Database merge UAT to Production

v3.61 but I would imagine the same issues with v4

What is the best strategy for managing database release - actual data not schema as that is clearly handled by data objects etc.

On occasion we need to build content in staging, while the production database also has changes made to it. Merging manually ends up being a nightmare!

How do you guys manage this? Its not practical for us to blackout production activities for a week or so while we complete building on UAT - and we can’t release from UAT until tested and approved.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance!