fischer scot: four month update.

It’s hard to believe Fischer is four months old already. He’s coming out of his sleep regression, becoming much more interested in toys and his surrounding. Plus, he is eating more efficiently than he ever has. All of these things together have made my mama life SO MUCH easier and I’m honestly so grateful.

There has been a lot of growth in many ways this month and a lot of lessons have been learned. I wanted to share about our journey with sleep lately in hopes that it may help my fellow sleep-deprived mamas out there. Trust me when I say, if you’re not yet a mom yourself, you’ll want to save the information below for one day when you are. I’d suggest pinning this post to one of your Pinterest boards!

Sleep

Admittedly, I didn’t know there was such a thing as the ‘four-month sleep regression’ – but boy, I wish I had. As it was explained to me, this is a phase that babies go through between their 3rd and 4th month where they move into more of an adult-like sleep cycle and it simply throws them off. They are also going through a growth spurt in most cases (Fischer gained about a pound and a half in less than 2 weeks), so their sleep can be interrupted by the need to feed more often as well. Totally makes sense – but I was just so unprepared.

Up to the point of his regression, Fischer had been sleeping 8-10+ hours a night and I felt as though we’d established a great rhythm. Around the time I began trying to establish a firm bedtime and ween him off his swaddle was the same time he started entering into this phase and it made nights SO hard and such a guessing game of what to do and what would happen. Here’s what we experienced.

Bedtime

Let’s start with bedtime. We slowly started moving the start of his bedtime routine from later in the evening (around 9pm) to first 8:30, then 7:45 and finally closer to 7. He pretty much led the way for this. I started to notice him becoming increasingly agitated earlier and earlier in the evening. I soon gathered that he was getting ready for an earlier bedtime. Before that, I’d kept him up until G and I were just about ready for bed – with the mentality that the longer he was up before we went to bed – the longer I would get to sleep. Which was true – but not sustainable for his little body.

To find the optimal bed time, I simply paid attention to his cues. After a while they became more and more consistent. He would become much clingier, begin rubbing his eyes and would start trying to self soothe (suck on his hands). Another tell-tale sign – at least for Fischer – is the noticeable pinky hue he gets around his eyes when he starts getting sleepy. For about a week now those signs begin to manifest around 6:30 pm so by 6:45 we head upstairs for a bath, a bottle (6-7 oz) and then bedtime.

Swaddle

This was so hard for us. Because babies start to gain the ability to roll around this age, they need to begin learning how to sleep without a swaddle. Although Fisch isn’t rolling on his own yet, I knew we needed to start the weening process to be safe. I dreaded it, though, because I knew he had a strong startle reflex and had experienced him waking himself up without he ability to put himself back to sleep. At the same time, he’d be okay starting the night out in a swaddle, but I would end up getting up 3 to 4 times a night because he’d fight his way out of it. For a while it seemed like I couldn’t win. It was exhausting… until I made THE BEST DISCOVERY EVER. Fellow mama’s, YOU NEED ONE OF THESE.

The Merlin suit gives him the freedom to move around, while still wrapping him up in that cozy comfy feeling. I bought it on a friend’s recommendation when I was beginning to feel at my whit’s end and I can’t tell you how life changing it is/was. The very first night we used it he went down immediately and stayed asleep for 7 hours. Ever since then we’ve fallen into a glorious routine. He now sleeps from around 7:30pm to anywhere from 2:00-3:30am, eats for about 15-20 mins and then goes right back to bed until somewhere between 6:00 to 8:00am. I think the fact that he’s finally coming out of his growth spurt has helped, but I give most of the credit to that suit for sure.

Current favs.

Month four was many things: challenging and exhausting – yes, but also so much fun. Fischer has really started to develop his little personality. I feel like he becomes more and more like an actual little “person” with each passing day. Here are some of my favorite current things:

– Without fail, he grins the biggest gum-showing grin whenever we lock eyes on one another. My heart could burst at that smile, y’all.
-Until recently, he would get overwhelmed and uncomfortable when we’d go places – especially the store. Now, he likes to look around and study the things on the shelves and the lights on the ceiling.
– He LOVES soft objects. He’s fallen in love with his lovey, fleece blanket and a panda bear that G decided he had to have. It’s so fun to see him take to things and visibly enjoy, study and cuddle with something.
– Sometimes Fisch lays in his newborn lounger on the counter while I cook. During that time, he looks up at the pendant lights we have with obvious amusement and wonder. He even moves his mouth as if he’s talking to himself about how cool he thinks they are.
– We’ve recently moved him from sink baths to tub baths using this baby lounger. He loves being able to stretch out and splash with his legs.

Settling in.

I’m sure we have more rough phases ahead, but for now we’re settling in. We’re establishing new routines, better sleep patterns and enjoying every moment of watching this boy of ours grow. Happy four months, my sweet Fisch man. You are so, so loved.