Saturday, June 20, 2009

It's always something when it comes to kids and sleep

Most of you probably know that Brian and I are pretty laid back. Or very laid back. In fact, we may have been called, "the most laid back people I've ever met" by more than one person. This has, I think, made things a little easier for us as first time parents because we tend not to worry too much.

When Kalena was first born we didn't really try to put her on a schedule. I watched for patterns in her day, but mostly we just fed her when she seemed hungry and put her down for naps when she seemed tired. It was a good thing we never tried for a schedule because there never was one*. Some days she napped well, some days she didn't nap at all (she was always happy either way, sometimes she just wasn't tired.)

Anyway, she got into somewhat of a routine after she started sleeping through the night. We could typically count on a good morning nap but the afternoon nap was always a little hit and miss. Now she is trying to move to just one nap a day. This would be fine, BUT she's still taking her long nap relatively early, so she starts getting fussy 2 or 3 hours before bedtime. At that point it's too late to put her down for a nap-- all a nap does is delay bedtime by 2 or 3 hours and since a later bedtime never means a later wake up we're not so big on that. But our only other option is to deal with her being fussy and tired for 2 or 3 hours until it's late enough that we can put her to bed and she'll be down for the night.

I know it's just a phase and if all we can do is wait we will. But if anyone has any super-awesome nap-schedule-fixing tips they'd be much appreciated. Also, if anyone wants to come over around 4 or 5 and entertain Kalena so Brian can cook dinner without her whining up at him and hanging off his pants I'm sure he'd appreciate that too.


*When people would watch her for us they always asked about a schedule and Brian would always say there wasn't one. Then the next time they saw me they'd ask if that was true or if Brian just didn't know. Do dads in general not know about kids schedules, or do people just not trust Brian? I always thought it was a little funny that they'd ask me at all considering Brian was the one at home with her all the time while I worked.

8 comments:

  1. No advice, just sympathy. Transitioning to one nap was my least favorite part of J's life thus far. HAVE FUN!

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  2. We went places in the morning (library, playdates, etc). That seemed to distract Allison enough that her "morning" nap was a little later because if we were home she wanted to go down but if she was busy, she was okay. I do remember that some days though that she didn't eat lunch until after the nap because she'd fall asleep on the way home (so she'd eat lunch around 2) so that might affect Kalena's eating habits for dinner.

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  3. Pencil me in to entertain Kalena from 4-5pm on June 28th through July 4th =)

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  4. If you are REALLY looking for advice I would highly recommend reading, "On becoming baby wise." It may very well be the best baby book I have ever read. I have followed the books advice with two of my kids. Both are the best sleepers in the house. The other two drive us nuts with naps/bedtime.
    Haven't you heard of Laura's "arsenic hour"? I don't think it matters how good of a sleeper your child is. 5PM is rough for everyone.
    Good thing she is such a happy baby!

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  5. Every kid is different. I force Libby to stay up for an hour longer than she wants to so she takes a longer nap in the afternoon. It's lovely. She used to get tired 2 hours for bed too. I actually laid her down (she was younger than Kalena too) and then just let her nap for twenty minutes. It was just enough to help but not delay bedtime. Don't know if that helps but maybe....

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  6. Oh and I KIND OF followed Baby Wise too but Libby is a much better napper and sleeper than M who I didn't put on a schedule. It's heaven. Didn't need to with the first, did need to with the second.

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  7. Uhmmm, 4-5pm. 2 words. Arsenic hour!

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  8. It took about a week for our two to transition and not be as cranky. They still nap at 10 am, but sleep for 2.5-3 hours. We go do stuff in the afternoon which helps pass the time.

    We did have to give them double snacks for awhile because not sleeping meant they were more hungry before dinner. Now they just eat one bigger snack and a slightly bigger lunch. We also moved their bedtime from 7 to 6:30 which helped a lot (and didn't result in an earlier wake-up time).

    If you want to move their nap time, move it by 15 min every few days. Many children sleep 12-2 or 3 instead...I feel like I either get to deal with a cranky morning or a cranky afternoon so it doesn't really matter.

    I think if you read Baby Wise just know that there is a lot of controversy about that book and the author. Many organizations (LLL, AAP, WHO) have expressed concern and alarm about the book's recommendations. Google ezzo baby wise and just educate yourself on the topic. I think as long as you have a healthy dose of common sense, any parenting book makes sense.

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