Development isn’t a race. It’s a flow. 

Every baby—and parent—is figuring it out at their own pace.

Instead of milestones, we encourage you to focus on this amazing moment.

Your baby’s brain makes more than one million neural connections per second in these first three years. Simple, consistent interactions with baby today can have profound, lifelong benefits.

Here’s how baby’s brain is developing this month, and how you can support their progress. 

Developmental Highlight

Congratulations! You and baby completed the 4th trimester. 

Baby’s temperament is starting to emerge. You might feel like you’re getting the hang of things, and then… the four-month sleep regression.

This may feel like a setback, but it’s actually a sign of development progress. As neural pruning continues, sleep rhythms shift in distinct circadian phases, helped by baby’s routine and the production of melatonin. Baby’s sleep rhythms are beginning to mimic yours—with brief wakings as they toggle between light and deep sleep cycles every few hours throughout the night. For adults, waking 3-4 times a night goes largely unnoticed. But baby notices and cries when they wake and discover their surroundings have changed from when they fell asleep. 

There are many ways to help baby handle this sleep transition, and it’s important to remember that not all crying is hunger, though baby may feed for comfort. Because sleep is essential for development and growth, healthy habits can be the first tool to aid in self-soothing and gaining sleep skills.

Brain-Building Activity 

Drowsy But Awake

Routine: Naptime, bedtime

A regular routine helps baby understand their world and creates a sense of security that makes their brain open to learning. Through repetition in daily life, baby begins predicting what will happen next—and baby can be distressed when things don’t go as expected.

If baby’s consistently rocked, held, or nursed to sleep, they’ll expect it every time. This can become an added stressor for you and baby. It might be hard to imagine your baby as a toddler or little kid, but trust that the healthy habits you create now will benefit them later.

• Rather than rocking or feeding baby to sleep, put them down when they’re drowsy but awake. You want baby to see where they are, so they recognize it later when they wake up.
  
  
• If baby falls asleep while feeding, try changing their diaper to gently rouse them before putting them down to sleep.
  
  
• Baby may fuss for a few minutes. Allow them to work through this, so they can start building the routine of falling asleep on their own. This will get easier with practice!

You’ve Got This 

Feeling tired? We get it. 

Sleep has a huge impact on baby’s mood, growth, and functioning—and it’s important for you, too. Getting more quality sleep is linked to a reduction in parental stress and improved parental health and relationships. 

There’s a lot of advice about how, where, and when babies should sleep. No opinion can outweigh what feels right for your family. Sleep is a biological necessity. Make a sleep plan that feels doable for every member of your family. It doesn’t actually matter what the routine is—the key for baby’s development is that it’s consistent.

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