Showing posts with label schedule. Show all posts
Showing posts with label schedule. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Giving Him the First Year, My Practice of Mothering
Sarah at Emerging Mummy asked her readers to share their practices of mothering. She has a really awesome series on her own practices. I loved the idea, but I didn't think I would submit anything myself. It came to me today. Ryan, my husband, was reminding me of a principle my great-grandmother talked to him about over Christmas: give them the first year. My great-grandmother (My 7 1/2 month old son Declan's great-great at 89 years old!) was a little bit of an entrepreneur. She had consignment shops, a house cleaning service, and she was involved at church over the years. When she was a young mother, though, she put these things on hold to focus on her babies.
I think about this principle whenever I feel outside pressure to compromise Declan's schedule. For our family, giving him the first year translates to staying home a lot. Babies need more sleep than most people (Americans?) think. His feeding, nap, and bedtime routines are very important to me in order to maintain his comfort and sense of security. I want to rock him in his nursery and for him to be able to sleep in his own bed, still and quiet and clean in a fresh diaper with his blanket and his white noise; I want him to know where he is when he wakes; I want him to know that I'll come to him with big smiles when he finishes a good nap. These things are his to rely on and he can feel that all is safe and normal.
There are things that Ryan and I miss out on because of our dedication (some may call it obsession) to our son's routine. We do make allowances for specific occasions and on Sundays for church (our service meets in the evening). Although it would be nice to have more flexibility to run errands, have dinner parties with friends, or do other evening church functions, we believe we are doing something more important. I don't know many other people with young babies that give up their pre-baby lifestyle. I understand that decision and sadly I think it's a strong aspect of Western culture, but I can't honestly say I support it (even though it's none of my business). My husband and I believe that through this temporary sacrifice (which, let's face it, is just the beginning -- you're a parent by the way!), he will grow into a healthier, happier, smarter, and self-controlled child.
7 Months Old: All But Crawl
We're 7 months into this deal. In case you haven't noticed, I've been making an effort to note the developmental advances he's made and record some of the things I want to remember about him at each monthly milestone. It's already fun and eye-opening to look back at how he has changed. I don't have a real baby book, so I'm sure one day I'll find some way to preserve these entries.
At 7 months old, he's not quite crawling. Since the week before Christmas he has been experimenting with getting up on his knees and rocking back and forth. More recently he spends most of his tummy time like this, whereas before it was pretty infrequent. As of last Friday, I saw him go from this position to sitting. I wasn't expecting this to happen before crawling, but I'm so glad because most of the time he prefers to sit instead of be on his tummy. So now he has the ability to do it without my help (c:
In addition to that skill, he's shown a lot of interest in pulling up. He tries to pull up on our dining room chairs, the couch, his crib, dresser, or changing table, and of course reaches for our kneecaps when we get close enough. He's gaining strength and confidence to make his limbs do what he wants them to.
Vocally, he's still a chatterbox when he gets going. He likes to repeat, "RaRaRaRaRa" among other things. He has taken to squealing/screaming/screeching/chirping really loud. So loud and repeatedly I sometimes want to apologize to our downstairs neighbors who have two babies. Usually the outbursts are with joy, but he sometimes uses them to express frustration. Like if he's sitting in his high chair while I get his food ready and he's getting impatient. One of the funniest things he does is clench his gums, open his eyes really wide and raise his eyebrows, and hold his breath while he turns red and clenches his fists. I have no idea what this is about... I think he just likes the look of bewilderment on my face when he does it.
Over Christmas I transitioned him back to 2 solids feedings a day. I know that what time of day he eats what doesn't matter to him, but I like giving him fruit and cereal in the morning and veggies in the evening (c: The fruits he has tried are just bananas and plain applesauce. He usually eats those with blended up oatmeal. It has taken longer than I thought it would, but he has come to love these. The veggies he has tried are carrots, green peas, green beans, acorn squash, broccoli, spinach, and most recently, avocado. I have some yellow squash in the fridge that he'll try next. When he tries something new, it's always with a grimace and a gag, at least on the first few bites. The only exception has been spinach. Surprisingly, he took to that like it was his everyday favorite from the first bite. He'll eat it cold, too (ew!).
