So for the past 3 weeks or so, baby E has been waking up once maybe twice at night after putting her to sleep. At first I chalked it up to sleep regression because they say ("they" as in articles/books I've been finding about the topic) that sleep regression hits when babies are between 8-10 months old. Pretty much, babies at this age are learning SO much; maybe they're crawling/cruising/walking/talking/etc.. that their brains are just on overload and want to use these new found skills.
An example I read about to help us adults understand this better was this - When you have a big vacation planned, you get excited right? The night before you're anxious and you just can't sleep because you're thinking so much about it. I guess that's how babies get during this sleep regression phase - they wake up and they just want to keep practicing all that they have learned. Well in our case, baby E has been cruising since around March? So we thought maybe that was it..maybe she just wants to walk already. Every time she'd wake up, she's already standing there waiting for us. Ha, not quietly of course. She's screaming/making noises, but not crying.
I brought this up to E's pediatrician last week at her 9 month appt, and she said it coooould be that. I guess she wasn't as convinced as I was...dang internet reading!=P But she also started asking about how much E was eating throughout the day. She was up to 2-3 solids/day and maybe 20-25 oz breast milk/day. So, since I was previously on a non-dairy diet, doc suggested upping E's meals to at least 3x/day and making snacks in between like avocados - more fats to fill her up. And to supplement a nightly bottle with 8oz of soy formula so that she'd have between 24-28oz milk/soy formula per day. We did this and E slept well again last week. Voila, doc was on point- E was just hungry!
Buuuuut, then this week happened. E didn't wake up every night, but 2x this week was enough for me to think is it sleep regression again? Then I thought, maybe it's separation anxiety. Since I've been back at work for 2 months now, I do notice that E seems a little clingier on my days off with her. Yeah, she's clingy when we're around strangers...but when it's just me she seems to want me there ALL the time. Not that I mind, I just noticed a difference compared to when I was with her everyday during maternity leave.
Then there's the teething. Maybe it's just teething? On Tuesday I noticed a little white protruding next to bottom right center tooth. Ack, this girl - getting so many teeth already! Ha, so maybe it's that? Poor thing, I guess people are right. Once they start teething, it lasts til they get all of their teeth!
So out of all my guesses, I'm hoping it's just as simple as the teething issue. Lots of things to consider, but that seems to make the most sense. It'll be another thing if she still wakes up at night after this tooth pops through. *sigh* I guess we've been spoiled with her sleeping through the night for so long!
Anyone else go through something similar?
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