Self-soothing skills
Teaching your baby self-soothing skills and encouraging them to fall asleep independently is the best proactive approach to any sleep regression. Sucking is a reflex that helps babies feel relaxed and often leads directly to sleep, so you may notice your baby brings their hands together at the chest to seek comfort and soothing. Offer your baby a pacifier at sleeptime and encourage them to use their hands for self-soothing. Following a simple, consistent bedtime routine will help your baby learn to fall asleep independently. Your routine can be as simple as reading a story, dimming the lights, turning on a white noise machine, and putting your baby down in their crib drowsy but awake.
Supporting Baby with self-soothing
You can support your baby during this time by staying close by to offer gentle comfort as they learn to relax and go to sleep. The more experience your baby has to practice their sleep skills, the more likely they are to fall back asleep when they wake in the middle of the night. Learning to self soothe and drift off to sleep independently helps your baby better navigate their sleep cycles changes at 4 months.