This month I have finally managed to make myself stick to a schedule (mostly, anyway) when it comes to his sleep. I would have thought, knowing myself and how I like to make lists and schedules, that this would have happened on its own long ago. The problem is that even if things are going good, I have to wonder if a change would make it even better, so I change it up. And we get thrown off. So the past few weeks this is the schedule I've been keeping.
6:30-7am - His wakeup. If he wakes up earlier he has to stay in bed til then. If he is still asleep past 7:15 or so I wake him up. The vast majority of mornings he wakes around 7am though. I give him his medicine first thing.
8:00am - Nurse
8:30am - Fruit and Cereal
9:00am - Nap#1. Finally these are stretching out to be an hour or more.
11:30am - Nurse
1pm - Nap#2. Ideally, an hour or more. Unfortunately though this one is still often short (30min). I have been letting him cry for up to an hour. Once he went back to sleep for another 45 min. It's really frustrating when this one is short because a third nap comes at a really awkward time and can interfere with his bedtime.
3:00pm - Nurse
4pm - Variable Nap#3
6:00pm - Medicine
6:30pm - Nurse
7:00pm - Veggies
7:15pm - Bath
7:45pm - Nurse
8:00pm - Bedtime
Then he'll usually wake up around 2 or 3am for another feeding.
There are still improvements to be made. His naps are still too short, and his bedtime is still too late. This isn't just my opinion - short naps are indicative of over tiredness. His bedtime was earlier - we tried for over 2 weeks to get him to go to bed at 7. The problem was not getting him to sleep, it was getting him to stay asleep. But I know that those wakeups that came after the earlier bedtime are also an indication of not getting enough sleep. I know it sounds crazy. But babies his age need at least 14 hours of sleep, and he's only getting about 13 on good days. It doesn't sound like a big gap, but that hour or more that he doesn't get every day is what is causing the problems that we're having. Most people don't realize how much sleep babies actually need.
I found a Godsend, Weissbluth has a blog. While he can't answer all of the questions himself, there are a lot of moms on there who are extremely helpful.
Babies Declan's age who are successfully on the Weissbluth method go to bed before 6pm, have 1 or 2 wake ups for night feedings, sleep until 6-7am, and take 2-3 solid (1-2hr) naps per day. The bedtime is early, and yes, it does limit what we can do in the evenings a lot. Our church meets at night. We had determined a long time ago that Sunday nights would be an exception, a night where he could stay up later. But now I'm wanting to get back into doing the Women's Bible Study on Wednesday nights, as well as Zumba on Thursday nights. So it is a conflict.
I am having to remember a few principles. One is that it is important to protect the sleep schedule. Now that he's older, I don't have to be home all the time. The time between his 2nd nap (once he drops the 3rd nap) and bedtime will be a great time to get him out of the house, but we'll need to be back in time to get him in bed. The second principle is one that my Great Grandmother taught me - to give them the first year. As a mom, you really give them more than that, but it is helpful for staying strong and justifying your "strange behavior" to others when they don't understand why you don't want to go out after 6pm. I have been accused of "not living." That's not it at all. It's just that I am giving Declan the first year. I'm trying to set him up to be well-rested, comfortable, secure. I'm trying to give him good sleeping and eating habits that he will hopefully carry for the rest of his life.
Anyway, I have a small soapbox for this. Maybe I'll express myself fully in another entry. For now, my little boy is asleep and I should be too. Goodnight (c:
In addition to that skill, he's shown a lot of interest in pulling up. He tries to pull up on our dining room chairs, the couch, his crib, dresser, or changing table, and of course reaches for our kneecaps when we get close enough. He's gaining strength and confidence to make his limbs do what he wants them to.
Vocally, he's still a chatterbox when he gets going. He likes to repeat, "RaRaRaRaRa" among other things. He has taken to squealing/screaming/screeching/chirping really loud. So loud and repeatedly I sometimes want to apologize to our downstairs neighbors who have two babies. Usually the outbursts are with joy, but he sometimes uses them to express frustration. Like if he's sitting in his high chair while I get his food ready and he's getting impatient. One of the funniest things he does is clench his gums, open his eyes really wide and raise his eyebrows, and hold his breath while he turns red and clenches his fists. I have no idea what this is about... I think he just likes the look of bewilderment on my face when he does it.
