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The Daily Insight

Why does my 4 month old thrashing around at night?

Author

Daniel Foster

Published Apr 02, 2026

Why does my 4 month old thrashing around at night?

The 4-month sleep regression may be happening because: Your baby is trying to master rolling or flipping over. In her eagerness to hit this milestone, your baby is waking up more overnight and having a hard time settling down for naptime and bedtime. Your baby is becoming more aware of her surroundings.

Why does my baby not sleep past 4am?

Assuming your baby’s circadian rhythm is scheduling a 7 am wake up, then her body starts to secrete cortisol three hours prior to that. At this point, the melatonin production has ceased for the night. So baby hits the (natural and normal) end of a sleep cycle around 4 am.

When should I worry about a sleepy baby?

Chronic sleepiness, though, can sometimes be a cause for concern. If your newborn is regularly sleeping for more than 17 hours a day and is interfering with her ability to eat at least eight times per day, you should let your pediatrician know. Frequently missing meals could hurt her weight gain and growth.

Why do I keep waking up at 4am?

For those of us who are waking up at odd times in the morning, more often than not, it’s at the same time every day – sometime around 4am or 5am. This could be because of the simultaneous rise in cortisol levels and the brain’s processing of emotional material early in the morning.

Why does my baby wake up crying hysterically?

“Babies will cry when they feel hunger, discomfort, or pain,” Linda Widmer, MD, a pediatrician at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Illinois, told POPSUGAR. “They can also cry when they are overtired or frightened.” Another reason babies might wake up crying hysterically is if they have skin irritation.

How do I know if my 4-month old has sleep regression?

Symptoms

  1. Your baby may wake more often at night or sleep more restlessly3
  2. Your baby may be extra hungry and fussy.
  3. Your baby may be more difficult to settle into sleep.
  4. Your baby may nap for shorter periods of time or resist naptime3
  5. Your baby may be generally more cranky and irritable.

What do I do if my baby won’t go back to sleep?

Much more likely is that your baby just doesn’t feel as secure on her back. If that’s the case, there are a few tricks you can try to encourage back-sleeping, including swaddling your baby and giving her a pacifier at bedtime. Just skip the sleep positioner, and stick with a consistent routine.

How do you know if your baby is OK in the womb?

The heart of the baby starts to beat around the fifth week of pregnancy. To confirm the heartbeat of your baby, the doctor may conduct a non-stress test. The test monitors the heart rate of the baby and provides information about the potential threat, if any. A healthy heartbeat is between 110 to 160 per minute.

What is sleepy baby syndrome?

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the unexplained death, usually during sleep, of a seemingly healthy baby less than a year old. SIDS is sometimes known as crib death because the infants often die in their cribs.

Is getting up at 4am healthy?

A study by the University of Westminster found that people who wake up early (between 5.22am and 7.21am) have higher levels of a stress hormone than those who have a leisurely morning, but a dawn wake-up is also when most CEOs jump out of bed. Any earlier and it’s really impossible to justify it as the morning.