For the first little while, Clayton did the newborn thing of dozing whenever and wherever he wanted, for however long he wanted. Around 3 months old I realized that it was probably time to do real naps, so I tried. I'd pay attention to how long he had been awake and try to get him down to sleep before he was too overtired...some times have been easier than others. But he still wakes up after just 30-45 minutes, and that is not a long enough nap. He may be happy right then, but it won't last very long. Of course it is all complicated by a loving big brother, who wants mommy to get him some milk or draw a picture or play trains or turn on Letter Factory right when I'm trying to get Clayton to sleep, or who decides it is time to get out the pots and pans and "cook dinner" (and make a lot of noise) on the kitchen floor and wakes up little brother too soon. But really he wakes himself up too soon most of the time anyway.
Night time is a struggle too. I put him down between 7 and 8. At first he'd sleep for a few hours, maybe til 10 or 11, midnight on a good night. Lately he does the nap time sleep thing, and wakes up after 45 minutes. So I end up either going to bed really early and laying there holding Clayton, or sitting on the couch holding him while he sleeps and I do stuff on the computer. It doesn't really help me to be able to get anything done around the house. And really it doesn't help Clayton to learn to sleep well either.
I've been reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" again, and I started to implement the sleep training outlined in that book, but I kind of felt like I couldn't fully do it yet until we moved Clayton into the crib in his own room and out of the bassinet that is next to my bed. But first we have to move Jackson out of his crib so we can use the mattress for Clayton. But first we have to finish painting the bed for Jackson and buy the twin size mattress for him. But I can't paint the bed inside, and I can't have little people outside in the cold and breathing in the spray paint fumes. And I can't do it while Clayton naps because he doesn't nap! See how it's kind of a catch 22 situation here? I'm now borrowing a crib mattress so I can move Clayton without having to wait on Jackson's bed.
...to be continued...
...to be continued...
1 comment:
Sounds familiar! Brigham naps on his own terms too-- usually for 30 min max, unless you lay down with him and then he'll nap for 2 hours.
At night he might get up just once, but he might get up 3 time like last night. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it.
I'm pretty sure I should start letting him learn to fall asleep on his own. (My thinking is that maybe he'll be able to settle himself back down when he wakes up and sleep longer.) But it always seems like it's just easier to do it myself, especially in the middle of the night.
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