Schneider Baby Story: 15 Weeks

Hello again to anyone that is still following our blog :) Layne is 15 weeks old today, and I think it's safe to say that we have officially entered the dreaded 4 MONTH SLEEP REGRESSION. I didn't know this existed until I started doing some research, but apparently it's common for babies to start regressing in progress on sleep between 3-5 months. Layne was sleeping a good 8 hours through the night (10-6am), but then I noticed about a week or so ago that he started waking up earlier...and earlier...and earlier.... Ugh. As of today, he's waking up around 3am, and is then looking to eat every 3 hours again after that. I'm hoping it doesn't get much worse, but it very well could.

Apparently sleep regression happens at this age because he's starting to sleep more like an adult, with 50 minute cycles of light & deep sleep, vs. longer deep sleep periods as a newborn. So, during these more frequent light sleeping periods, he's more suseptible to waking up to a hungry tummy, a poopy diaper, or just for no reason at all. And as we've gotten him to a 3 hour eat cycle during the day (from a 2 hour cycle last month), it's possible he's now needing to eat during the night because he's not eating as often during the day. So, I'm going to try moving his feedings to every 2.5 hours during the day and let him cluster feed at night to make sure he's good & full before bed. It stinks that just when I thought I was in the clear to sleep a full night until next baby, we're back to this. Oh well...he's worth it!

As I've noted in previous posts, Layne is still consistently working himself up into sleep. When he's tired he will start to cry and we have to work on soothing him for a few minutes before he'll calm down & drift off. It's not too much of a hassle but I hope he learns to calm himself soon - I really don't want to get into a bad habit of having to rock him to sleep, not because I mind it but because I think he should learn how to self soothe. But at this point, it's obvious he's too young for that. At least for now. We haven't tried any kind of sleep training yet, but I plan to talk to the doctor about it at this 4 month checkup.

We've had a fun & busy week. Jared worked on Friday night & Saturday morning so Lauri, Layne & I had some fun on our own. On Friday we ate dinner out at our favorite Brixx Pizza. On Saturday morning we attended "The Big Latch On" at a local baby boutique. This week was national breastfeeding week and this specific event is a national attempt to break the world record for most babies latched on at one time. I know it sounds really weird, but I thought it would be kind of fun to pariticpate in a world record and also to talk to some new moms in the neighborhood. It was fun to see Layne next to other babies and it confirmed just how cute and BIG he is for three months! After the event we stopped at the local farmer's market for some fresh fruit.

On Saturday night Jared & I had another night out with my friend Kim & her boyfriend Jonathan. We had a nice dinner at Osso (for those of you who watched The Bachelorette this season, this is the restaurant where she & Ryan had their first date...lol) followed by a comedy show with headliner JON LOVITZ! He was hilarious and after the show I met him and got his autograph (I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture!) It was a great time.

On Sunday Jared had the day off so we took Layne & Lauri to see the US Whitewater Center, which is an Olympic training center and has outfoor kayaking, whitewater rafting, hiking & ziplining. We just walked the trails but it was beautiful and definitely a fun spot to go back to someday. We then braved the mall for some shopping & dinner.

Here are some highlights from this week: