We’ve had a pretty smooth two weeks with Janie so far but this week has been a little more challenging. She’s been hungry more often and having a harder time falling asleep throughout the day. She still manages to get enough sleep overall but also has periods when she’s obviously full, clean, and very tired but has a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep.
Last night she cried at 1:30am for her usual feeding and once I fed her and changed her, I looked at her in the very dim light in our bedroom and saw two huge eyes staring up at me. Uh oh…she was wide awake. After an hour of walking her around and rocking her in the usual swaddle, she was still awake. Luckily, she wasn’t crying but each time I put her down thinking that she’d fallen asleep, she’d start fussing almost instantly.
After trying almost every trick that had worked for her in the past (in the dark) for a good hour and a half, nothing was working and I remember trying to stay patient and saying to her in my head, “I love you. I love you. I love you.” Ultimately, what did the trick was going out into the livingroom where my mom was sleeping and using the glider that I hadn’t needed yet. (Thanks to Ryan and Michelle for handing it down to us!!) I held her tightly in the perfect side-lying position on my chest, patted her firmly on the back to a steady rhythm, and rocked back and forth at a pretty swift speed until she started the snore in my arms at 3:37am. Phew, it worked. She stayed asleep when I put her in her bed and actually slept for a good two and a half hours before waking again at 6:13am. This trick worked again this afternoon when the same thing happened. Hopefully it won’t wear out too quickly.
After talking to a friend with a 4-month old and doing some reading, babies apparently have a growth spurt between 2-3 weeks of age and often display these behavior changes. Is our Little Janie growing again already?! If so, I hope this stage lasts only a couple days.