing sleep regression currently, ramp up that activity and stimulation time during the day. Use that time to develop and grow their motor skills and language skills. Work on your baby’s ability to crawl so that they will knacker themselves out.
Invest in blackout blinds if possible
Blackout blinds are definitely something you want to invest in where possible. When it comes to blackout blinds, make sure you’re looking for those that have a thermal option. This can be great when you’re wanting to keep the temperature cool or alternatively, warm enough so that they can sleep easily.
Darkness is an important part of setting a relaxed environment for the baby to sleep in. When they’ve got a dark room, they’re more likely to fall asleep naturally than needing to be rocked or soothed to sleep.
Understand your baby’s sleep cues
Your baby’s cues are something you’ll come to understand more as you spend more time with them every day. Before long, you’ll know what cues indicate them feeling tired, hungry, in pain or uncomfortable.
It’s useful to know what your baby’s sleep cues are, even in the midst of a sleep regression. Try not to put your baby to bed if they’re already overtired and upset. It’s best to soothe them and calm them down before attempting to put them into bed.
Typical sleepy cues include:
- Yawning
- Pulling ears
- Rubbing their eyes
- Turning away or avoiding eye contact
- Fussiness
Keep their room and body temperature cool
As mentioned already, creating the right sleeping environment is important and one way to help improve that is by keeping the room and the baby’s body temperature cool enough but warm enough that they sleep softly.
Keeping the room cool can be done by checking the temperature of the room with a thermometer. If it’s too hot, then you’ll want to cool the room by opening windows and if it’s too cold, be sure to crank up the thermostat.
You can also control the baby’s body temperature by dressing them in the appropriate sleepwear. You can both add or remove layers depending on how warm or cold they may be.
Use white noise to drown out any other distracting sounds
Finally, to help with noise problems that might be waking your baby up like your dog barking or noise coming from outside, use a white noise machine. This is a great way to drown out any other distracting sounds and white noise is known to be a calming sound for babies to listen to as they drift off to sleep.
It’s worth keeping this noise machine on in the background so that if you need to keep them asleep for longer, it’s hopefully going to be effective in avoiding sleep regression from occurring.
Coping with sleep regression is tough but with these tips, you might find that you’re able to reduce the occurrence of this regression over the course of a year or two.
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