Over Christmas I transitioned him back to 2 solids feedings a day. I know that what time of day he eats what doesn't matter to him, but I like giving him fruit and cereal in the morning and veggies in the evening (c: The fruits he has tried are just bananas and plain applesauce. He usually eats those with blended up oatmeal. It has taken longer than I thought it would, but he has come to love these. The veggies he has tried are carrots, green peas, green beans, acorn squash, broccoli, spinach, and most recently, avocado. I have some yellow squash in the fridge that he'll try next. When he tries something new, it's always with a grimace and a gag, at least on the first few bites. The only exception has been spinach. Surprisingly, he took to that like it was his everyday favorite from the first bite. He'll eat it cold, too (ew!).
This month I have finally managed to make myself stick to a schedule (mostly, anyway) when it comes to his sleep. I would have thought, knowing myself and how I like to make lists and schedules, that this would have happened on its own long ago. The problem is that even if things are going good, I have to wonder if a change would make it even better, so I change it up. And we get thrown off. So the past few weeks this is the schedule I've been keeping.
6:30-7am - His wakeup. If he wakes up earlier he has to stay in bed til then. If he is still asleep past 7:15 or so I wake him up. The vast majority of mornings he wakes around 7am though. I give him his medicine first thing.
8:00am - Nurse
8:30am - Fruit and Cereal
9:00am - Nap#1. Finally these are stretching out to be an hour or more.
11:30am - Nurse
1pm - Nap#2. Ideally, an hour or more. Unfortunately though this one is still often short (30min). I have been letting him cry for up to an hour. Once he went back to sleep for another 45 min. It's really frustrating when this one is short because a third nap comes at a really awkward time and can interfere with his bedtime.
3:00pm - Nurse
4pm - Variable Nap#3
6:00pm - Medicine
6:30pm - Nurse
7:00pm - Veggies
7:15pm - Bath
7:45pm - Nurse
8:00pm - Bedtime
Then he'll usually wake up around 2 or 3am for another feeding.
There are still improvements to be made. His naps are still too short, and his bedtime is still too late. This isn't just my opinion - short naps are indicative of over tiredness. His bedtime was earlier - we tried for over 2 weeks to get him to go to bed at 7. The problem was not getting him to sleep, it was getting him to stay asleep. But I know that those wakeups that came after the earlier bedtime are also an indication of not getting enough sleep. I know it sounds crazy. But babies his age need at least 14 hours of sleep, and he's only getting about 13 on good days. It doesn't sound like a big gap, but that hour or more that he doesn't get every day is what is causing the problems that we're having. Most people don't realize how much sleep babies actually need.
I found a Godsend, Weissbluth has a blog. While he can't answer all of the questions himself, there are a lot of moms on there who are extremely helpful.
Babies Declan's age who are successfully on the Weissbluth method go to bed before 6pm, have 1 or 2 wake ups for night feedings, sleep until 6-7am, and take 2-3 solid (1-2hr) naps per day. The bedtime is early, and yes, it does limit what we can do in the evenings a lot. Our church meets at night. We had determined a long time ago that Sunday nights would be an exception, a night where he could stay up later. But now I'm wanting to get back into doing the Women's Bible Study on Wednesday nights, as well as Zumba on Thursday nights. So it is a conflict.
I am having to remember a few principles. One is that it is important to protect the sleep schedule. Now that he's older, I don't have to be home all the time. The time between his 2nd nap (once he drops the 3rd nap) and bedtime will be a great time to get him out of the house, but we'll need to be back in time to get him in bed. The second principle is one that my Great Grandmother taught me - to give them the first year. As a mom, you really give them more than that, but it is helpful for staying strong and justifying your "strange behavior" to others when they don't understand why you don't want to go out after 6pm. I have been accused of "not living." That's not it at all. It's just that I am giving Declan the first year. I'm trying to set him up to be well-rested, comfortable, secure. I'm trying to give him good sleeping and eating habits that he will hopefully carry for the rest of his life.
