4 Month Update + Sleep Schedule
The little guy is 4 months on January 6 and sleeping through the night. Making him….our favorite child! I’M KIDDING. But he’s been a dreamboat of a baby and has made the transition from 2 to 3 a hell of a lot easier than 1 to 2. Remember the post I wrote a couple years back about that total sh*t show?
My most asked question as of late is how the heck did we do it!? How did we get him sleeping through the night at such a young age? What does our daily schedule look like?
Candidly, we don’t have a strict schedule. We used Moms on Call when Bauer was a baby but if you have older children you’re setting yourself up for a lot of frustration if you try to run that tight of a ship. If you want to use Moms on Call go ahead and pull your kids out of preschool and all activities and sit in the house 24/7.
OR! You could live by a few loose guidelines to set your baby up for sleep success.
Swaddle
You need a really, really tight swaddle. This time around we swear by the Ollie. The material makes it impossible for even the sneakiest of escape artists. Make sure you follow their guidelines and position below the shoulders….not only for safety reasons, but because I think it holds tighter this way!
White Noise + Pitch Black
You need a sound machine. It should be at the top of your registry if you’re a new mom. Blast that thing for every nap and night time sleep. We like this one by Project Nursery.
Your newborn doesn’t need a nightlight. Make their room as dark as physically possible. They don’t know to be scared of the dark, yet.
Put to Sleep Awake
We keep our babies in our room in a bassinet for the first three months of their life. We move them out right at the 3-month mark and this works wonders for getting them to sleep longer. Even with a sound machine, Crichton could sense us moving around the room. It’s healthier for everyone to be in their own space. I do want to note that we follow very strict “safe sleep” guidelines. We don’t co-sleep, we don’t allow anything in their cribs. They literally don’t sleep with a stuffed animal or blanket until they are old enough to transition out of the crib completely. We don’t use the Doc-A-Tot or any other fancy sleepers. We kiss them on the cheek and place them on a flat, hard crib mattress. SWEET DREAMS!
With the first couple weeks when they are sleepy 24/7 being the only exception, we ALWAYS put them down to sleep while they are still awake. I know it’s sweet to rock a baby to sleep and then quietly try to transition them into their crib, but you’re really not helping anyone by doing that. Babies need to learn how to fall asleep on their own. If you rock your baby to sleep the first 3-6 months you can’t expect them to magically be able to fall asleep on their own when you realize you’re exhausted from the constant rocking routine.
Self-Soothe + Time
Babies need to be given the opportunity to self-soothe. It’s natural instinct (especially for mothers) to hear the tiniest bit of fussing and want to run to their crib to console. If we ran to Crichton’s room every time we heard a whimper or grunt we’d be better off rolling out a sleeping bag cribside. We don’t respond to small little whimpers…we let him work it out on his own and 9/10 times he falls back asleep. Obviously if he’s screaming bloody murder we check on him.
Routine
A lot of folks will argue the importance of a routine. We swore by that with Bauer. But again, really hard when you have other children. We used to let bath time signal bedtime, but Crichton is majorly struggling with dry skin so we only bathe him every third night. We do try to time bottles so he has a really solid 5-7 ounces right before bedtime. Beyond that, we’re not boxing ourselves in with a tight schedule.
Here’s a peek at our loose “schedule”:
7 a.m. – Crichton usually wakes up around this time. I bring him down and give him his first bottle of the day. He plays on his mat until the girls come down.
7-7:30 a.m. – the girls usually wake up between this time, but their “OK to Wake” light doesn’t come on until 7:45, so they know to play in their room quietly until then.
7: 45 a.m. – the girls have breakfast and I move Crichton to his swing so he can watch and chat with his sisters.
8:45 a.m. – if it’s a school day, we leave for drop-off and don’t get back to the house until 9:30 or so. I give Crichton a second bottle and then it’s nap time.
9:30 a.m. – bottle
9:45 a.m. – nap
11:15 a.m. – this is when it gets tricky. I have to be back at the school for Kingsley at 12:15 p.m. so I wake Crichton around 11:15 to fill his tank with some milk.
11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. – we are in the car or at the school. Kingsley’s class dismisses at 12:15, but Bauer’s goes until 1:15 p.m. It’s literally the most annoying thing in the world and so we kill time. I always have a bottle on hand, but try to hang tight until we’re home to feed him again.
1:45 p.m. – bottle and nap
4 p.m. – Crichton usually sleeps until 4. It’s nice to have this time with just the girls (they stopped napping over the summer). He has a bottle after this nap and then we do the play mat and swing routine. I don’t force it all down, because I want him to be good and hungry for the last bottle of the day.
5 p.m. – the girls eat dinner early because we go to bed early.
5:30 p.m. – bath time for the girls, and Crichton every third night. We use the bath in the nursery, so Crichton can play on the floor in his room while the girls play in the bath.
6-7 p.m. – we usually play a family game or watch a movie together to unwind. Crichton is getting his last bottle of the day during this window. Right at 7 we head up with all three kids. We take Crichton to his room first and then the girls.
All children are in their rooms, sound machines on, lights off, doors closed by 7:15 p.m.
It’s not unusual for someone to wake in the middle of the night. If it’s one of the girls it’s anything from a missing stuffed animal to a water cup refill. We always go check on them and see what they need – but no matter the ask they stay in their room. No climbing into our bed. High fevers and the stomach bug are literally the only exceptions.
Crichton still sometimes wakes for a bottle around 3 a.m. We turn the light on in the bathroom so we can keep the room as dark as possible, feed, change and re-swaddle him. We put him right back into his crib awake and let him drift off to sleep on his own. The whole routine takes 20 minutes.
I hope this is helpful. We’re not experts…but we’ve had three children, so we know a thing or two about what works and what doesn’t. Lord knows we’ve done enough of the “what doesn’t work” over the years.
And for what it’s worth – I know this isn’t for everyone and I respect parents that take another approach to sleep training…even if that means no sleep training! I get the whole “babies don’t keep…snuggle them while you can…yada yada yada.” I 100 percent cried when we moved Crichton into this own room a month ago knowing that was my last baby to sleep in a bassinet by our bed. But if I keep him in our room longer it’s more for my mom emotions than him. And that’s not fair. Putting him in his room is setting him up for healthier childhood sleep habits. And also, as much as babies don’t keep – often marriages don’t either. And we need our time together in the evenings.
Send any questions you have my way!
Photos by Alea Moore Photography.
Amanda mlinar says
Yes yes yes to all of this!! Both of my kids were great sleepers because we prioritized all of what you mentioned as well. They are now 9 and 7 and still sleep really well. Kids need sleep, parents need sleep and everyone needs their own bed. ? to all of this!!
Alex says
Did Baby C go through any sleep regression? We’re 3.5 months now and he has been sleeping through the night or at least until 4 for about a month but now all of a sudden he’s waking up at 11,1,3 and it’s killing me!
Meghan Basinger says
He hasn’t. But I’m sure he will soon enough! We definitely had our fair share with the girls.
E says
When will you stop swaddling?
Meghan Basinger says
Hi! We actually just stopped and transitioned to the Merlin’s Magic Sleepsuit.