For some moms, months 3 & 4 can mean endless sleepless nights (after finally getting your baby on some semblance of a schedule!). For others, it’s the light at the end of the tunnel where many babies are finally able to extend their nighttime sleep.

As I’m writing this, my baby is just coming out of the dreaded 4 month sleep regression. A very helpful tool I used to get her (read: ME) through this time was the Navigating Months 3 &4 ebook by Taking Cara Babies.

Taking Cara Babies is a sleep consultation firm that has made waves across the internet. Founder Cara offers a highly-rated newborn sleep class as well as the ABC’s of Sleep, an intense 14-day sleep program that boasts a 98% success rate. 

Navigating Months 3 & 4 is for babies that are in that awkward space between the newborn phase and 5 month era. 

As I’m writing this review, my daughter is 4 months and 3 weeks. I purchased the First Five Months Bundle, which includes the newborn sleep class and the Navigating Months 3 & 4 ebook. (I wrote a detailed review on the newborn sleep class that you can read if your baby is younger than 12 weeks.)

Before we dive into my Taking Cara Babies Navigating Months 3 &4 review, let me make a completely honest statement: although I loved this book, it’s not for everyone. Your baby may not be the right age or you may not agree with some of Cara’s philosophies, or maybe you need MORE information before you dive into this supplemental material. 

My goal is to share my experience with you so you can decide if the Navigating Months 3 & 4 guide is a good fit for you.

POSTS RELATED TO THE TAKING CARA BABIES NAVIGATING MONTHS 3 & 4 REVIEW:

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Pros and Cons: Navigating Months 3 & 4 Review At-a-Glance

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase from one of the links I will make a small commission at no charge to you. Blunders in Babyland does not diagnose, treat, or give out any professional advice for any medical conditions.

What is the Taking Cara Babies Navigating Months 3 &4 Ebook? 

Mama, believe it or not, this is an exciting time for your baby!

Rolling, sleep cycle changes, personality growth, growth spurts, cognitive and language development all make weeks 16-19 busy and full of surprises. The downside is, her sleep will probably suffer. 

And so will yours. As a bleary-eyed mom myself, I can totally sympathize for what you’re going through.

Navigating Months 3 & 4 serves as a guide to survive these milestones and sleep disruptions. Or, if your baby never slept in the first place, Navigating Months 3 & 4 is the next progression from the Taking Cara Babies newborn sleep class.

The ebook was created by Cara Dumaplin, neonatal nurse and certified sleep consultant. If you don’t follow her on Instagram, you should. Her account is a wonderful FREE resource that I refer to regularly. Her blog is also an excellent resource that you’ll love as well.

What Does Navigating Months 3 & 4 Cover?

This ebook is actually pretty long and intense (54 pages of absolutely no fluff. All valuable information).

Cara’s approach to sleep training is logical but extremely forgiving. That’s why I love her material. The ebook gives you a PLAN to follow (without being rigid), which is what many moms need when they’re exhausted and have no idea why their baby isn’t sleeping. 

A few topics covered in Navigating Months 3 & 4: 

• What developmental changes to expect from this time period
• Creating an effective bedtime routine
• How your baby’s sleep cycles change during months 3 & 4
• Helping baby transition into deep sleep
• How to implement a dream feed
• Scheduling and improving naps
• Getting rid of sleep props
• Reducing night feeds
• How to use SITBACK during this time (my favorite section. If you used SITBACK from the newborn sleep class, this guide will show you how the method evolves for 3-4 month olds.)

Who This Guide is For

This guide was specifically designed for babies that are 3-4 months old. The techniques won’t be helpful for babies younger than that (you really need the newborn sleep class if your baby is younger!) and an older baby will need more intensive methods to improve sleep (like the ABCs of Sleep).

Who This Guide Isn’t For

I hesitate to recommend this guide to women that don’t know ANYTHING about sleep training or sleep routines. If you’ve done a lot of due diligence yourself and you have a great foundation for infant sleep, you’ve already purchased the Newborn Sleep Class or you’re considering buying the First Five Months Bundle, then I think it’s a great buy. 

But, in my opinion, this guide truly is like a “next steps” transitional guide, NOT a beginners manual to sleep training.

What do I mean by that? In Navigating Months 3 & 4 you’re building on the concepts of great sleep that you’ve already learned. For example, Cara commonly references C.R.I.E.S. and S.I.T.B.A.C.K. and how these methods evolve during this period. She does not, however, go into a lot of detail on how to implement them for the first time. 

Hopefully that makes sense.

