Georgia Rose - 6 Month Sleep Update
Our sweetest little peach will be 6 months old next week! I can hardly believe how fast that went by. It’s so true when they say the days are long but the years are short. I feel that.
Throughout Georgia’s life, I’ve gotten many messages asking about her sleep and how it’s going. Since I am so passionate about instilling healthy sleep habits right from the beginning, I figured I’d write an update post on how her sleep has been - right from the beginning.
I’m about to get really raw here.
1 Month Old
Georgia has been napping quite well during the day. Sometimes I’m able to lay her down wrapped up in the blanket on the couch and she’ll stay asleep for an hour or 2. She seems really easy in the sense that I can vacuum while she’s around and she likes the noise.
She does seem to hate the swing. I try to put her in there to get something done, but she quickly starts to fuss.
One of the best ways I can guarantee a nap, is if she is sleeping in the carseat, or I’m walking around with her in my wrap. She loves to baby-wear. Me…not so much. I find the pressure hard on my back especially since I gained so much weight while pregnant.
Night-time is a bit of a cluster. She has a brutal witching hour that actually lasts 4 hours. It’s from 8pm-12am like clock-work. It seems like nothing I do will make her happy. I know that the witching hour usually happens from being overtired, but I can’t seem to figure this baby out. I’ve had to lay her down and walk away to get myself together a few times. It just feels like so much, sometimes.
I vividly remember one night where Nathan was working nightshift and I was SO drained from parenting that day. It was 9pm and I was ready for bed. Drake had been peacefully sleeping in his bed since 7pm, and I headed upstairs at 9pm to put Georgia and myself to bed. She fussed and cried in my arms until 12:30am. I don’t know if I had ever felt so tired as I did that night.
2 Months Old
We are crazy, but we decided to go on a family vacation to Vancouver Island! That is a 20 hour one-way drive from where we live. Travelling makes us happy and we want the kids to experience island life; it truly is the best life. We started our journey to the island by making a few stops along the way. We stopped in Edmonton the first night, Hinton the next, and the Kamloops the 3rd night - reaching Nanaimo on the 4th day. Georgia slept like a CHAMP during our trek. We left early in the morning and she would sleep in her carseat until our next stop. I found myself having to wake her up from napping to breastfeed every 2.5-3.5 hours.
At night, she sleeps with her pacifier and I swaddle her to sleep. I can lay her down really drowsy, but I definitely don’t lay her down awake-awake yet. We do a consistent bedtime routine with her that consists of a bath, swaddle, feeding, song, and into bed.
Sometimes bedtime takes up to an hour of us swaddling her with her soother in, and rocking her. It feels exhausting, but I’m grateful that when we put her down for bed, she stays down for usually 6-8 hours before needing a feeding. I’m finally starting to see some of that ‘rested’ light again.
3 Months Old
Even crazier now, but I am the main youth leader in our church here in Fort McMurray. My official title is called the Young Women’s President. Because of Covid-19, our weekly activities have been put on pause. Our Premier here in Alberta opened up the province to have zero restrictions for the summer, so we held our summer camp for the youth!
This was a 5 day camp that I planned and prepared for. The only thing that I didn’t totally prepare for, was to bring along my 2.5 month old baby. Georgia had been sleeping somewhat consistently throughout the night (1-2 feedings), so I felt confident that we could get her sleeping while camping; in cabins of course.
My mom and 10-year old sister came along to help me with Georgia. I hiked, swam, kayaked, sang, played volleyball, human knot, spike ball, and did a million crafts - all while they watched Georgia. It felt a little liberating having some freedom again - just to have fun and goof around. I would take a break from the fun and games every 2.5-3 hours just to nurse Georgia and then my mom would take over with everything else. Georgia slept very well at the camp. I genuinely think it was a blessing for my service with the youth. I can’t think of anything else that would have made sense at the time.
As soon as we got home, this is when some serious changes started.
Her bedtime routine was rock solid. Her nap-time routine was also very strict. I never let her fall asleep while nursing, and frankly, she hardly did.
I started putting Georgia down for her naps and for bedtime awake. She still had her soother at this point, but I knew it wasn’t going to last long. She had been starting to have really short naps, so I knew that in order to lengthen them, she needed to be falling asleep independently.
She would protest for a few minutes, then stop. Then protest for a few more minutes, and then stop. If she ever cried for longer than 5 minutes, I would go in and do a check in. She never took very long to fall asleep.
