https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 15 Jun 2026 15:12:07 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-regressiongrowth-spurt-and-feedings#post-1996613 Tue, 23 Dec 2014 21:07:34 +0000 catomd00 1996613@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@SweetiePie: my best advice is follow your instinct. Don't worry about what others are doing and don't worry about the possibility of a future problem. Seems silly to waste energy worrying about something that might not even happen! I totally get where you're coming from when it suddenly changes though. The best thing I did was not expect consistency and to just survive the bad nights and enjoy the good ones. It's made it all much more manageable. Accepting that sleep for the first 1-2 years is going to be inconsistent was great because it allowed me to stop trying to figure out what was "wrong" and how to fix it. Good luck! This will pass! Soon you will be annoyed at having to rip them out of their bed in the morning for school! Enjoy the snuggles for now. ;) and don't forget the coffee!!!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-regressiongrowth-spurt-and-feedings#post-1996350 Tue, 23 Dec 2014 17:56:47 +0000 SweetiePie 1996350@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@catomd00: thank you! Yes the first night I was borderline angry that he was waking so much. But I think it was because it came on so quickly and I wasn't expecting it. He slept so perfectly the night before. Now I have the expectation that he will wake up at least 3 times so just knowing it'll happen makes it easier to deal with. I guess I'm just not sure how long my patience will last :-) Im so exhausted and it's only been 5 nights of this. 2 months?!?! Oh my.<br /> And I guess I referred to it as caving since 2 other moms in my moms group (IRL, not on HB) somehow are not feeding for these sudden night wakings, since they knew hey we're capable of not eating. And what I've read a few places is to avoid picking up and creating new habits/crutches.<br /> To me though, although I am afraid of what this means long term, I agree that I just need to do what I have to to survive. And if he seems hungry I just feel bad withholding food and I get to sleep so much sooner by just feeding him. :-)</p> <p>Thanks for the input! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-regressiongrowth-spurt-and-feedings#post-1996297 Tue, 23 Dec 2014 17:11:09 +0000 catomd00 1996297@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I fed/rocked/did whatever it took to get her back to sleep as quickly as possible. It lasted 2 long months but eventually ended! I guess I see it differently - I don't consider tending to babies needs as "caving". If he didn't need to eat he wouldn't wake up and want to eat. But, I have let go of any expectations of consistent sleep and just roll with it. You'll go through many more "regressions" when teethinh, milestones hit, separation anxiety, etc. once I let go of my expectations, it got easier to accept and deal with.</p> <p>Oh and once it ended my dd went right back to putting herself to sleep, etx so it didn't create "bad habits". </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-regressiongrowth-spurt-and-feedings#post-1996269 Tue, 23 Dec 2014 16:39:25 +0000 SweetiePie 1996269@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@anandam: I am worried about the bottle in the MOTN, picking up, rocking, etc becoming necessary for him to go back to sleep. "Habits" if you will. He never really needed those things before. I slowly weaned him from one MOTN feeding and he dropped the 2nd one himself. So I know he didn't need it. Now maybe he needs them again if it's a spurt. But I'm wondering if I will have to go through the entire weaning process again, or if it's possible that he will go right back to the great sleeper he was before.<br /> I know it's impossible to say for sure. Every baby is different. But I was looking for some others' experiences. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-regressiongrowth-spurt-and-feedings#post-1996175 Tue, 23 Dec 2014 15:32:09 +0000 LBee 1996175@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@SweetiePie: He's 18 weeks. This has been going on since 16 weeks on the nose. Definitely wall me if you need to vent. It's really hard having the sleep suddenly gone, but I can say it's been getting better slowly. We now have some nights of STTN again - I truly believe there is an end in sight, we just have to suffer through. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-regressiongrowth-spurt-and-feedings#post-1996165 Tue, 23 Dec 2014 15:27:38 +0000 anandam 1996165@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Maybe I'm missing something here, but what are you afraid to ruin? He's waking up on his own, right? So that phase of STTN is already over, no need to continue trying to preserve it. In periods of frequent waking I've found it much less stressful not to assume we're in some sort of power struggle or treat his wakings like an invasion of my peace.</p> <p>So yes, I'd give him whatever helps soothe him back to sleep, and not worry so much about whether he "should" be able to soothe himself or "should" be hungry yet or whatever other thing. He's a baby. Treating him like one is okay in my book. And yes, his sleep still goes through cycles of more and less all the time for all sorts of reasons, some known and some not. Often he'll reach a motor milestone in the middle of what seemed like a "bad" sleep stretch, so it's really a celebration. At 7 months I'm just used to the mystery of it, I guess. I just try to trust him. