Noah's sickness has thrown us totally off.
Problem is that with fevers and medicine, he was sleeping a lot. Like his naps were pushing 4+ hours. He wouldn't wake up until 6, 7, 8pm. And of course, that results in 2am bedtimes.
I wasn't going to mess with his sleep while he was sick. He needed to get better and sleeping when tired is a big part of that. But now that he's feeling back to normal? This is so not working.
Last night, he went to bed at 1am. I can handle that. I've been trying to get him back on a decent schedule, so this was better than 3am. And 1am was counting DST (love the longer days, but it irritates the heck outa me).
So... 1am bedtime. I'm one of those people, the kind that take forever to actually fall asleep. So I didn't doze off until somewhere around 2:30-3am.
This morning, he was wide awake at 8am. Not cool.
Pretty sure he was just hungry or got chilly or something.
But little man was not interested in sleep. He bounced and ran and did lots of babbling.
Finally, around 10:30, we both zonked out. I slept until 1. Noah? He slept until 3:30. Five hours. I assumed this counted as his nap and thought to myself, "OH! Maybe this means he'll go to bed a little earlier tonight!".
So we went outside and played, walked around, goofed off with the pups. Then we all headed out to the mall to window shop. Noah loves walking around and riding the escalators.
On the way home, though, he completely passed out. At 9.
The hubby and I watched the Bachelor, then went to bed.
Until 12:30. When Noah decided he wanted to wake up from his nap.
In case this is getting super confusing, here's today's schedule:
Slept from 1am to 8am.
Then from 10:30am to 3:30pm.
Then from 9pm to 12:30am.
What in the world.
Anyone have any suggestions? I mean, I get that most new moms with tiny babies are probably rolling their eyes at me right about now, and a year ago, I was totally dreaming of a nice 7 hour stretch... but he's a toddler. A toddler who is normally an excellent sleeper. And we need (somewhat of) a routine. Suggestions are welcome. :)
4 comments:
K, I've been reading about his schedule and feeling SO BAD for you for a while now. And I'm not saying I'm a pro or anything - but I've been there. Granted, it was when Quinn was a little younger than Noah. We cracked down on Quinn's schedule when he was around 10 months. Before that it was all over the place. And I thought, what does it matter when he takes naps and goes to bed, so long as he's doing it at some point? Let me tell ya - it matters. The biggest thing to me is that the boys go to bed at a reasonable hour so that Zach and I have alone time for a few hours before we go to bed. Or if Zach's not home, that I get time for just me. I NEED THAT. Any stress that I've had throughout the day seems to melt away so long as I'm able to reconnect with Zach at the end of the day. So what I would say is to take a few days and do whatever you can to KEEP HIM AWAKE. Wake him up at the time that you want him to start waking up in the mornings. Like, 9. Keep him awake - Go for walks, have picnics (close to home so he can't sleep in the car), eat cookies, have grandma over... Then around 1, put him in his crib with a full belly and comfy clothes and say goodnight (do any cuddling/singing you normally do before naps). Then leave him until he sleeps for a while. And let me tell you, if he fights it, you will feel like a wild animal. But know that however hard it is to listen to him cry, it won't last forever, and the more consistent you are now, the quicker he will learn a new schedule. Zach ALWAYS has to remind me of that. Then, don't let him sleep for more than about 3 hours. Wake him up if you have to. Then play some more. Then around 7:30 or 8 start the bedtime routine, and do the same things everynight. Like - bath, jammies, milk, stories, prayers, lights out, in crib, songs, goodnight. Keep it consistent so he knows what's happening. Then walk out, and don't go back unless you think he's in serious danger. Seriously. Here's where the wild animal comes back. But know that if you stay consistent it won't last forever. It might take a week or two for him to figure it all out, but then you'll be done! You'll feel well rested, he'll be happier, you will feel like a better mom because you will get some just Hailey time (and that's not selfish!!!).
I've read a few books that have given me confidence in sleep schedules: "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", "The Baby Whisperer", and "Baby Wise" (Although I think there may be a "Toddler Wise" as well). I hope you don't feel like I'm saying what you're doing is wrong, because I know all situations are different, esp. with Brad's crazy schedule. But you said you needed advice, so there's my thoughts on the subject. I'm a huge advocate of sleep schedules. Mainly because I've found that when I'm not getting the sleep I need, I start showing signs of depression and anger.... and then my mom buys a plane ticket out here to help me snap out of it.... Yeah, then we realize it's just sleep deprevation.... So sleep is important!!! And a little bit of time to yourself is priceless.
So there you go. I think that was the longest comment in blog history..... sorry about that.
Team Cowan said exactly what I was going to say (like I'm some sleep expert) haha..
Don't let him nap for so long during the day. That totally messes with his night-time sleep. Only let him nap for 2 hours. That's plenty of day-time sleep!!!
I'd check out the books by The Baby Whisperer. It's a good idea to get him on a solid schedule (SO HARD TO DO WHEN HUBBY WORKS RETAIL!!!) now, before he can vault out of his crib. My advice is to schedule a solid bedtime with a routine every night first. Don't go by "tired baby." You've got to teach the baby to be tired at the same time every night with a routine. The most successful routines are the ones with sensory components: bath, rocking chair time, etc. Little guys need routine because the words don't sink in yet. After bedtime has sunk in, establish a solid nap time. You're going to have to hold your horses to get that established. If he wakes up at night, go in, pat pat pat (don't take him out, turn the lights on, or give him food!) 3 -4 hours is the max for a nap. After a decent bedtime is built in (8 - 9 pm ish), work regular meals and regular snacks, then go for the nap. Most kiddos Noah's age take one solid afternoon nap or a smaller late morning nap and a medium afternoon nap. They also sleep for about 11 - 13 hours a night. This schedule business isn't easy (Evan's screeching in his crib right now because the backhoe and excavators in the neighbor's yard kept him up). Good luck!
It's the sick thing for sure. Alice does this when she gets sick. Everyone's right, just set a schedule, if he's feeling better, to get him regulated again. I hate waking alice up from a nap, because it seems to contrary to motherhood. Everyone knows you only wake your baby up... never. You let them sleep. But with toddlers, it's different. As long as he's feeling better, then you be in charge. I'm not saying you aren't. But I definitely know what I do with Alice. I'm a sucker. I let her stay up too late a lot and don't put her down early enough. So just decide when's convenient for you and go for it. It's hard though for sure!!! I'm sorry about this. :( Alice is kinda going through the same thing, being sick blows.
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