4 month old sleep PLEASE HELP 🩷🩷🩷

My 4 month old is exclusively breast fed. He won’t take a dummy or bottle. We have been contact napping (he will nap for 1 hour on me mostly and then has one 2 hour nap) and co-sleeping but I now want to stop co-sleeping and reduce the contact naps.

Around 1-3 times a week for the past 2-3 weeks he will have his first nap of the day in the bassinet or next to me crib (I will breastfeed him, transfer while drowsy but awake, rock him and shhhh him to sleep). This worked - he would moan a little for around 10 mins but not cry and would sleep for around 30 mins.

This week all independent naps have been unsuccessful - I have not changed anything but he won’t sleep and then becomes overtired. So I give in and nurse him to sleep as I just want him to sleep.

Night time he wakes 6-11 times and it’s exhausting, he wants to feed to sleep each time. If I don’t nurse him and try rock him / shhh him / tap him he will cry and then it takes 1 hour plus+ to sleep. I am exhausted, I have no other support apart from my partner. He leaves for work at 5 am and gets home at 6.30pm. I am the only one who can get my baby to sleep and it’s exhausting. I feel like a shell of my former self and just want some time to be able to do normal things!

He will fall asleep on a walk in the pram or carrier too.

Also, last week his day time sleep was a lot less as we were out a lot of the day but he only woke at 1am!!!!! There was no change other than reduced nap time during the day but all the guidance online stayed less daytime sleep leads to worse night time sleep.

Any help is GREATLY appreciated please! I am at my wits end. I’m considering hiring a sleep coach as I don’t know what else to do but money is tight and I DO NOT want to do any cry it out at all!!

Thank you! Xxx

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Sounds like the 4 month sleep regression to me! Just got to battle through it as best you can, it's rough but there is an end to it! My little dude jumped almost straight from the 4 month regression into the 6 month sleep regression with only a couple weeks in between where he slept okay! And he started the 4 month regression at 3.5 months lol, finished at 5.5 months then 6 month sleep regression at bang on 6 months 😅 it's a rough ride but there's a light at the end of the tunnel! All the best to you and little one!

I agree its a 4 months sleep regression. We are co sleeping too and having only contact nap. So i would just continue to do that.
We had the same. Nighttime was okay, but naps are horrible even in carriers too. Then we had teething what we didn't realise (we thought another sleep regression, but no) and we are waiting the 6 months sleep regression.

I also walk with him and loudly say a breathing technique. (Deep inhale through the nose. Keep 3 counts and breath out through the mouth) And it makes me and him calm.

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