Schedules

For anyone who was following me via facebook before my blog days, I have been working on getting E into some form of a schedule. My most recent conquest has been afternoon nap time. I have read that there are 3 forms of schedules for babies, parent led, baby led, and then a combination of the two. I guess you would have to say we are on a combination of the two. I work very hard to keep the start to her day and the end to her day constant, and then we kind of play the middle by ear. But it does seem as though she is beginning to fall into a routine of her own making.

After we wake up in the morning (6AM), she is awake about an hour and a half, sometimes a little longer, and sometimes a little shorter, but no shorter than an hour, and no longer than 2. After that, it's time for our little morning snooze. That works out for Mommy because if I play my cards right, Daddy is home for most of it, and I can avoid becoming too awake, and consequently can crawl back into bed for another snooze myself! Our nap lasts about 2 hours. Then it's usually about 9:30 and E lets me know it's time to get up. We then eat, play, eat, play, eat, play, snooze, on demand until about 2. At which point we're ready for a good long afternoon nap. By we, I really mean E is ready for a nap. By this point, mommy is ready to get some grown up errands done. E usually naps till about 5. At which point she will be up until it's time for bed at about 7. Again, sometimes that's a little earlier, sometimes it's a little later. And if we're lucky E is lights out for the night by 8 PM. Which really serves Mommy and Daddy well, because then we get some alone and quiet time. Can talk to one another and watch a tv show without interruption!

Her nights are entirely dictated by her. Although all she gets at night is food and/or rocked back to sleep and/or a pacifier. Otherwise, there is no playtime at night. We work no nighttime schedule. If she wakes up, we get up, if she doesn't, we don't. She USED to sleep pretty well at night. The past month or so, not so much. Hopefully as the gas issues get under control so will her sleep "issues".

As for where she sleeps. The week Daddy returned to work (when E was 2 weeks old) Mommy decided to take on the crib battle. And we started in the middle of that week putting her to bed in her crib. As I vaguely recall (mostly due to sleep deprivation) Daddy would stay up and battle her with the crib until 11, and then Mommy would get up whenever called for the rest of the night (at least during the week). During these days, E was only going to bed at 10. And then we tried putting her to bed at 9, and then 8, and finally, we settled on 7. And somewhere along the line, she stopped waking up immediately after being put to bed. In fact, most nights we could guarantee her asleep by 8 and not waking up until at least 12. The rest of the night was spotty. But really, we were lucky. In the beginning it was hard, Daddy could get her to bed, but when Mommy got up with her in the middle of the night, Mommy couldn't get her straight back into the crib. But after weeks of trying, that was no longer an issue. And then, it was to bed at 7, up to feed, feed, back into the crib, back to sleep, then start over, up to feed... etc... etc... etc... But once we made that jump to the crib, Mommy refused to bring E back downstairs. She remained in her crib from bedtime through 6AM.

Daytime naps however, for some reason, Mommy didn't bother with the crib. Perhaps because in the beginning succeeding at napping was hit or miss, and for that reason, keeping her in the swing in the living room with Mommy seemed like the easiest solution for a sleep deprived Mommy. But when E was about 10 weeks old, Mommy decided, it was time to get her living room back. If E spent all night in her crib... SURELY Mommy could get her to take a NAP in the crib! So Mommy embarked on her Nap time Battle. The first day, as I recall, Mommy spent an hour and a half, running up and down the stairs. I would call that day a draw. Mostly because Mommy didn't cave in, and because E didn't actually sleep at all that day. But I had to believe she'd get tired enough to fall asleep eventually. Of course, it was Mommy's luck that when she would "eventually" came when we were eating dinner. Passed out cold in her highchair. Oh well. The second day, Mommy ran up and down the stairs for an hour, but after running up and down the stairs for an hour, E went to sleep for an hour and a half. And so the battle went. Some days are better than others. But every day from at least 2 to 4, E would be in her crib, and Mommy would be getting a really good workout!

So anyway, the afternoon nap time has been improving. She goes down easier. Stays down longer, and sometimes I don't even have to run up and down the stairs THAT much. So as we launch into week 3. There are good days and there are bad days. Just in case anyone was wondering, today was a bad day. Oh well. Tomorrow is yet another day. And don't forget. It starts at 6 AM.

To Mommies, Daddies, and future parents everywhere, I hope the naps are long, the diapers are clean and dinner is uninterrupted. And as always... who dropped the pacifier?