Q: My 4-month-old's sleep has gotten worse. He wakes frequently at night and has short naps. What can I do to help him sleep better?

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Question: My 4-month-old baby is suddenly not sleeping well. He was previously sleeping for 8-hour stretches, but now he's waking frequently at night and needs at least one feeding. He doesn't truly settle until around 5 a.m. and then sleeps until 9 a.m.

His daytime wake windows are roughly 1.5 hours, 2.5 hours, 2 hours, and then 3 hours before bed. His naps are short and usually require contact or motion. We aim for an 8 p.m. bedtime, but he always wakes up 30 minutes later if he falls asleep before midnight. He is taking about 30 oz of milk in 24 hours. We can't sleep train right now because of a weight gain concern.

I know this might be the 4-month sleep regression, but is there anything we can adjust to help him?

Answer: That sounds really tough, the 4-month regression is so hard. The wake-up 30 minutes after bedtime can sometimes point to being overtired, and a 3-hour wake window might be a little long for his age. I wonder if it might help to experiment with shortening that last window to 2-2.5 hours? Just a thought to see if it changes anything with the "false starts."

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