Sleep Regression 101

 Yup, the dreaded sleep regression.  Because no one around this house is getting much sleep lately.  You start with the perfect sleeper--at 6 weeks, Jason was going from 6:30 PM to 2 AM without a peep.  I was in heaven.  In the past week, he has decided to switch things up.  It started with an extra waking session about an hour after I put him down.  No biggie, pop the paci in and back to my fun evening stuff.  Then a paci wasn't working and he wanted to be fed.  Growth spurt?  Maybe, so I obliged his needs.  A couple days in, and he was getting up at 11:30 PM and then 2:30 AM.  What?!?!  I did a little internet "research" and found that sleep regression is a huge problem around 19 weeks (guess who's 19 weeks old?!)  Here are the other signs:

• fitful naps (lots of little catnaps instead of long ones)
• chewing relentlessly on hands and thumbs (this is biggie for him now)
• not wanting to be put down (this is why he was in my lap while I ate dinner every night last week)
• trying to go back to sleep within a half hour of being up for the day
• change in eating schedule, usually eating less (he starts eating great, but stops after 5 min. now)

So my baby is 5 for 5.  Add the new nighttime shenanigans, and it ain't so pleasant around the Drinks household right now.  Luckily, we're down one week and I read that this should last 2-4 weeks tops.

And we can thank his growing brain for all this fun--sleep regression happens when they switch over from newborn sleeping to adult sleeping patterns.  So even though I don't like this new routine, it's a sign that his little brain is growing all sorts of new synapses and making new connections.

I only wake up constantly because of my new skills of grabbing toys!   It overwhelms me!