Hello!

My little one is 4 months old and it seems to be taking me quite a long time to get her settled and content. Got any tips for me?


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  • It varies and naturally each child is different. I found a regular bedtime routine helped.


  • All babies are different and require different things. If they feel settled, they will usually go off quickly – but how to get them to settle is another thing. I found lots of cuddles and back rubs seemed to work for me. It is trial and error – but you will work it out, it’s only 4 months after all.


  • my boys are a lot older now but i used to try and put them down at the same time every night and i used to have to try and stay with them by just patting their hair and that used to make them go to sleep


  • Some babies burp easier than others, therefore they have comfortable tummies and go to sleep quicker. As they get older they are more alert to movement and noise around them. Some babies don’t like be swaddled.
    They like to be able to move their arms, some even as newborns will wriggle around until them exhaust themselves if you wrap their arms in tightly. I know 2 who slept with their arms out within 2 days of birth – asleep within 5 minutes of being put down. We have a friend whose baby started dribbling at 4 months and his parents could see the teeth in his gums but they didn’t cut for about 3 weeks after that. He is now 14 months old and has almost all his baby teeth. Heating in a baby’s room (or any room) if there is no source of moisture can cause dehydration and hayfever symptoms. We put a vase or something similar up out of reach with water in the rooms and the water gradually evaporates.


  • Skin on skin contact or a bath. Keep noise minimal and just lots of cuddles


  • Each bub is different. My eldest was a nightmare and screamed all day long. She hardly slept.
    My second bub was a dream and right from day one was sleeping 8hours though the night. They told me at the hospital that i had to wake her after 4 hours. I didnt as she was gaining weight. After having a baby that never slept to getting one that would sleep there was no way I was going to wake a sleeping baby.


  • Firstly It’s hard and you are doing a fabulous job. Trial and error, but My tip is making sure you have the right timing, baby needs to be tired but not overtired. Once overtired kicks in bedtime can become a nightmare.

    I feed my baby in our room with the lights dimmed away from our noisy and crazy boys so she can unwind and relax.

    Routine also helps… Same every night: bath(if you do it every day) massage, book/calm song, bed clothes & clean nappy, feed and bed. I also play quiet lullaby music to baby that is on the baby monitor, it cycles for about 10 minutes.


  • Remember you know your baby best and what works for one baby won’t work for another and what works one week doesn’t necessarily work the next. Babies are complex creatures and all do things in their own time. As tiring as this time is you will look back fondly of holding your little baby in the night and wonder how time passed by so quick. I’m sure you are doing a great job ????


  • Forgot to say that cluster feeding and fussy evenings is quite common


  • nope but get onto it early, my 2 yr old still doesn’t sleep through


  • 4 months old can be a tricky age. Lots of changes Bub is going through – growth spurts, more alert, their brains developing and processing more, feeding – all these impact settling for sleep. And from memory all 3 of my kids were different at that age. My eldest was great to settle once we got in a routine. After a feed of about 40 mins, I’d hold her for maybe 10 mins then put her down drowsy and she’d usually go off to sleep. My twins were different – one could take up to 2 hours of rocking, patting, feeding etc before finally sleeping, the other would settle in about 20 mins. Every Bub is different. It’s a matter of working out what works for your Bub. And I learnt with my twins, one loved being wrapped firmly – the other didn’t. At 4 months they were too old to swaddle so I had a weird sleeping bag/swaddle with no arms things. She settled so much quicker. I made sure they were fed and full, burped, nappy changed and not over stimulated – that’s one thing often overlooked. And being overtired. Good luck mumma!


  • this really does depend on the age of the baby and on the baby itself. Anywhere from 20 mins to 2 hours.


  • Sometimes an hour if I’m lucky and sometimes longer depends on the day shes having.


  • There are of course many reasons why a child can be unsettled. It can be hungry, too cold, too hot, trapped wind, have cramps or a tummy upset, have a poo, constipation or diarrhea, have reflux, it can be teething, tired, not lay comfortable or feeling lonely, the list is endless. What I always did is make a mental check of this list and see if anticipating on these issues helped. When nothing helps something bigger can be bothering your child and it could help to seek advise from a nurse or Doctor.


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