Our current routine is that Benjamin takes his naps and is put to bed in his crib. When he wakes up for his first feeding, we put him in our co-sleeping bedside crib thingy, and continue to return him there after each nighttime feeding. Last night we decided to return him to his crib after the 3 AM feeding, which means he slept there all night, and Mark and I finally had our room back to ourselves. Yeah!!
Now before you think we have this whole sleeping thing figured out (which we don't by the way, which you'll probably learn in a future blog post where I complain that he is up every two hours again), he's napping well, sleeping pretty well at night - but bedtime has become this huge struggle - often lasting 1+ hours trying to put him down. We had been trying to get him to sleep at 9 pm, and sometimes he would even go down as early as 8 or 8:30. Lately, though, it's been creeping closer to 10 pm, leaving Mark and I with no alone time together at night.
To remedy this, we're going to try two approaches. One is we're going to start waking him up in the morning. He'll often sleep until 8 am or even 8:30. Today is the first day we were going to try to wake him up, but he woke up on his own out of hunger at 7. It's going to be hard - anyone who has a baby knows that waking a sleeping baby is hard. And no, it's not just because they are cute when they sleep (which they are), but because you are faced with this situation of consciously giving up some of your own free time. I could take a shower and eat breakfast - or - I could wake up Benjamin. Not that I don't love seeing our little cutie in the morning (first morning smiles from his crib are one of the most adorable, heart-warming things I've ever experienced), but if I wake him up, I'll have to change his diaper, feed him and entertain him for at least an hour while I drag myself around hungry and smelly. I'm rambling...
The second approach, which I'm not totally committed to yet, is to either nix the evening walk or move it earlier in the afternoon. I don't like this for a couple of reasons. One is I love my evening walks (often using them to catch up with friends and family on the phone - and no one will be home in the afternoon), or Mark and I get a chance to chat if he can come on the walk. Secondly, it's still pretty hot here in the afternoon. But Benjamin seems to think the stroller is his crib during our evening walk, and gets a pretty good nap in while we're walking. This could be delaying his bedtime - particularly because if he falls asleep during our walk at 7 PM, he's refreshed for several hours - and if we are at home, I wonder if there is a chance that he could go to sleep for the night if he were in his crib.
Anyways, we'll keep trying to figure out this bedtime thing, and we'll keep you posted if we have any success. If you have any handy tricks for getting your baby to sleep at night, let me know! I find it strange that he can go down just fine for a nap, but that somehow he knows when he goes down for bedtime that it's for the long haul and he wants to fight it. Curious...
Because I can't resist, here's a few new pictures of the little guy:
7 comments:
These pics are great, but now I'm confused...I always thought he looks like Mark. But in the bottom pic with you two smiling he looks like you! :)
Liz
I agree with Liz, there is definitly some Gelberg in him, even though he's a mini-Mark!
Keep us posted with the sleeping news, I'm taking notes! 10 days and counting!
i hope the good sleeping is still going on! it is so hard to figure out a schedule that works for everyone and then extra hard to see if you can actually control it.
i was reading your blog entry over steve's shoulder and as he scrolled down to the pictures, I said out loud, "wow, he's really getting cute!" :-) it's true! i love it around 3 months when they just look so much more filled out and cuddly. can't wait to see you very soon!
Katherine that picture of you two is beyond adorable!! I love it! Thanks for keeping us up to date!
I also really like how he is so fascinated by that toy you put on his arm.
I agree with Liz and Katie, many of his features look like Marks until you see that bottom picture then its all Katherine. Babies are so much fun!
Wow...that sleeping story is very intimidating for me to hear, so I guess I don't have any good advice for you. But let me know what does work so I can make a mental note of it! ;)
Also, very cute pictures...I couldn't tell you who he looks like...he just looks cute!
Hi, this is Sarah's friend, Christine (Alex and Kyle's mom). Your baby is so cute. Almost made me want to have another one. If I don't have to go through pregency, sleepless nights, and terrible 2s horrible 3s and so on, I would definetely have another one.
Anyways, you are lucky that he is sleeping well. Alex never slept through the night befor he was one. Maybe once or twice. (and I blame the dad). I finally trained to sleep through the night while my husband was out of town. He cried for 3 hours the first night, 2 the second, and slept through the third. Kids never really sleep through until they are fully potty trained. Even now, he wakes up sometimes to use the bathroom.
Of course, there were exceptions, can't really expect them to sleep through the night when they are teething, sick or growth spurs.
Alex never went to bed until 9:30 back then. But, now, he is 3, no naps, and goes to bed by 8. (if we are lucky, 7:30).
Each kid has differet internal clock. I say count your blessings that he is sleeping through.
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