4 Months Old
Our good sleep habits continue to be the norm around here. Georgia is napping 3 times a day, for a minimum of 1 hour each time. She is consistently putting herself to sleep, but now she doesn’t have the pacifier. She is a thumb-sucker which I actually LOVE. I think it’s the cutest thing. Drake also sucks his thumb and I love it. One day I’ll need to get them to stop, but that is not a primary concern.
On occasion, she takes longer to fall asleep at nighttime, but it’s rare.
She sleeps about 10 hours before needing a night feeding, and she LOVES bedtime between 6-7pm; and so do I. I really feel like I have my nightly freedom back. The sleep-deprived fog I was in was really hard on my mental health. Thankfully I have never suffered with postpartum depression or anxiety, but I definitely felt impatient, stressed, and hormonal when not sleeping well.
I really feel like myself again.
Along with the long stretches of sleep, my period decided to come back. This feels earlier than normal since I exclusively breastfeed, but I would rather have sleep over no period; hands down.
5 Months Old
Things just keep getting better. Bedtime protest is VERY minimal if there is any. We have gotten babysitters who do bedtime and Georgia is just as predictable as Drake is. They have the same routine, which is:
Bedtime snack (milk for Georgia)
Bath time - they go in the tub together. Georgia uses a bath lounger in the big tub
PJ’s and sleep sack
Brush teeth
Story-time
Prayers, kisses, and goodnight hugs.
Into their beds (Georgia in a crib of course) awake
Georgia got sick with croup and it developed into a chest infection that had to be treated with antibiotics. Throughout this period of sickness, her sleep didn’t change at all. I was shocked. She still napped well and slept through the night (waking once for milk).
Georgia’s awake time is changing. I can tell if I’ve fooled up her awake time by the amount of time it takes her to fall asleep for her naps. She is only napping twice a day, and if they aren’t great naps, then she gets an earlier bedtime. Her awake time is: 1.75 - 2 - 2.25. It gets slightly longer as the day progresses, and I know she could probably go a bit more time before bed.
By the end of her 5th month, we tried 3 hours before bedtime at night, and it worked beautifully. I really love a 2-nap schedule.
Georgia started off her life at a whopping 10lbs 7oz. As time has went on, she has not followed that curve for her percentiles. I think I may have been on the verge of having gestational diabetes (undiagnosed), which could explain her high weight. That, or I just make huge babies. I mean, Drake was 9lbs 4 oz and I for sure didn’t have gestational diabetes with him, ha! Because she started off so big, and then evened out to an average weight for her age, I feel a little bit more skeptical about dropping her night feeding completely. When she does wake for it and I feed her, she has a FULL feeding. She nurses both sides and then goes down into her crib awake with zero protest. I will drop it soon though. This mama is ready for an uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep.
6 Months Old
We are here. The golden age for sleep trainers to completely eliminate night feedings. I am actually shocked I lasted this long feeding her through the night because I promised myself that I would be DONE at 4 months. But as time went on, I kept savouring those snuggles with my girl. I’m ready now, though.
Georgia naps 2 times a day and her awake time is: 2 - 2.5 - 3. I LOVE this schedule. It makes playdates easier, timing her feedings easier, and it just gives Drake some serious 1-on-1 time with me which is so nice. We bake together a few times a week and he always helps make lunch.
Georgia has slept completely through the night a few times in the last week, and I will be properly sleep training her through the night, soon. I am going to use the leave and check method, where I wait for 10 minutes, do a check in, and then leave again. This is the easiest method for night wakings as it allows you to go back into your bed.
I really have no complaints about her sleep, though. She is super predictable, very easy to put to sleep, and she is a champion independent sleeper. We have brought her on countless road-trips, lots of new sleep environments, and she adapts so well. Well enough, that we actually booked a vacation to San Diego and Mexico for this winter.
As long as my children sleep well, I can be a fun, and present mom. I am very sensitive to being tired, and I can’t fully show-up if I am exhausted. This is one of the reasons sleep has always been so important to me.
If your baby is 0-6 months old (or older) and you don’t have a plan for their sleep, and it feels like things are really messy, reach out to me. I can help you get your child’s sleep on track so that you can have some time to yourself again. That brain fog isn’t a normal part of being a mom. You CAN have great sleep as a parent.
Book a free call with me here to see if sleep training is the right fit for your family!
Sweet dreams,
Bailey