Highlights from Navigating Months 3 & 4

S.I.T.B.A.C.K. for Months 3 & 4

The first time I read Navigating Months 3 & 4 (yes, I’ve read it multiple times!), I skimmed over this section. I wish I hadn’t! 

 I used SITBACK for my daughter with pretty good success (I’d say 60/40 success-rate). Then, we hit 4 months. SITBACK became useless. What the heck? Why isn’t it working anymore? 

Well, I dove back into Cara’s guide and, low and behold, my baby outgrew some of the steps of SITBACK.

SITBACK evolves along with your baby. At this age, there are steps of SITBACK that can actually hinder your baby’s sleep. This is something Cara discusses in detail.

Cara also implements a sliding scale a of intervention that is incredibly helpful. Basically, your goal at this point is to intervene as little as possible so as to help your baby learn to fall asleep and get back to sleep independently. But, you also don’t want to just cry it out. The sliding scale of intervention helps you keep on track and gives you realistic expectations.

Plan to Reduce Night Wakings

Reducing your baby’s night wakings is probably the reason why you’re interested in this guide.

Cara helps you establish a baseline for night feedings and gradually decrease them using SITBACK.

If your baby was already sleeping perfectly, she can help you get through the regression phase without “back cycling” (that is, keeping your baby from developing the habit of waking up through the night again). 

My favorite part about this section is the sample night weaning schedule. It’s so doable and it gives you a goal to work towards when you’re in the thick of it. This is great because when you’re exhausted, you NEED game plan.

I also love that Cara is pretty frank that these schedules are just examples, not exactly a firm blueprint.

Improve Daytime Naps (or Avoid Regressing)

Let me be honest with you: whatever you’ve been doing for your newborn PROBABLY will not work during months 3 & 4. And it’ll frustrate the heck out of you. Cara highlights the ways that you’ll need to change your routines to be age appropriate. 

This includes: 

• Creating a new routine (She includes sample routines–hallelujah)
• When to move baby to his own room (it’s sooner than you’d think)
• Adjusting wake time lengths

My Personal Experience with Taking Cara Babies’ Navigating Months 3 & 4

I love talking about infant sleep. It’s actually one of the reasons why I started this blog! I’m just one of those people that needs a high amount of sleep to function properly, so before my first daughter was born, I did a ton of research on how to get my baby to sleep through the night quickly. My first daughter had a great sleep thanks to resources like On Becoming Babywise and Secrets of a Baby Whisperer. 

With my second daughter, I really struggled. As a newborn, she only wanted to sleep in my arms and constantly woke through the night. By 8 weeks we were definitely improving, but we had plateaued at 6 hours of nighttime sleep and her naps were inconsistent, ranging 45 minutes-2 hours.

I took Cara’s Newborn Sleep Class at 12 weeks and it helped a great deal. The concepts she teaches align with what I had learned from other sleep books, but her method is actually makes sense “in real life.”

Baby #1 thrived on structure, whereas baby #2 needed a grace-filled approach. Soon after I implemented Cara’s techniques, my daughter began sleeping from 7:30PM-7:00AM, with 2 hour naps all day long.

This golden age lasted for about a month before we entered into the 4 month sleep regression. Honestly, it wasn’t that bad, thanks to the techniques I already learned in Cara’s newborn sleep class. That said, my daughter began waking at 5-6am again. I’ve been using the techniques from Navigating Months 3 &4 to help me through this.

Here’s a couple things the guide has helped me with:

• Transitioning my daughter out of the swaddle
• Moving her into her own room (at 3 months!)
• Adjusting SITBACK for this age
• Extending sleep:  I love Cara’s sliding scale of interventions. Having said that, I have struggled with using SITBACK for 45 minutes as she suggests. The fact is, I’m also a mom of a three-year-old and staying up for 45 minutes at 5am just isn’t my jam.

Is the Navigating Months 3 & 4 EBook Worth It?

I’ve read it twice, and I’m reading it a third time.

I think Navigating Months 3 & 4 is a great resource. I don’t think it’s for beginners that know absolutely nothing about sleep training. However, if you’ve already done some research on infant sleep and you’re looking for a powerful tool to get you through this hairy phase of your baby’s life, you won’t regret buying it. Especially if you snag it 15% off as part of the First 5 Months Bundle. 

If you’d like to check it out, visit Taking Cara Babies website by clicking the button below.

I truly hope the guide helps your baby. If you’re looking for more baby sleep resources, check out my post on the best baby sleep books. I’ve read all of them and love them!

Good luck, Mama!

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