Wonder Weeks - is it really a thing?

[newmum234]

I’ve downloaded the Wonder Weeks app and it says my baby is due his first ‘leap’ in two days time (he’s 5 weeks old). I read that babies can get very cranky and cry more during these leaps because they’re going through a lot of rapid development.

Are these leaps really a thing, did you notice any changes in your baby’s mood during the leaps, and is there a chance my baby’s temperament won’t change at all while going through one? It’s good to be prepared I think, but on the other hand I’m now dreading next week because it sounds hard going!

I did track my first baby a little bit & sometimes it seemed to coincide with wonder weeks yes. There’s a lot of research into it if you look it up but I also think so much can depend on other factors so I didn’t get to fixated on it like some of my other first time friends. I don’t think il follow it for my second. Congratulations by the way

I think its so vague you can always find something that applies. In terms of development its been loosely accurate, but I wouldnt follow it strictly.

It helps manage the stress of these periods with unreasonable babies by putting a reason and a time limit on it so it doesn't feel like it will go on forever.

Not sure it's scientifically accurate

I found for the first 6 months or so, it was bang on, in terms of my baby fussing more for no apparent reason, but not always in terms of what she would be able to do (I can’t remember any exact examples but some things she would be able to do at the wnd of the leap seemed to be way out of reach for her even months later - like shaking a rattle at 6 weeks or something). As she got older I stopped looking so much as I found it didn’t correlate so well.

I came across WW in the first place googling around why my 8wk old DD was so grouchy. I’ve haven’t found my daughter enters the leaps like clockwork as it seems to suggest, but it is interesting and useful for giving a broader sense of how they develop.

It's like horoscopes. It's so vague that you can read any starsign/WW and find something that applies to you.

And when something happens that correlates with what you've been told to expect you remember that it was "right" and ignore all the other times it wasn't right.

Vagueness + confirmation bias + something slightly sciencey sounding = money spinner.

It's been completely debunked.

But I found the little snippets of what to look out for developmentally entertaining. And if it helps reassure you that your baby being more or less easy or difficult at various times is just babies being babies, and not some awful thing you've done wrong/magic thing you have done right which you must then bend your life in half to recreate - then it's doing some good.

If it makes you feel stressed or anxious delete it without a second thought. It's not even based in anything scientific!