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-regressiongrowth-spurt-and-feedings#post-1995656 Tue, 23 Dec 2014 10:51:52 +0000 SweetiePie 1995656@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@LBee: thank you for the response! It even helps to know that I'm not the only one experiencing it. How old is your LO? If you need to vent at all before this is over, wall me :-)</p> <p>I am also "binking" him a few times until it is just obvious that it won't work. It has worked to get an extra 30-60 mins out of him a couple of times. But usually he is all hangry and ragey by the 3rd bink so I just give in and feed. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-regressiongrowth-spurt-and-feedings#post-1995570 Tue, 23 Dec 2014 10:11:48 +0000 LBee 1995570@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are dealing with same thing. He had been sleeping through the night for 6+ weeks and suddenly he's waking up for a feed. My googling and research indicates it's typical and that it should go back to normal. We tried some sleep training bit it didn't work - which indicated to me he was really hungry. We do paci three times then feed.</p> <p>Hang in there! And full disclosure, my son got in bed with us last night - I figure it's survival mode right now. I'm sick and need some sleep! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/4-month-regressiongrowth-spurt-and-feedings#post-1995553 Tue, 23 Dec 2014 10:04:50 +0000 SweetiePie 1995553@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hi all, quick explanation first but you can skip to my question at the bottom.<br /> ETA: I'm sure there are similar threads on this topic but I'm on my phone and can't search archives. So if anyone has one feel free to share. Thanks! </p> <p>My baby boy is 15 weeks today and I'm pretty sure that last week we hit the "4 month sleep regression"/growth spurt/wonder week. He JUST started sleeping through the night with no feedings - I did some very light weaning but he stopped waking for feedings before I was even close to being done. I thought we'd have another month or so of one night feeding, so I was pleasantly surprised when he stopped on his own. Since then I would just pop in the paci a couple times and he was fine, 7pm-7am. That lasted for 5 days. Then suddenly he is a madman with all of the Classic "symptoms" of the regression/spurt/wonderweek.<br /> Of course it's also happening while I'm staying in the same room as him in my parents house (yes, I've tjought maybe that's related - but I really think it's a spurt of some sort, physical or mental, based on what I've read). The first night here we had his best night yet - not a single wake up, not even for a paci. My feet didn't touch the ground once that night and it was GLORIOUS. That might be why the 2nd night, when he woke up 4 times and stayed awake an hour or more each time, made me feel like a madwoman. I thought we had hit the magical, true STTN phase and then WHAM! </p> <p>So, my question is - during the 4 month regression OR spurts, did you give in and feed at night even if your LO had stopped night feedings? What about other soothing mechanisms if you were trying not to pick up/Rock before? If you caved, how did it impact the future? He was a really great sleeper until a week ago and I'm afraid that this week(s) will ruin him. </p> <p>My first night I held strong and didn't feed and barely picked up because I was convinced it was just a bad night and I didn't want to make him dependent on the bottle or rocking again. I knew he could sttn without feeding so I fought it. And it kept my entire family up who had to work the next day. So the next night when he woke early again and couldn't be comforted I caved and fed him. He still woke up multiple times after that. Didnt feed though. Each night since I have fed him twice. I feel like we have taken an enormous leap backward because he hasnt eaten twice during the night for over a month. But I don't want to keep the house up AND if he is in a spurt I feel bad denying him food.<br /> Additionally, both because I'm tired and because I don't want him to wake my family, I am going against all of the hard work I put in to let him self soothe. He can still be put down for bed or naps drowsy but awake. But during naps and night he is waking multiple times and I am running over and putting the paci in right away and often times picking him up and rocking him because I don't want a scream fest like the first night. A couple of times I laid down in bed with him because I was so tired I was afraid Id drop him on the wood floor from the rocker. I've NEVER had him in my bed before. I haven't picked him up or had to rock him practically since he was born! I used to pop in the paci, rub his head, and that was good enough. Now he just screams if he wakes enough to realize I'm in the room.<br /> I know this is 10% question and 90% rant. But I really am looking to see if anyone else caved for feeding and soothing, and if it created habits you had to break later.<br /> Or, someone to just tell me that this will be over soon and I'll have a happy sleeping baby again. </p>