Anyway, I have a small soapbox for this. Maybe I'll express myself fully in another entry. For now, my little boy is asleep and I should be too. Goodnight (c:
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
OMG, we have a REAL baby!
I don't know if this happens to all new moms, but lately the fact that we have a real live baby, and yes we are really living this life, hits me like cold water to the face. He does all of these famous baby things, like sitting up, shaking rattles, smiling and babbling, grabbing my face, hugging/kissing, etc. He's starting to show preferences and opinion. Sometimes he doesn't want to play in his jumper, he'd rather roll around on the floor. And sometimes he wants be held and bounced. Sometimes he is thrilled to be kissed on, and other times he just wants that object 6 inches out of reach and could care less about me.
All of these things make him more and more of a real person to me. Our relationship is awakening by leaps and bounds this month. As Gail put it, my heart is "tied to his." I miss him when he goes down for the night and it will be hours before I see him again (I don't miss him much during his 30 minute daytime naps...). I love seeing him hold a toy close to his face, analyzing and calculating. Then just a second later, wave his arms wildly and suddenly topple sideways.
Despite the many times he's given me hope of his naps lengthening, he still takes only 30 minute naps for the most part. He usually wakes up smiling, so I am assuming he's getting enough rest. So it may be til he's 12-18 months til he starts taking long ones. I'm finally beginning to accept it and realize that the occasional 2 hour nap does not indicate the breaking of a new normal. Sheesh.
Nighttime sleep is mostly good. We have improvements to make, and we've started using that darned ol' sleep training to get there. After cereal, a bath, and one last feeding, he is either zonked and I can put him in his crib immediately or I rock him for a few minutes first. We shoot for between 7:00 and 7:30 bedtime. He goes down really easy, and life would be a dream, but 45 minutes later he winds up. Ryan would go in there and burp him and calm him down for a second, and then we'd let him cry himself back to sleep. It is tortuous. The first night was an hour and a half, with Ryan going in there periodically to turn him over, rewrap him, and give him back his pacifier. The second night we were encouraged when he cried only 45 minutes. The third night, he cried for 6 minutes. Fourth night, for 2 minutes. We thought we were home free on the 5th night, but he cried for an hour and a half again. We realized I had forgotten to give him his acid reflux medicine, so we got him up and let him stay up so we could wait the allotted amount of time and then feed him one more time and put him back to sleep. That was last week.
This week I'm working on being ALOT more consistent. I'm taking Weissbluth's advice finally (he has always been right for us, I don't know why I try to experiment a bunch before realizing this again and again). After 4 months, babies can start adjusting their sleep rhythms to a clock schedule (before 4 months, its best just to watch and respond to their drowsy signals--but have a set bedtime always!) The past 3 days, Declan wakes between 6:15 and 7:30 (I'm bad, I should be waking him up at 7!), he takes his first nap at 9-9:30am, then 11-11:30am, 1:30-2:00pm, then 4-4:30pm. And of course bedtime is 7-7:30. Sometimes I'm tempted to put him down early if he's being a grump, or keep him up if he seems more wakeful, but I am curious to see how a fairly rigid schedule works for him since we've never tried it very consistently so I'm standing firm! Hopefully between that and the sleep training, he'll stay down after bedtime until his feeding around 2:30am. And okay, a small part of me still hopes his naps will suddenly grow longer with routine...
I've changed up his feeding routine, too. I was totally over-zealous with the solid foods thing. He keeps them down so well and enjoys the cereal so much (plus the whole novelty of it) that I jumped ahead and gave him 2 feedings a day as cereal when you're supposed to start out with one. I justified it because we started solids kinda late -- at almost 5 months. I didn't really tie it together because it was gradual - his feedings grew shorter and fussier, but oddly, he wanted to eat more often (I still don't really understand that). So last week I stopped giving him his mid-morning cereal and just kept the evening feeding. Within a day, his nursing sessions were more prolonged and relaxed. His "I'm hungry" and "I'm full" signals are not ambiguous anymore since instead of fussing 30 seconds into the feeding, he will nurse good and then stop, smile, and if I offer him more he will either do so or push away. So I'm super happy with that.
