Seventeen weeks old
Seventeen weeks. I feel like we have just jumped from twelve weeks to here. I honestly don’t know where the weeks have gone. My baby is getting bigger by the day. Her personality is emerging and one thing is for certain, she has left the newborn days far behind.
Her days are full of laughter and activity. Grabbing, rolling, shouting, watching. Because I’m busier than I was with Little Man, she gets put down more. And I have to admit, the extra time to herself seems really beneficial. I’m less stressed because I can cook dinner or sweep the floors or read a story to Little Man, and she has time to explore such curiosities as her toes or the toys hanging above her on her playmat. And when she’s ready for some interaction, she gives a shout! Literally!
Before we left my parents’ house (following a week long visit than turned into a twelve day stay thanks to the good weather), Little Woman was showing signs that she wanted an earlier bedtime. I was in the habit of keeping her up with me until I wanted to go to bed, and if she napped, she napped, and if she didn’t, so be it.
But it was obvious that she was growing more and more tired in the evenings. So when we got back home, I decided to try feeding her in the dark once Little Man was gone to bed. And what do you know, we now have an early bedtime for her. Whenever she starts feeling tired between 7.30 and 8.30pm, I take her upstairs, close the blinds and feed her. And she seems to go down for the night.
It has impacted her nighttime sleep however. The big stretch is gone. Instead she’s waking for feeds every three hours once more. But I remember Little Man doing similar around four months, so I know it’s normal and it will pass in a week or two. Or ten. Or at some stage! It’s easier to deal with this time. She stirs, I pick her up, latch her on, lean back and doze for 5-10 minutes, and then settle her back into the cosleeper. I barely lift my head from the pillow and I certainly don’t get out of bed. No wonder I’m noticing such a difference in my ability to cope with sleeplessness.
Here’s hoping the four month sleep regression doesn’t last as long with Little Woman as it did with Little Man. If I remember correctly he was about eight months old before he started sleeping properly again!
Gorgeous picture little woman. Hope she doesn’t regress for 4 months like little man. For us it goes back and forth between the normal long stretch and then the row of nights of short stretches depending on how the teeth are behaving. Hopefully little woman will get more than a couple of nights between one set of teeth cutting and the next starting unlike her cousin 😉
Well she is definitely teething like crazy. Drooling, biting everything, constantly with her fists in her mouth. No sign of anything on her gums though. I wonder will she be like her brother and not have a tooth in her head until she’s a year old?