​During my 5 years as a sleep professional, I’ve gotten used to people asking me what the “secret” is to getting a baby to sleep through the night.
 
Of course, there is no ONE secret. Supporting a child to develop healthy sleep habits is a combination of lots of different things.
 
But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some shortcuts, either!
 
With that in mind, today I’d like to share with you 7 different shortcuts you can start trying over the next few nights to get your child sleeping better

As a professional sleep consultant, I hear the term “regression” used in regards to just about every imaginable circumstance. Essentially, if baby doesn’t sleep well for a couple of nights, parents start dropping the ‘R’ word. Some people subscribe to the idea that there’s an eight month regression, a 9 month regression, a 1 year regression, as well as teething regressions, growth spurt regressions, and so on. Others see these as simple hiccups caused by extenuating circumstances.

But the four-month regression, everybody agrees on, and for good reason. It’s the real deal, and it’s permanent.

So in order to understand what’s happening to your baby during this stage, first you need to know a few things about sleep in general. So here’s the science-y part, told in plain English.​