Leap 5--Anyone else need support?

taysherrtee

DD, who was once just a little angel who only woke once during the night and took naps like a champ and ate well has officially turned into a grumpy mess. Of course, when I checked the Wonder Weeks app I see she's going through Leap 5.

It's only been about a week into the leap and I'm ready to throw in the towel! I read that this is definitely the hardest leap to get through...so for you Mommas who have gotten through or those who are currently in it--how are you doing it?! Any tips and tricks to keep baby (and mommy) happy?

KAR8706

Just checked my app and we are at the start of it. Not Excited!

wheresilenceismusic

LO just started her 5-month leap (leap 5?) and she is TERRIBLE.  Whichever one she is in, it is by far the worst yet.  

She has woken up EVERY HOUR for the past four nights.  We "woke" this morning and I felt like I had been hit by a truck… I was utterly exhausted.  She is no longer napping by herself.  
In addition, when I walk away from her (not even out of the room) she cries.  When she is 'bored' with a toy she cries.  …And since she is not sleeping, she is always overtired, so basically for the last week, she has been crying nonstop.

She acts completely differently with DH, which frustrates me.  She loves him, but she prefers me -- only I can comfort her.  It's sweet to be the favorite parent in theory but it is also really tiring.

I actually came on this board specifically to see if anyone was going through this.  I'm so glad you made a thread.  DH went to work this morning from 5am - 12pm and Hazel cried so much and so hard (I walked her in her carrier, tried to nurse her to sleep on the couch and in our bed, tried her swing… nothing worked) that for the first time ever, I just needed to be away from her.  I couldn't stand her crying anymore.  DH came home and I told him to take her for a walk in the carrier and to get her out of the house.

I'm going to take a bath with lavender epsom salts now.  Maybe even get lunch.  Best of luck to you Mamas.  Keep in touch.  My LO is an angel during her sunny weeks; I know this leap will be absolutely worth it in the end...

n3na94

I have heard so much of this app but I always procrastinated in buying it. I finally did because I think my son is going through a leap and he has woken up every hour last night to nurse and find comfort.
Today it was so hard to put him to nap, like the previous post said I tried everything and my poor baby didn't stop cryin like he was in pain.
He is currently napping and has woken up twice and both times he just nursed and went to sleep. I know it will all be worth it at the end. They say babies learn to master a new ability during growth spurts. Let's not forget ladies being a mother it's rewarding, be patient and let's try to enjoy every phase. Good luck mamas!!!

KAR8706

the app says we arent supposed to start the leap for a couple more days but all last week LO woke up every 2 hours all week and has been fighting naps soooo bad. I thought maybe it was teething b/c he is chomping down on everything but now I am thinking it may be a combo. I agree though that so far this is the worst leap.

taysherrtee

I'm so glad to find mommies going through the same thing! Not happy about what those poor babies have to deal with, though...

This is the first leap that I feel like I just can't really handle it. Maybe it's a mixture of still being overtired from the holidays and dealing with all the fuzziness, but I definitely need a break! A lavendar bath sounds sooo nice...I think I'm going to have to indulge in that (and lots of chocolate) when DH gets home.

Last night, DD was worse than a newborn! Up almost every hour screaming and almost no way to comfort her. Now, she's been up for 4 hours and no sign of a nap in sight, heavy eyes and all. I'm going to take her on a drive in a few minutes to see if that helps.

She also doesn't want me to be out of sight or out of touch if she can swing it. She's got to have an arm or a foot on me at all times or I need to be within touching distance.

I do love knowing that her brain is growing and that she's developing well. The wonder weeks app is so accurate and I'm glad that we have some way to prepare.

I just need a 10 minute nap...or a large Starbucks Frappuccino, haha.

gmk1784

DS has been fussier than usual the last few days. I thought it was a combination of teething and being off his normal schedule because of Christmas but I forgot he's going through a leap! Only 6 more days and hopefully my happy boy will feel like himself again

wheresilenceismusic

LO rolled over for the first time today!! The leap has been worth it so far.  

nemRN

8 days left in leap 5 and yeah this should be called the sleep regression leap it's been rough - my LO was never a good sleeper before and wasn't sleeping through the night and never took 2 hour naps but now she's up 3,4 times a night , putting her down for bed is a battle and she naps about 2-3 30 minute naps a day - so yeahhhh I'm going insane

mamaklemond

Hello day 1 of leap 5, you are terrible already. Baby will NOT sleep unless held, including over night. Anytime I walk away and he's awake, he screams. And his first tooth just popped thru. Hooray. Nightmare.

cecilespies

My lo is in the middle of leap 5. The previous leaps were horrible!! But I don't even notice this one. She sleeps through the night from 7pm to 6am. Loves her naps, and very smiley. Only thing that changed is she will make it very clear if she does not like something

wheresilenceismusic

Last night LO continued to have nightmares.  Can a 5 month old have nightmares?  She cried in her sleep (very loudly) every hour or so.  I roused her and it took a minute or so for her to wake up and realize where she was.  Her cries were very distressing.

She has never done this before.  I worry about my darling little girl.  The nightmares started with this leap; I hope they will be over when the leap is done.

sgb721

I think our little one might be having nightmares too. She's woke up the past two nights shreiking. It's so strange, never before has she woken up like this. In fact, she's rarely woken crying at all. (yes I know we are spoiled). Her night sleep has been interrupted the past few nights and we're all growing very very tired of this leap.

VToman

Mine is much fussier and refuses to nap unless I'm holding her. Also, she was a champ at rolling over from tummy to back, and now she doesn't want to do that at all. She wants to be held ALL THE TIME!! I will say that she is pushing up a lot better with her arms and she did (accidentally) roll from back to tummy once. She's also holding herself up really well in a sitting position. But, she's in the kicking and hitting phase, so me and my dogs are getting beat up quite a bit.

