Two weeks ago Gia stopped going to sleep as easily. With the time change, her bedroom was light at 7 pm when she usually goes down, but it wasn’t just that. She wasn’t calming down while nursing and when I put her in her crib, when normally she would roll over and close her eyes, she was popping up, wide awake and crying. A few times that week it took an hour or more to get her to sleep, and several times in the middle of the night it took the same to get her back to sleep. When I opened the Wonder Weeks app, a storm cloud loomed over her little head.
J and I discussed her baby craziness a few days later and decided we just wanted to support and comfort her, rather than take a hard line. We let her sleep in bed with us after her first waking a few times. At the same time, she started crawling on all fours and pulling herself to standing. She wants to stand and “walk” holding our hands all the time! She also claps and says “uh-oh” and “up”, although I’m sure she doesn’t know what they mean. We weren’t about to do sleep waves while she was standing in the crib, peering over the top screaming. I suppose you could, but it didn’t feel the same now that she can pull herself up.
It’s been pretty rough. I did have a couple of freak-outs at 3am. One night I removed myself and slept in the nursery because I couldn’t be the best mother in that moment. I had to listen to her cry in J’s arms for awhile, but she’d already nursed for 45 minutes and I knew she was okay. She had trouble sleeping for two weeks and is just starting to get back on track. We changed her bedtime routine to 7 and bedtime to 7:30, and I started doing a dream feed so I could skip a night waking. (Why didn’t I start this earlier, it’s great! She’s so mellow and goes right back to sleep and sometimes I get to sleep six hours straight.)
The best thing I did during this sleep regression was take two warm baths with Gia. One night when J was away on business and Gia seemed really amped up I drew a bath and pulled her in with me. We hadn’t done this since she was just a few months old. We lay there playing and nursing for a long time and she went right to sleep that night. It was nice so we tried it again a few nights ago.
During the day though, this sassy little girl is pretty hilarious. She cracks up at the silliest things, lies on her back staring at books like she’s reading them, andslurps down the broth at the end of her soup bowl. I feel a lot less anxious about taking care of her, aside from her weekend naps which really stress me out (she naps perfectly for the nanny but with us will only nap in stroller or ergo). She’s very interactive. She’s started a music class on Fridays and we start swim lessons this Saturday.
reciprocallove 
Aw the standing thing…Emerie too for about a week now in the crib but she’s been at it for a month. I hate how she falls asleep half standing or kneeling in the crib now š¢ it’s making sleep waves a lot harder too. I can’t believe she’s talking!!! Ahh smart little thing. I just read the leap 6 and I think Emerie is way ahead and on that leap cause she’s already mastered everything from leap 5. Daiton is cruising along at his own pace but on track. I’m glad he’s not standing yet but crawling would be helpful to wear him out more before bedtime. I hope his starts sleeping better again for you.
So funny that you mention the leap and sleep disruptions, because Dumplin’ went from giving me 4-6 hour stretches between nighttime nursings to 1.5-2.5 hour ones the last three nights, so we went on the WonderWeeks app and saw that yes, in fact, he just started a leap! I’ve been tempted to pull him back into our bed for the night, and have actually tried nursing him to sleep for naps, but it hasn’t been working to get him to sleep… So good thing is that I guess the nursing attachment had been broken, but bad thing is that my “go to” is now no good lol. I’m happy to hear that despite Gia’s leap, you’re dealing with it considerably well. I love the idea of the bath together- it’s so sweet, and I’m totally going to try it one day. I bet Gia is absolutely adorable in music class, and I bet she’ll love swimming too! Gosh, I wish our two babes could meet and play together!
Charlotte is in the midst of a horrid sleep regression. This leap has been brutal. I’m losing my mind. She’s up every 2 hours. I’m happy to hear that things are improving on the sleep front for you. It gives me hope! I’m so impressed with how physical Gia is. Charlotte isn’t crawling or pulling herself to a stand independently yet. Part of me hopes it’s coming soon and part of me isn’t in a big hurry.
Ugh I’m sorry. I hope Charlotte starts sleeping better again soon. Gia’s has slightly improved. We kind of wish she wasn’t standing already, it’s too fast!