I didn’t see it coming – I didn’t know it was coming – for some reason no one told me about it…or maybe they had but people tell you so much as a new mum, and with being constantly tired maybe I missed it….but it came – and it came in strong. 4 months sleep regression.
If you’ve read my previous blogs you’ll know that we had a tricky spell with silent reflux around 5 weeks and after that Harper has been a pretty damn good sleeper. Around 9 weeks she started sleeping 7-8 hour chunks – we even got 9 hours one night – ahhhh bliss – and would sleep anywhere during the day and would settle quite well for naps – the odd occasion she would scream – but all in all we had ourselves a pretty good sleeping baby. I first noticed something was changing around 3 months. At this stage she was still in her Love to Dream and in her Dockatot in our bed. I knew a leap was coming – leap 4 – I’d heard it was a doozy. It started with a 3am wake up. She had been going to bed between 8 and 9 and not waking up until around 5 previously – so now she was going down at 7pm – we had a good little routine going – bath, book, boob, bed….she now was waking up that little bit earlier. This made sense so didn’t think anything of it. I was happy with a cuddle at 3am. Then on the 21st December we made our way to Canberra to start Christmas celebrations. The last time we were in Canberra she slept like a dream – I don’t know if I was the country air at my mums place but I was hopeful it would be the same. Well – it was not the same. Those 8 hour sleeps weren’t miraculously going to return. However it wasn’t that bad – some nights was 1am and 4am – some she’d made it until 2am – then 5am… but we were back to waking twice a night. She was still killing it at her day naps though – but I did notice she was more cranky than usual – the leap had begun.
These poor little mites – so much is going on in their little brains at this age. We survived Christmas and then it was time for a drive to Sydney for New Years. It was pretty much the same up there – great during the day – being out and about she loves – and at night she’d wake up twice. It wasn’t ideal but hey. We arrived back in Melbourne on the 2nd January – after being away and out of routine for 2 weeks so we were excited to get back into it. If only I’d known – I have no idea what happened between the 2 cities but she was having none of it at home. Firstly she had become very needy for me, she would definitely let me know if she was grumpy and her mood swings were worse than mine when I’m hungry. Her day naps were still great – the nights though – oh the nights. It started with waking up 3 times – 11pm, 2am, 5am – I thought – she’s just adjusting to being home. Then suddenly 11pm, 2am, 3am, 4am, 5am….it killed me. She was also going through Leap 4 of the Wonder Weeks so it was all coming down on her. Then on the Friday she had to have her 4 month injections – the poor kid couldn’t catch a break.
This went on for a week and then I decided to reach out and a friend mentioned a sleep program. I’d been reluctant to try one as we are always on the go – and I didn’t like the thought of being so restricted to being home but I was so tired from her waking at night – I felt like I had to do something. So she sent it to us – 300 + pages OMG – we did – and to be honest – it didn’t work. The whole concept was around making sure her day naps were right and that she wasn’t awake longer than 2- 2.5hours at a time – which we were basically doing anyway – and this apparently is supposed to help their night sleeps. Also – I just felt like the document was so overwhelming. We had 10 days before we were off to Bali so I thought I’d try for that time and see. I got 5 days in – it wasn’t changing her night sleeps – ok fair enough 5 days isn’t long enough – but all it was doing was stressing me out so much as I felt like I couldn’t go anywhere during her specific nap times. Then if one got out of sync I’d panic. Chris and I decided it wasn’t worth the stress – her day naps were great and she was a happy baby – we just had to ride this out.
I’m a big believer in all babies are different and will develop in different ways. If we’d stuck it out – sure maybe she wouldn’t gotten better – but she got better in her own anyway – and maybe down the track we’ll see how she goes.
It did pass – as did the leap- both at the same time. Just one of those things you have to ride out. Her night sleeps still aren’t great – but better than they were.
So I will continue to live by the mantra – do what works for you. Take advice – sure thing – but if it doesn’t feel right – don’t do it. Us mumma’s have gut instinct for a reason
Love and life
the Figure x