This has been tough, but not unbearable. Still, I miss her being happy all the time!

Jessika54

I'm so glad I found this thread. I downloaded the Wonder Weeks app this morning, despite having to pay, because last night was a nightmare!! It is worth it because until I read this and the Leap 5 on the app I thought my baby was broken, ready to take her back to the baby store!!! From extra short naps (15-30 min), not wanting to breast feed, still being fussy after cereal and no sleeping at night, crying if I leave the room (even still in sight) We were just getting into the swing of things then this happened. Plus she has a cold, then dad now I do. And since I haven't had much sleep at all this week my cold is lingering due to exhaustion... Ugh. She's lucky she's so cute and that I love her dearly

meganpatel

Thank goodness it's not just us!!! I was starting to think something was wrong. DD won't even sleep in her cot anymore, will only sleep in the bed!
One minutes she's all smiles and happy and then in a flash turns into a terror.

She is starting to come out the other side of it but it is hard. I just try to keep firmly in my mind that she is having a hard time, not trying to give me a hard time

oneblessedmess

I seriously thought I was failing as a mom. LO is up every. two. hours. But it sounds like many of yours are going through the same which makes me not feel like I'm doing everything wrong. I think between going out of town for Christmas and her normal routine completely going out the window, teething, and leap 5, she is just going through a lot. I cannot wait for this leap to be over!

Thera888

Oh my goodness.. my DS was going to sleep at 1 am and then waking up every hour.. and he started to fight sleep before naps too, other than that he was happy baby...needless to say that I'm exhausted. He is exactly 6 months now. Tonight was first time in several weeks he was sleeping from 10pm and waking up every 3 hours to nurse. Huge improvement literally overnight. I'm not even dreaming of him sleeping through all night.

harey28

So my dd has 7 days left of leap 5. Things are getting a little easier but her night time sleeping isn't. I'm wanting to hear possitive stories about your little ones please tell me they settled back into a routine once the leap was over? Trying to stay optimistic here!

cmbt2015

Leap 5 is for the birds. My sweet little baby is a terror before naps and will not sleep at night. Please tell me your kids go back to sleeping when it's over. I don't know how much more I can take not knowing if it will end. We may have to use ferber if it's not going to soon.

gabb223

Can someone please tell me how long this leap last? I'm currently in it, he wakes every 30 minutes during the night. I work full time 40 hours and with no sleep i'm so exhausted and just need to no this is going to be over soon he's been unsettled for nearly 2 weeks now :(:(

Jurse1018

I'm in the same boat! My LO hasn't been sleeping well since we stopped swaddling around four months and I've been blaming her lack of sleep at night on that, but it's gotten steadily worse. She gets up usually once an hour or two every night. I keep reading about Wonder Weeks and finally broke down and bought the app. I've got 5 days left in this leap and I'm praying she'll go back to a semi normal sleep routine.

harey28

So the leap ended yesterday and dd slept in her own cot from 8 till 7! I on the other hand was wide awake waiting for her to wake up. Here's hoping normal services have now resumed

KAR8706

The leap is no biggie at all. LO does get a tiny bit fussy when we walk away but nothing crazy. Yesterday he was CRAZY fussy and finally we stuck a finger in his mouth and his top gums are sooo swollen, which is exactly what happened before his bottom teeth popped. Poor guy was up all night just miserable. Im ready for teething to be over rather than the leap.

NewMumzy25

wheresilenceismusic said:

LO just started her 5-month leap (leap 5?) and she is TERRIBLE.  Whichever one she is in, it is by far the worst yet.  

She has woken up EVERY HOUR for the past four nights.  We "woke" this morning and I felt like I had been hit by a truck… I was utterly exhausted.  She is no longer napping by herself.  
In addition, when I walk away from her (not even out of the room) she cries.  When she is 'bored' with a toy she cries.  …And since she is not sleeping, she is always overtired, so basically for the last week, she has been crying nonstop.

She acts completely differently with DH, which frustrates me.  She loves him, but she prefers me -- only I can comfort her.  It's sweet to be the favorite parent in theory but it is also really tiring.

I actually came on this board specifically to see if anyone was going through this.  I'm so glad you made a thread.  DH went to work this morning from 5am - 12pm and Hazel cried so much and so hard (I walked her in her carrier, tried to nurse her to sleep on the couch and in our bed, tried her swing… nothing worked) that for the first time ever, I just needed to be away from her.  I couldn't stand her crying anymore.  DH came home and I told him to take her for a walk in the carrier and to get her out of the house.

I'm going to take a bath with lavender epsom salts now.  Maybe even get lunch.  Best of luck to you Mamas.  Keep in touch.  My LO is an angel during her sunny weeks; I know this leap will be absolutely worth it in the end...

Yes this exactly! Same damn thing and I'm going crazy. Love my little man to bits buy his is rough. I just sat on the bed and cried last night ad he had been screaming in eat and face for an hour while trying to get him to sleep. Nothing I did helped, I tried ally tricks. Hubby came in to try to help but he only wants mom he's a mommas boy. When he's happy he's fine with either of us but the happy is short lived and replaced with a high pitch scream.


I would go nuts if it wasn't for Sunday family dinners with the hubbies family. We go over to mom and dad's and he's happy cause he gets passed around like a hot Potatoe and I relax for most bit I usually get him back once he starts screaming cause he wants mom and is so determined to get what he wants.

I have to be within touching distance or he cries I get back beside him and it's as if nothing happened.

Thank goodness for tax time I need a mani pedi or facial just a little bit of me time with no screaming lol.


I love my little man but sometimes mommy just wants to go pee without the background screaming till I get back.