He's still dealing with the reflux. Last week I reached 4 weeks of dairy elimination and took him off of the Prevacid to see if things had improved. After being off of the medicine for a day, the symptoms came rushing back and it was clear that dairy was not the culprit. I am changing pediatricians, so maybe we'll get some fresh ideas and a GI specialist referral. Our other pediatrician is an excellent and qualified doctor, it's just that he makes me feel stupid. He's kinda snippy. When I felt the Zantac was not working for us, I asked him about what I should do. He just said, "Take him off of it." And I was like... well, what about the reflux? I felt like I was having to drag information out of him. Anyway, I've always kind of thought that, and that last experience was just enough to make me think we might do better with another doctor.
Doing better all the time, for the most part. Gotta go make some supper. Another day gone, but it was a productive one (c:
All of these things make him more and more of a real person to me. Our relationship is awakening by leaps and bounds this month. As Gail put it, my heart is "tied to his." I miss him when he goes down for the night and it will be hours before I see him again (I don't miss him much during his 30 minute daytime naps...). I love seeing him hold a toy close to his face, analyzing and calculating. Then just a second later, wave his arms wildly and suddenly topple sideways.
Despite the many times he's given me hope of his naps lengthening, he still takes only 30 minute naps for the most part. He usually wakes up smiling, so I am assuming he's getting enough rest. So it may be til he's 12-18 months til he starts taking long ones. I'm finally beginning to accept it and realize that the occasional 2 hour nap does not indicate the breaking of a new normal. Sheesh.
Nighttime sleep is mostly good. We have improvements to make, and we've started using that darned ol' sleep training to get there. After cereal, a bath, and one last feeding, he is either zonked and I can put him in his crib immediately or I rock him for a few minutes first. We shoot for between 7:00 and 7:30 bedtime. He goes down really easy, and life would be a dream, but 45 minutes later he winds up. Ryan would go in there and burp him and calm him down for a second, and then we'd let him cry himself back to sleep. It is tortuous. The first night was an hour and a half, with Ryan going in there periodically to turn him over, rewrap him, and give him back his pacifier. The second night we were encouraged when he cried only 45 minutes. The third night, he cried for 6 minutes. Fourth night, for 2 minutes. We thought we were home free on the 5th night, but he cried for an hour and a half again. We realized I had forgotten to give him his acid reflux medicine, so we got him up and let him stay up so we could wait the allotted amount of time and then feed him one more time and put him back to sleep. That was last week.
This week I'm working on being ALOT more consistent. I'm taking Weissbluth's advice finally (he has always been right for us, I don't know why I try to experiment a bunch before realizing this again and again). After 4 months, babies can start adjusting their sleep rhythms to a clock schedule (before 4 months, its best just to watch and respond to their drowsy signals--but have a set bedtime always!) The past 3 days, Declan wakes between 6:15 and 7:30 (I'm bad, I should be waking him up at 7!), he takes his first nap at 9-9:30am, then 11-11:30am, 1:30-2:00pm, then 4-4:30pm. And of course bedtime is 7-7:30. Sometimes I'm tempted to put him down early if he's being a grump, or keep him up if he seems more wakeful, but I am curious to see how a fairly rigid schedule works for him since we've never tried it very consistently so I'm standing firm! Hopefully between that and the sleep training, he'll stay down after bedtime until his feeding around 2:30am. And okay, a small part of me still hopes his naps will suddenly grow longer with routine...
I've changed up his feeding routine, too. I was totally over-zealous with the solid foods thing. He keeps them down so well and enjoys the cereal so much (plus the whole novelty of it) that I jumped ahead and gave him 2 feedings a day as cereal when you're supposed to start out with one. I justified it because we started solids kinda late -- at almost 5 months. I didn't really tie it together because it was gradual - his feedings grew shorter and fussier, but oddly, he wanted to eat more often (I still don't really understand that). So last week I stopped giving him his mid-morning cereal and just kept the evening feeding. Within a day, his nursing sessions were more prolonged and relaxed. His "I'm hungry" and "I'm full" signals are not ambiguous anymore since instead of fussing 30 seconds into the feeding, he will nurse good and then stop, smile, and if I offer him more he will either do so or push away. So I'm super happy with that.
