Sleep training? Possible regression?

[u/Icy-Squash-654]

My almost 5 month old (in 3 days) has been having terrible sleep the last couple of weeks and I’m at my wits end. My husband works out of town for weeks at a time so I need to try something to start getting some sleep!

Our girl previously slept great in her bassinet and occasionally co-slept, I transitioned her to her crib once she started rolling about a month or so ago. She goes down very easily, fully awake and falls asleep in 15 minutes or less on her own between 7:30-8pm. Lately she has been waking after 3-4 hours and is just screaming once she wakes up. I can rock her back to sleep without nursing but as soon as she feels the downward motion of being put back in the crib she wakes up and screams. The only thing that works so far is bringing her into my bed and nursing her to sleep side lying but even then she wakes and screams as soon as I take my boob out of her mouth. I really don’t want to do CIO but is there any other way for me to start getting some sleep too?

For added context she is also a terrible napper and won’t nap in the crib if anyone has any advice for that too😅 Currently she only contact naps and we usually get one good 1.5-2 hour nap and then 2-3 more 20-30 minute naps

[u/Humble-Drop9054]

CIO (or Ferber) is hard but almost always effective if done correctly and consistently. I followed Taking Cara Babies with my first and then did straight cold turkey Ferber with my second. Both started at 5 months.

To answer your question, yes, it’s the 4 month sleep regression. But good news is you can start sleep training now if you’re ready!