How to deal with baby's sleep at night?

Waking up every 2 hours at 4 months is completely normal, but I can tell you're exhausted. Some tricks that help: establish a bedtime routine (bath, soft music, that kind of thing), make sure your daughter isn't hungry or uncomfortable, and create a dark and quiet environment. There's also people who swear by techniques like the "cry it out method," but that depends on what makes you feel okay as a parent. What's your nighttime routine like right now, if you have one structured at all?

Don't fall into the trap of forcing "cry it out" methods or overly rigid routines at this age - the baby's metabolism is still very much based on feeding and sleeping, and you'll just end up frustrated. What works better is accepting that this is totally normal and focusing on small things that make it easier to get back to sleep: keeping the room dark, maintaining a comfortable temperature, maybe using white noise to mask household sounds. One thing many parents don't realize is that waking up every 2 hours is pretty much a biological clock at this stage, but you can try to gradually extend it to 3 hours just by adjusting how you handle the initial wake-ups - sometimes the baby wakes but falls back asleep on their own if you don't pick them up right away.

Sleep patterns at 4 months vary quite a bit from baby to baby, so what's "normal" for some can be different for others. That said, waking up every 2 hours is really exhausting for parents, and I completely understand your frustration. What helps to know is that this will probably improve, but in the meantime there are some things you can try.

I went through something similar, and what made a difference was trying to tell the difference between real hunger and habit or discomfort. At 4 months, some babies wake up because they need to eat, but others wake up because they're used to the routine or because they're uncomfortable - too warm, dirty diaper, or just because they need to be soothed. It's worth observing whether your daughter actually eats when she wakes up or if she falls back asleep right away. If it's the second case, the problem might be something else - for example, helping her develop ways to calm herself down without needing your help during the night.

As for routines and environment: a consistently cool, dark room with white or pink noise helps a lot. And yes, a bedtime routine is important, but so is what happens during the day - if she gets chances to be exposed to natural light and to be active during her waking hours, nighttime sleep tends to become more structured. Your exhaustion is completely legitimate; this really is one of the most demanding phases. If you keep worrying about how much total sleep she's getting, or if you notice anything else odd, it's always worth checking in with the pediatrician.

The exhaustion is real and nobody prepares you for it, but what really helps is understanding that at 4 months your baby is still in a phase where their sleep cycle is much shorter than yours - waking up is physiological, it doesn't mean you're doing something wrong. If you can create a really dark and quiet environment (you don't need to sleep in total darkness, but definitely darker), a lot of kids sleep better because melatonin works better, and on top of that it cuts down on waking up from external stimuli.