Welcome to the first Little Leaps Linky – my new fortnightly Linky celebrating all things developmental. Your posts can be celebrating your child’s first words, steps or foods, a monthly update, your experience of a developmental challenge such as teething or sleep regressions, or simply a summary of how your child has changed. If you’re a fellow blogger, come and share them with us, and link up with other parents who might be going through the same thing! 🙂

If you are taking part – don’t forget to include the Linky Badge code below, and comment on some of the other posts in the linky! 🙂

Real Mum Reviews

Here’s my update for this week! 🙂

Four Month Sleep Regression

Ok, I admit it. I made a mistake. I made a proper rookie schoolboy error in the world of parenting. I got complacent.

I felt like I had finally got into my stride as a Mum of two, and when people would ask me “How is she sleeping?” my reply was – “Great actually, SO much better than her sister was – she is really good!”. I would wake up in the morning without feeling tired, and dare I say it, quite refreshed.

Big mistake. Simply uttering those words appeared to tempt fate, and before I knew what was happening, the dreaded four month sleep regression appears to have reared its ugly head!

As I said, Neve had been sleeping wonderfully. She would go to sleep for the night at around 9pm, and wake just once for a feed, usually between 2 and 3am, before settling back down quickly for another 5 hour stint. This was totally manageable, a treat even, and I didn’t feel sleep deprived at all.

Trust me, I know what sleep deprivation feels like. Utter torture. Erin didn’t sleep through the night until she was 2(!) and as a baby would feed almost every hour on the hour. In comparison, Neve’s sleeping pattern felt like a dream.

But then it all changed. Probably coincidence, but Neve’s sleeping hasn’t been quite right since her 16 week immunisations. The pattern has now completely gone – some nights she will have a good night, like last night, and sleep in 5 hour stretches. Unfortunately, ironically I don’t usually sleep on those nights (I have an overactive brain!!). Then, obviously, on the nights when I am exhausted, she wakes 3 or 4 times a night.

I have tried not feeding her, but man! She is HUNGRY! She also appears to have inherited my HANGRY gene, so there is no distracting her – she certainly knows what she wants!!

I am hoping that as with most things in parenting, this four month sleep regression is just a phase. She is definitely having a bit of a growth spurt, having taken a bit of a jump on the percentile chart when I had her weighed. For someone who was a tiny dot on the 9th percentile born, she is now heading towards the 75th. A squidgy, plasticine handed, chunky thighed little bundle of joy, and I couldn’t be more proud.

So if you see me in the shops walking around like a zombie, or catch me pouring lemonade on my cereal instead of milk, remind me, “It is just a phase!!!”.

What Little Leaps have your little ones taken this fortnight?