Lewis woke up at 5:15am this morning. Inappropriate. Unacceptable. Obscene.
I mentioned we've been having some hiccups, and I think it's time we regroup, revamp, recharge our sleep tactics. I reread the pertinent chapters of our book this morning, and here is the plan:
Lewis needs to:
- Sleep for 10 1/2 to 11 hours at night (no more than 12...hahaha, won't be a problem)
- Sleep for at least 1 hour, twice a day (with a 3rd short nap, if needed)
- No more nighttime awakenings!
- Goes right to sleep at bedtime. Stays asleep until 'morning' (even though morning comes far sooner than the goal wake-up time)
- With early awakenings, Kevin and I have had time to watch our saved TV shows or Today, tidy up the house, cook full breakfasts (eggs, bacon, biscuits, gravy) sometimes, and spend quality time as a family before Kevin goes to work. Sleeping a little longer would be nice, too, though.
Negatives/Areas Needing Improvement
- Is waking up before the 10 1/2 or 11 hour mark
- Is sometimes napping for only 30 minutes at a time (though he hit 1 hour for both naps yesterday and so far today)
- Has too long of a stretch between waking up from 2nd nap and bedtime (sometimes 2pm to 7:30pm)
Action Steps
- Stick to the 1 hour rule for naps--keep him in his crib the full hour to give him a chance to fall back asleep.
- Pay attention to cues during the day re: ready for naptime. Space them 2 to 2 1/2 hours from wake-up, then 2 1/2 to 3 hours from 1st nap wake-up, then possibly 2 1/2 to 3 hours from 2nd nap wake-up if 3rd nap is needed.
- Consider beginning bedtime at 7:15pm/Asleep by 7:45pm (Change from 7:30pm/8pm) to see if he will sleep longer in the morning. Maybe even 7pm/7:30pm.
- Keep going to bed early so I am better able to function so g.d. early in the morning.
And someone started pulling up on the kitchen cabinets and opening drawers, so it looks like we'll be installing drawer locks this weekend...
I would say that you shouldn't try to force it too much. Many people, including me, would pay big bucks to have their baby sleep even 8-9 hours uninterrupted. Maybe if you bring him to bed next to you at 5:15 he will fall back asleep.
ReplyDeleteFor naps, we have found that routine is important. Aiming for the same approximate nap time every day, and having Lucy home at that time, helps a lot, but there will always be some days when her naps are shorter. That will usually be made up a day or two later with longer naps.
Thanks, Craig. We did have visitors last weekend and he took 'car naps' which I know messed with him. Yesterday and Monday he napped well, and this morning he made it past 6:30. I just need to remember to be patient and stick to our routine as much as possible. Sleep deprivation sends me into a bit of a sleep-related research obsession. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Craig on the napping at the same time every day...that's worked really well so far with Abram. We have not yet learned to take advantage of his sleeping through the night and keep staying up late and watching Conan(my reason is to pump one more time)! Does Lew still take a paci? Curtis puts like 4 pacis in the crib with Abram at night because that really helps him go back to sleep on his own.
ReplyDeleteNo more paci, no. He's back into a groove since I posted this...since the 5:15 morning, we had a 6:30 (thank God), 7:10 (wow), 6:45 (awesome), and a 7:30 today (but we had a 2:30am nursing session last night b/c he has a cold).
ReplyDeleteThe book we're following has a set bedtime but no set wake-up time (rather, a 1 1/2 hour waking window), so I time his naps based on when he wakes up. The timing in between awakenings is the same every day (somewhere around 2 1/2 to 3 hours, when he shows signs of tiredness), but it isn't necessarily at the same time every day (give or take an hour and a half).
It makes me neurotic, I tell you. :)
We're sticking with 'the plan' and I think we are heading in the right direction now. The cold didn't seem to mess with him too badly last night, so fingers crossed it isn't as bad this time around!