The Betrayal

Mackenzie is four months old, so it is time for the good old four month sleep regression. It is not a fun time. My baby is betraying me.

Mackenzie has been a better sleeper than Charlotte ever was, though that isn’t saying much. People who are being tortured with sleep deprivation probably sleep more than Charlotte did as a baby. But this could be because Eric and I rented the SNOO this time around because I wasn’t playing any games. It’s the bassinet that you strap your kid into and it puts them to sleep for you and it is magical and worth every penny. From the get go Mackenzie has been sleeping in it and she goes down SO easy. I can actually do the “awake but drowsy” nonsense that gets posted on every baby blog and she goes to bed. It’s wonderful! And then she would sleep 6 or 7 hours! WHAT A TIME IT WAS!

And now the regression has reared its ugly head and the 6-7 hours are 4-5 hours. Or sometimes 2-3 hours. And we are waking up more frequently and it is not fun and the SNOO isn’t doing WHAT IT IS SUPPOSED TO DO!! I can still put her down at 7:30 with no problems but then she’s waking up by 10:30/11 and screaming at me like an angry dinosaur. She eats and goes back, except for last night she was up for 45 minutes talking to herself like she was practicing lines for a soap opera and lifting her legs in the air and slamming them down like she was a diva on WWE. I read this is a way that babies can self soothe themselves and I can’t understand why she won’t choose the pacifier and instead chooses violent rockettes training instead. Then there are the days she is just awake at 5 AM because WHY NOT.

This regression is when they have a permanent change in their sleep and they sleep more like adults or something. I don’t know. I’m too tired to figure it out. But they say it can last anywhere from 4-6 weeks and I want this to end and my sleeper to come back. I don’t want to send the SNOO back until she is out of this phase because I’m not weaning her for a crib until she cuts it out. No way am I walking down my bedroom steps 3 times a night. They say not to start any habits now that will become a sleep crutch later on. I’m not sure if my cursing her to go the F back to bed is a crutch. Guess we’ll find out soon enough.