to sleep, perchance to dream...of sleep

DD turned 17 weeks this monday past. I think hitting the 4 month milestone has made a big difference in her demeanour and habits. E.g. she has started vocalising more...this week she found the "B" consonant and is doing lots of baby babbling (literally).

In terms of "sleeping through the night", I have always taken that phrase (the Holy Grail of new parents) with a big pinch of salt. For instance I still tried to make sure that Leah still had some middle of the night nourishment when she reached 3 months. At the time friends asked if she had started sleeping through the night (and what does the phrase mean anyway?) and were surprised when I said she hadn't yet.

I was (and am) on a 3-hour feeding schedule. When she turned 3 months I was still giving her a 1 or 4 am feed, after the "dream feed" at around 10-11pm. But she gradually dropped her middle of the night feeds, or at least, she was spacing apart her night feeds. So that in time she dropped the 1am feed and the 4am feed became 5-5.30, and then that was dropped too. I didn't deliberately not feed her; she just decided not to wake up for those feeds.

After she dropped her middle of the night feeds she began going to sleep at an earlier time. I usually "cluster feed" her after her bath from 7pm onwards. Yes, she gets nursed to sleep! I know she should fall asleep in her own cot (and sometimes we move her there when she's half asleep), but it is so much easier to just let her eat her fill and drift into dreamland. Her dream feed used to be the time when she really slept (waking at around 6-7am), but that time got earlier and earlier. And lately (the past 2 nights) she has been sleeping at around 8.30-9.15pm.

I have also started noticing a trend: the nights when she makes a change are often preceded by a night or two of "regression", when she acts shitty and won't be pacified or go to sleep at her normal time. Then the next night she would fall asleep earlier. Maybe it's her body clock making adjustments. Who knows?! When someone cracks this code, it will be a best-seller: all parents pray for a baby operating manual.

With longer night sleeps, her day naps are quite short now though. They are never more than 45 minutes long (if I am lucky) and are usually between 15-30 minutes. I suppose she makes up for the short day naps with a longer sleep at night, so I don't mind so much. Although it makes doing house chores frantic 'beat the clock' affairs.

While I rejoice at the chance of DH and I getting more sleep at night (or being able to do more in the evenings now, like watch a TV show), there is the side effect of engorgement! But that will be for another post, along with my obsession with DD's poo... :-D