The 4 Month Sleep Transformation - What You Need to Know

You’ll often hear the word “Regression” used to describe this change in infant sleep. It is in fact, a positive & very important development in sleep maturity/your little ones’ development, rather than a setback/regression.

However, like any transformation, it can raise some challenges whilst everything shifts & falls into place.

Your newborn’s sleep with transform during this time, shifting from the unique sleep pattern of a newborn of only sleeping in 2 stages of sleep - active & quiet sleep, into the 4 stages of sleep - NREM stage 1 (nonrapid eye movement), NREM stage 2, NREM stage 3, REM (rapid eye movement) sleep; which continues right through adulthood (*If you really want to learn more about sleep science overall: The Sleep Doctor is a reputable resource.) I’ll let the experts in this arena take the lead here.

There is actually no scientific evidence that this transformation will impact sleep, however, most parents (including myself) state that they were impacted in one way or another whilst this transformation takes place.

Your newborn will now start to sleep through even more sleep cycles, waking in between each (we all wake between our sleep cycles - we've just mastered how to do it), which is new to them & a skill they need to adjust to & learn. This is a huge change for them. They need & deserve the time to adapt.

This is where establishing some solid Sleep Foundations can really help to support your newborn & hopefully, make this time a little easier on the whole family.

"Sleep Foundations", are:

• Establishing a gentle routine

• Understanding your little ones’ wake windows & sleep cues

• Being consistent with your gentle routine

• Creating an optimized sleep environment

Please Remember - this is a permanent change in your little one's sleep development so you all only go through it once.

To help reduce the impact to everyone's sleep & the amount of time it lasts; be consistent, introduce a gentle/age appropriate routine & as always, centre everything around trust, love & connection