He's still dealing with the reflux. Last week I reached 4 weeks of dairy elimination and took him off of the Prevacid to see if things had improved. After being off of the medicine for a day, the symptoms came rushing back and it was clear that dairy was not the culprit. I am changing pediatricians, so maybe we'll get some fresh ideas and a GI specialist referral. Our other pediatrician is an excellent and qualified doctor, it's just that he makes me feel stupid. He's kinda snippy. When I felt the Zantac was not working for us, I asked him about what I should do. He just said, "Take him off of it." And I was like... well, what about the reflux? I felt like I was having to drag information out of him. Anyway, I've always kind of thought that, and that last experience was just enough to make me think we might do better with another doctor.
Doing better all the time, for the most part. Gotta go make some supper. Another day gone, but it was a productive one (c:
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Studying His Sleep
Declan has been asleep for 2 1/2 hours for his 2nd "morning" nap (which has now spilled over to afternoon) now. Considering 98% of his naps are 30-40 minutes long (I think with only one other exception) - this is weird! A part of me wonders if he's okay (I have checked on him twice in the last 30 minutes) but he's fine - still breathing! He's going to be one happy - and hungry - kid when he wakes up, which I'm looking forward to... I miss him!
I've been keeping a sleep log for him since August 10th when I started enforcing naps every 2 hours, and I have used part of the time he's been asleep today to put it in a spreadsheet. Looking at it all together has helped me to see patterns emerge, and also to help me see how we've improved - little by little - over the past 20 days.
There hasn't been a drastic change, but the biggest thing I am able to see is his natural sleep rhythm.
Wake Up: 7:00 - 8:00am
Morning Nap #1: 9:00am (average duration 75 minutes, most often 1 hour though)
Morning Nap #2: 12:00pm (average duration 50 minutes, most often 30 minutes). On day 16 he slept for 2 1/2 hours and today (Day 22) he is going on 3 hours for this nap. Weird.
Afternoon Nap #1: 3:00pm (average duration 50 minutes, but most often 30 minutes).
Afternoon Nap #2: 5:20pm (average duration 35 minutes, most often 30).
Evening Nap: 7:30pm (average duration 50 minutes, most often 45).
Bedtime: 10:30pm
Night Wake Ups: If his bedtime is between 9 and 10, he will usually wake up twice (around 1am and again at around 5:30am). If his bedtime is between 10 and 11, he'll just wake up once (around 4 or 5am). If his bedtime is after 11, he'll wake up around 3:30am and have a rough morning - probably waking again before morning wake up and maybe sleeping fitfully.
There have been a couple of wonderful nights that stand out. On Day 15 he went to bed at 10:30 and slept until 7:30am (!!!), and on Day 20, he went to bed at 9:30 and slept until 5:00am. Day 15 though had only one morning nap, and I think we swaddled him and gave him formula that night. He was probably fussy a lot and hard to deal with that day. Day 20 was much more ideal - he took 4 of the naps and was much happier in his waking time.
I can't believe he is still asleep for his nap. When I go in to check on him, he has had his eyes open a couple of times, looking around quietly, but will shut them back again and fall back to sleep. Maybe he's having a growth spurt??? He will have been asleep for 4 hours pretty soon. I often worry when he does have abnormally long sleep, thinking I have bundled him too warm or that he will have trouble sleeping tonight. But I remind myself that sleep is important and sometimes difficult to get, so I let him be and it has always made for a happy waker... I can't wait to play with him when he gets up!
