It takes me by surprise each time! But this time I recognised the warning signs from 8 months - the doubting my ability as a mum, comparing my parenting to when we had Callum. Hang on when I started doing this last time, I was reminded about the 8th month sleep regression so I googled & sure enough I'd hit the 12th month sleep regression phase.
Experience has taught me that to survive these phases I just need to ride it out. Go with it no matter how hard the sleep deprivation hits me. Acknowledge my emotional state is down to the sleep disturbance & trust that all will be right again in a week or 2. Stressing about it or trying to get Millie to continue sleeping through the night will actually just make everything 10 times more stressful & emotional for everyone.
This time I have 2 things to be thankful for: i) I at least get continuous sleep until between 5 and 6 which, compared to the previous sleep regression phases, really isn't that bad; and ii) I appear to be in sync with Millie & suffering from bouts of insomnia around the same time (maybe I'm growing or developing too!). I wake up just before Millie does so the actual sleep disturbance is a lot less...disturbing!
If I was going to add a 3rd advantage it would be that I recognised what it was early so when I do start to reach the emotionally unstable sleep deprived stage I'm more likely to keep my cool for longer...maybe...hopefully!
However, if you hear a crying banshee over the next few days it may well be me but rest assured it won't be for long!
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