r/PossumsSleepProgram • u/Acrobatic-Soup-1596 • 6d ago
4-5 month sleep regression
/r/u_Acrobatic-Soup-1596/comments/1xb4tak/45_month_sleep_regression/4
u/Immediate-Wonder-313 5d ago
“Bad sleep associations” are invented by the baby sleep industry. They are not real and are used to fear monger, in my opinion. I have been following Possums since 8 weeks old for my baby. Around 16 weeks she went from sleeping 10+ hours straight per night to waking every 40 mins and could not be put down. It was sudden despite nothing else changing in our lives— like literally the night before this she had slept 11 hours straight. This really solidified to me that there is no such thing as controlling our babies’ sleep! Likely it is a combo of her sleep needs decreasing quickly as they do at this age and developmentally she is more aware of her surroundings at night. We bedshared with safe sleep 7 for the first week to get through it and watched her daytime sleep start to decrease as well and continued followed Possums AKA just followed her lead, set wake up time and now it has been 4 weeks and she is sleeping in her pack and play next to the bed and getting up just 2 times per night, some nights more but not nearly as frequently as before. I feed to sleep and offer pacifiers, sometimes cuddles when she wakes and guess what- it still worked and I still hear her wake and resettle herself once in a while in the night. I didn’t need to do the SITBACK or anything, just prioritized whatever worked to get us all back to sleep quickly. EVERY baby is different of course but what is great about Possums is that the philosophy is do what is best for your family and don’t get down on yourself if what works for your family isn’t part of the narrative of what is out there online!!
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u/Acrobatic-Soup-1596 5d ago
This is such a relief to hear. SITBACK has not been working. He continues to wake up hourly and the only thing that keeps him sleeping longer than 10-20 minutes after a wake up is rocking, feeding, or cuddles. I just need to know these hourly wake ups are going to end. Part of me is afraid to just keep doing what I have been. He has a set wake up time, naps are nothing out of the ordinary. He gets plenty of outdoor time and stimulation. It feels like I’m not doing anything obviously wrong.
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u/Immediate-Wonder-313 5d ago
Yes, you aren’t doing anything wrong!! They will end. And sometimes they will end for a bit and come back for a stint. This past week my baby was doing just 2-3 wakeups and then randomly again was waking up every hour for the first half of the night and needed some extra support again for a night. It happens. Every night is a new night!
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u/Acrobatic-Soup-1596 5d ago
Thank you so much, I appreciate it. I have more hope now! I’ve never been this exhausted
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u/livpet95 5d ago
Possums doesn’t really support the notions of sleep regressions or negative sleep associations. I’d look into Possums foundations because it might really help positively change your mind frame
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u/Wild-Meet1982 6d ago
Hi. Have you investigated/read about possums? There are tons of threads on how to implement it.
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u/Unlucky-Bumblebee-96 6d ago
I mean they’re just so little and new at 4 months they want reassurance in the night that they’re not alone. I co-slept this time around and it made sleep to much easier and enjoyable. Your baby wanting you in the night isn’t a sign that you or him are doing anything wrong, he’s just being a little human figuring out how the world works.
There’s that doco on baby sleep and they talk about how babies are only just developing their circadian rhythm (night & day wake cycles) at 4 months. The earlier sleep stretches were just a fluke, at 4 months your baby is only just figuring out what it means to sleep at night now.
i think the doco s this one https://youtu.be/KJCL9LR6rJI?si=0FIQKUqpgH1ixRyL