4 Month Old Baby Sleep

How your newborn sleeps

When a newborn falls asleep, she immediately goes into deep sleep. Newborns spend a lot of their time in deep sleep, which is why it is hard to wake them up (even to eat!) in those early days. But, that begins to change.

4 month old baby sleeps (and sometimes as early as 3 months)...

We all cycle in and out of deep and light sleep and as adults, we might change positions, look at the clock, or reposition our pillow. Up until now, maybe you have rocked your baby or simply given him a pacifier and he slept for hours without waking up. But, at 3 or 4 months old, your baby develops and is now sleeping more like an adult. Now when she falls asleep, instead of entering deep sleep immediately, she enters lighter sleep, first. That's why once you have her asleep, and put her down, she is likely to wake up because she isn't in her deep sleep, yet.

When does your 4 month old enter deep sleep?

In the beginning of the night, your baby will enter deep sleep relatively quickly, within 30 minutes (this changes as we get older). But, we all cycle in and out of light and deep sleep and a baby's sleep cycle is about 45-50 minutes. So, your baby will briefly awaken 45-50 minutes after she has been asleep. To put that in perspective, if you are holding your baby to sleep, you would need to hold her for at least 30 minutes to make sure she's in deep sleep and then she might wake up 15 minutes later. This might sound familiar.

Overall, your baby's deepest sleep is in the early part of the night, so after that first sleep cycle, she might sleep just fine for a few hours. So, you might think all you have to do is hold her for an hour. Wrong!

How does your 4 month old sleep the rest of the night?

The literal definition of "sleeping through the night" is 5 hours of sleep with no feedings. The beginning of the night is your baby's deepest sleep and after the first 5 hours (if not sooner, depending on the baby), he will cycle between light and deep sleep, but not as deep as the beginning of the night. This is where the problem of sleep associations really come into play. If your baby needs your help to go to sleep in the beginning of the night, sometime after midnight or so, he will continue to need your help every 1 or 2 sleep cycles (that means every 45 to 90 minutes or as I often hear, every 1-2 hours).

Between 4-6 a.m., roughly, is the lightest sleep of the whole night and many parents complain their baby is up for the day during this time, but this is untrue. In the very early morning hours (about 30 minutes to an hour before waking up), he will again go into the very deep sleep, again.

Although babies commonly wake up early, you need to be sure it is truly their time to wake up and not just this lighter sleep and they just having trouble sleeping. You might notice they want a "nap" just 30 or so minutes after "waking up". What you experienced was a night waking, not starting the day.

So, how do I help my 4 month old sleep through the night?

This can be one of the most challenging parts of parenting for some. There are many full-length books out there outlining a variety of methods, but it's daunting when you don't have the time, energy or you are just too sleep-deprived to focus on a 300-page book (let alone 3 or 4 of them all saying something different). Your options are not just cry-it-out or not or just living this way. You may want to read just a few targeted articles on baby sleep (be sure to get their free guide, 5 Ways to Help Your Child Sleep Through the Night), or you may be interested in a shorter e-book that gives detailed step-by-step instructions to improve your baby's sleep.

Unfortunately, many babies rarely outgrow their sleep problems, so simply ignoring the issue can result in a lifetime of sleep deprivation issues. These types of issues have been linked to obesity, depression, behavior problems, and other health issues (not to mention the stress on you as a parent). The bottom line is that getting good sleep is not just for creating a "pampered" lifestyle - it's about creating a foundation for good health now.