BABY
How to Sleep Train a 4-Month-Old
Is it time to sleep train your baby? Here’s everything you need to know about sleep-training your 4-month-old.
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Happiest Baby Staff
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BABY
Scritto da
Happiest Baby Staff
CONDIVIDI QUESTO ARTICOLO
Bestseller
If you’re bleary-eyed, sleep-deprived, and ready for longer night sleeps, sleep training might be on your mind. But before you dive into sleep training your 4-month-old, it’s important to know how long you can realistically expect your baby sleep—and what sleep training strategies are actually age-appropriate. And if you’re on the fence about sleep-training your 4-month-old, know that sleep training is not for every family! Keep reading for all sorts of helpful sleep tips and to see if sleep training is right for you and your 4-month-old.
It can be! While all 4-month-olds are different, babies are usually developmentally ready for sleep training sometime between 4 and 6 months old. This is the age range when babies’ sleep cycles begin to mature and their natural circadian rhythm starts to kick in. Plus, 4-month-olds likely are not yet reliant on rocking or nursing to get to sleep.
Yes, you can sleep train a 4-month-old! But before you do, it’s important to understand what “sleeping through the night” actually looks like for a 4-month-old baby. It might not be what you think—or hope—it is!
At 4 months old, your baby can likely manage to sleep for at least 6 hours without needing to wake up for a feed. But just because your baby is now capable of this feat, doesn’t mean they won’t wake throughout the night anymore! For instance, if your baby nods off without a full belly, they can’t help but rouse themselves in the middle of the night for some nutrition. In fact, even at 6 months, roughly 38% of babies aren't getting 6-hour stretches of shuteye. (If your baby is waking every hour, follow this key advice from Dr. Harvey Karp.)
Most sleep training strategies take about a week or so to implement, but it can definitely take longer depending on your method, consistency, and your baby’s personality and needs. If you’ve been trying unsuccessfully to sleep train your 4-month-old for two weeks, consider taking a pause and examining the reasons your baby might be resisting sleep training.
To set your baby up for sleep-training success, it’s best to avoid sleep training your 4-month-old during a chaotic period at home. That means, hold off sleep-training if…
Many new parents assume that sleep training means “cry it out”, but sleep training a 4-month-old doesn’t have to involve crying it out. Pediatrician Dr. Harvey Karp’s favorite gentle sleep training method is called the wake-and-sleep sleep training method. With this approach, you literally wake your sleeping baby up to sleep train them! While waking a snoozing baby seems counterintuitive, rest assured that those few seconds of drowsy waking—without being held or nursed—are your baby’s first steps to understanding that they can self-soothe—and sleep through the night!
Here’s how to use the wake-and-sleep method with your 4-month-old:
Step 1: Swaddle your baby—unless they’re able to roll! It’s no longer safe to swaddle a baby arms-down once they can roll, unless they’re safely secured in SNOO, which prevents risky rolling. (Learn more about when to stop swaddling.) Turn on rough and rumbly white noise, making it as loud as a shower. The womb-like hug and noise helps to activate your bub’s calming reflex, which is their “off switch” for fussing and “on switch” for sleep. (That’s why these sensations are part of the 5 S’s for soothing babies!)
Step 2: Feed and burp your swaddled baby and offer a dummy post-feed. Sucking is another proven baby-calmer.
Step 3: Chances are your baby will fall asleep in your arms. That’s fine! Simply lay your snoozer in their bassinet, safely on their back.
Step 4: Softly tickle your sleeping baby’s feet to gently rouse them until their eyes barely open.
Step 5: After a few seconds, your 4-month-old will close their eyes and drift off to sleep again. If your baby is swaddled and shushed—and their tummy is full—they should be able to fall back to sleep fairly easily.
If your baby resists slumber, crank the white noise up a little louder and jiggle the bassinet for a few seconds to help them along. But if crying persists, pick your baby up to feed or soothe them to sleep…and then start over again by waking them with a gentle touch.
The wake-and-sleep method is Dr. Harvey Karp’s go-to gentle sleep training strategy, but there are other sleep training techniques that may work for your family. Here are some of the most well-known sleep training methods:
“The Chair.” Put your freshly fed, burped, and changed baby into their bassinet drowsy, but awake, with the rumbly white noise already on…and then take a seat! “The Chair” sleep training method required you sit next to your baby’s bassinet until they fall asleep. But if your baby cries after you’ve left, you must return to sit and wait again. While you are not supposed to pick up your baby, you can offer gentle verbal reassurances. Every few nights, gradually move your chair closer to the door until you finally leave the room.
“Pick-Up, Put Down.” Turn on the white noise, feed, burp, and change your baby before placing them in their cot awake. If your 4-month-old cries or fusses, quietly shush them, lay a hand on—or pat—their belly, or even pick them. The key here is to soothe your baby just enough so that they settle—then promptly put them back into their cot and skedaddle out of the room. Repeat this routine each time your baby cries. (This is also called the “shush, pat” sleep training method.)
Ferber Method. For this sleep training method, you still want to turn on white noise, feed, burp, and change your baby before placing them in the cot awake. Leave the room, but if your baby cries, return to check on them at specific, graduated intervals—without picking them up. For example, if your little one cries, return to them in 3 minutes to shush and comfort them with a gentle pat or an “I love you” and “good night” (no picking up), then swiftly leave. If your baby continues to cry, return after 5 minutes…with the time between each check-in getting longer. This is also known as “graduated extinction” or the check-and-console method.
“Cry it out.” Also known as the “extinction” method, “cry it out” tends to be a last resort method for babies who struggle to settle when their parents intervene. With what’s known as the “full extinction” approach, you let your little one fall asleep without any interventions. Start by turning on rumbly white noise. Feed, burp, and changing your baby—then place them in their cot or bassinet drowsy, but awake. Offer some loving words, but make a quick exit out of the room whether they’re settled or not, which means letting them cry until they doze off, not returning until their next feeding or morning. Understandably, this approach is difficult for many parents, so families often instead opt instead for a “graduated extinction” approach, like the Ferber method, where they’re still checking on and offering some reassurance to their baby through the night.
While all babies are different, bedtime for 4- to 8-month-olds often starts around 7 to 9pm. When your baby passes the 4-month mark, they’re likely still clocking 12 to 16 hours of sleep daily—and starting each morning between 6 and 8am. Babies this age can either be napping two or three times a day, totaling 3 to 5 hours of daytime ZZZs. (Learn more about your baby’s first-year sleep schedule.)
Newborns, 4-month-olds, toddlers...all babies and big kids thrive on predictable routines. That means when you establish (and follow) the same reassuring bedtime routine every night, you’re setting your little one up for sleepytime success, which includes being able to go night-night on their own. Here’s what your 4-month-old’s bedtime routine should look like:
If after you go through your soothing bedtime routine, your baby still fights falling asleep for 30 to 60 minutes—and/or shows no sign of fatigue at bedtime—their bedtime may be too early. Try pushing your whole nighty-night routine 15 minutes later every two to three nights to land on your baby’s ideal bedtime.
While the 3- to 4-month sleep regression is not a given, it is definitely something many families go through. That means, it’s important to not only be aware of the 4-month-sleep regression, but to prepare, too. Here’s what you need to know:
To achieve sleep-training success, babies need a safe sleep space, a full tummy, and they need to feel safe and secure. Your sweet cuddles and loving voice work wonders to help your baby feel secure…and so do a few key reminders of their time in the womb, like a…
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