A few quick things we've learned to help him sleep:
• Start the soothing routine 1 to 2 hours after previous wake up
• Have a pacifier handy
• Swaddling
• Rocking
• Singing (the same song or two every time)
• Letting him cry for up to 30 minutes and checking on him every 10. If he's still awake and crying after 30, I assess if he's hungry again and if not I rock him some more
• Soothe until he's drowsy - not asleep - and put him in bed. This used to work with no crying, but he has started to figure out our plan and fights it... hence the addition of the "let cry" method into our routine
• Giving him a few ounces of warm formula (helps him to sleep longer... sometimes)
• Daddy magic - Ryan sings to him and holds him tight while rocking and swaddling.
• Taking him for walks or swimming in the evening to wear him out. Also making him use his muscles like with tummy time or moving his arms and legs and other exercises to physically wear him out.
Putting him to bed is not my favorite thing - it's usually a struggle and I just want one thing to work every time so I don't have to think about it so much! But when I'm rocking him and waiting for those little eyes to go from wide-awake to half-shut, I try to just imagine him getting bigger and not being able to hold him. Thanks to moms who have gone before me and advised not to take this time for granted, I snuggle him closer and enjoy where we're at right now.
I've been keeping a sleep log for him since August 10th when I started enforcing naps every 2 hours, and I have used part of the time he's been asleep today to put it in a spreadsheet. Looking at it all together has helped me to see patterns emerge, and also to help me see how we've improved - little by little - over the past 20 days.
There hasn't been a drastic change, but the biggest thing I am able to see is his natural sleep rhythm.
Wake Up: 7:00 - 8:00am
Morning Nap #1: 9:00am (average duration 75 minutes, most often 1 hour though)
Morning Nap #2: 12:00pm (average duration 50 minutes, most often 30 minutes). On day 16 he slept for 2 1/2 hours and today (Day 22) he is going on 3 hours for this nap. Weird.
Afternoon Nap #1: 3:00pm (average duration 50 minutes, but most often 30 minutes).
Afternoon Nap #2: 5:20pm (average duration 35 minutes, most often 30).
Evening Nap: 7:30pm (average duration 50 minutes, most often 45).
Bedtime: 10:30pm
Night Wake Ups: If his bedtime is between 9 and 10, he will usually wake up twice (around 1am and again at around 5:30am). If his bedtime is between 10 and 11, he'll just wake up once (around 4 or 5am). If his bedtime is after 11, he'll wake up around 3:30am and have a rough morning - probably waking again before morning wake up and maybe sleeping fitfully.
There have been a couple of wonderful nights that stand out. On Day 15 he went to bed at 10:30 and slept until 7:30am (!!!), and on Day 20, he went to bed at 9:30 and slept until 5:00am. Day 15 though had only one morning nap, and I think we swaddled him and gave him formula that night. He was probably fussy a lot and hard to deal with that day. Day 20 was much more ideal - he took 4 of the naps and was much happier in his waking time.
I can't believe he is still asleep for his nap. When I go in to check on him, he has had his eyes open a couple of times, looking around quietly, but will shut them back again and fall back to sleep. Maybe he's having a growth spurt??? He will have been asleep for 4 hours pretty soon. I often worry when he does have abnormally long sleep, thinking I have bundled him too warm or that he will have trouble sleeping tonight. But I remind myself that sleep is important and sometimes difficult to get, so I let him be and it has always made for a happy waker... I can't wait to play with him when he gets up!
A few quick things we've learned to help him sleep:
• Start the soothing routine 1 to 2 hours after previous wake up
• Have a pacifier handy
• Swaddling
• Rocking
• Singing (the same song or two every time)
• Letting him cry for up to 30 minutes and checking on him every 10. If he's still awake and crying after 30, I assess if he's hungry again and if not I rock him some more
• Soothe until he's drowsy - not asleep - and put him in bed. This used to work with no crying, but he has started to figure out our plan and fights it... hence the addition of the "let cry" method into our routine
• Giving him a few ounces of warm formula (helps him to sleep longer... sometimes)
• Daddy magic - Ryan sings to him and holds him tight while rocking and swaddling.
• Taking him for walks or swimming in the evening to wear him out. Also making him use his muscles like with tummy time or moving his arms and legs and other exercises to physically wear him out.
 |
| He was even smaller once - proof that he won't be little forever! |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)