First though, I wanted to try and remember a few of the things that I learned from reading that book on sleep recently (this applies for babies from 4-8 mos):
- The first nap should happen very soon after waking up and can act as a continuation of night time sleep (I was trying to keep Enoch up as long as I could before his first nap so that he would be very tired, but this author warns that getting a baby over-tired is easy to do and only works against a good nap.)
- 2-3 naps a day is average
- Having a pre-nap routine is good (we rock for 5-15 minutes, and sometimes I'll sing to him)
- Napping while moving (like in a carseat or while rocking) isn't as good as sleeping while stationary in the crib
- Babies at this age should be going to bed between 6 and 8 (We were pushing 8:00 before, but when I read this, it gave me the freedom to try putting Enoch down earlier when he started showing sleepy cues, which has really worked well for him.)
A typical day's routine (as if there is such a thing) looks like this:
- Wake up around 7 or 8
- Nurse
- 1st play time: Family worship, play with Dad and Mom
- 1st nap around 9 or 9:30 (usually sleeps for 1-1.5 hr)
- Nurse
- 2nd play time: Bath, get dressed, jump in pony, eat oatmeal
- 2nd nap around 11:30 or 12 (usually sleeps for 45 min-1 hr)
- Nurse
- 3rd play time: Play with Mom, run errands, hang out with fun people
- 3rd nap around 2 or 3 (usually only 30-45 min)
- Nurse
- 4th play time: Run more errands, play, eat oatmeal, get ready for bed
- Bedtime around 5 or 6
- Night time nursing has pretty much stopped, but sometimes he'll wake up around 3 or 4 for a snack
Here are some random details to embellish the basic routine:
In the mornings, Enoch will contentedly lay in the crib and talk to himself for 30-45 minutes until I come to get him, which is such a blessing because it helps me have a consistent time with the Lord in the morning. We have also re-arranged our day by moving our time of family worship to the morning because Enoch is going to bed so early now (he really spirals downward after 4:30 or 5 unless we're out of the house doing something fun). For instance, we enjoy attending church on Wednesday nights, and Little Man does surprisingly well considering that we usually don't get home until 7:30 or 8, but it's mainly because he's seeing new sights and getting to ride around in a carrier on Mom or Dad (where he usually falls asleep before we get to the car).
My errand running/spending-time-with-people time has really become more limited with this new routine (Enoch used to go anywhere with me at anytime because he was on a 2-3 hour routine and napping on the go was easy.). I now try to get out of the house only in the afternoons if possible (Granted, we're usually not even ready to go anywhere until then anyway because of a later bath time now.), but I do have more freedom to have friends over in my house for lunch since he's a pretty good napper during that time. I have also started running some errands at night after he's in bed because I'm much more efficient by myself (as I'm sure all mom's understand :)
Also, teething has really made nap times hard this past week. It has been so hard for him to fall asleep when his gums hurt, and all he can do is scream. While the teethers and frozen (slightly wet) baby socks help, when he's in a large amount of pain, the only thing that will calm him down and bring relief is nursing. So probably 4-5 times this week I have had to nurse him an extra time within 1-2 hours of his last feeding. This usually backfires in the long run though because he'll nurse himself to sleep, but as soon as I unlatch him, he wakes up and starts crying the most pitiful little puppy wimpers. :( And then within 10 minutes, he's spitting up all of the milk that he just ate... Gross!!! Today he has had some pretty easy, good naps though, so maybe we're working through another set of teeth, who knows?
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