6 Week “Regression”- Part 1

The 6 week regression is less of a sleep regression and more of a huge leap in development. Your baby is going through a huge amount of growth and their senses start to develop more so they are more aware of the world around them and more aware of their body and sensations inside their body.

I find that a lot of parents are exhausted by the time their baby is 6 weeks old. Enter: PURPLE crying, and things only seem to escalate. What does PURPLE crying stand for?

P- Peak of crying. 6 to 8 weeks is this time frame of the peak of crying in the newborn phase

U- Unexpected. Crying can come and go for seemingly no reason

R- Resists Soothing. Things that worked before aren’t working anymore

P- Pain-like Face. Your baby may look like they are in pain when they’re crying

L- Long Lasting. Crying can last as much as 5 hours a day.

E- Evening. Your baby may cry more in the late afternoon and evening.

This is all separate from colic. If you think “my baby doesn’t have colic, this won’t be a problem”, that may not be true. The good news is, this WILL end. Whenever any of my friends have a baby, I recommend asking for extra help from friends or family around this time. People who offer their help will be more than happy to come hold your baby so you can shower or rest or get away for an hour or two. Everyone is excited to come hold your brand new baby, but this is when it will mean more to you than ever.

In Part two, we will talk about how to survive this stage and how to keep your baby from getting overtired.

If you’d like to have a call with me to learn all about newborn sleep and tips and tricks to make it through the newborn stage, head over to my Work With Me page to schedule a call.