Friday, May 22, 2009

baby sleep

dear parker,
you are taking a sweet nap on the couch next to me as i write this. i am amazed at how well you are sleeping already and hope it continues. after returning from wisconsin, dad and i decided to try and give you a 10pm bedtime (you were staying up until around midnight). even though mom is very much a laissez faire parent, she thought a bedtime would help you naturally get into a routine. it worked! for the past 5 nights you've fallen asleep between 10-10:15pm. 3 of the 5 nights you woke up at 6am (8 straight hours of sleep, baby!) and the other two you woke up at 4am to feed (6 hours, not bad) and then fell back asleep. i really hope this continues because i am getting used to 0-1 feedings during the night.

who knows if you are just a great sleeper or if anything i've done helped you develop good sleep patterns. i don't wake you up for feedings during the day or night unless absolutely necessary. one night during the first week of your life you slept from midnight-7am. when i woke up and realized you had not eaten for 7 hours, i thought "crap, maybe i should've set my alarm for 4am." then i concluded that you and i both needed sleep and it was healthy for us.

at the hospital you always wanted to sleep instead of eat (i.e. after you were circumcised, when you received an iv for extra blood work, etc.). long story, but it was then that i decided to let you eat and sleep whenever you want, at least for the first few months of your life. it is working well for us so i plan to continue our relaxing lifestyle until something changes. why waste time and energy tracking your sleep and wake times when i could be doing much more exciting things like blogging, ha.

anyway, it's friday. dad and i are barbecuing some brats and hamburgers tonight. can't wait. love you little guy!!!
love,
momma

p.s. this is your new favorite place to sleep: your arms reach co-sleeper (actually i think you still like sleeping next to me in our king size bed better, but we're putting you to sleep in the cosleeper to help you get ready for your crib).
this is your favorite place to nap while dad and i are hanging out in the living room: the boppy. coming in a close second, the swing.you've never slept in your actual crib yet so this picture is a little deceptive. however, you LOVE your miracle blanket. after mom got over her fear that she would stunt your growth by wrapping you up in the little straight jacket, she's put you in it nearly every night. thank you "happiest baby on the block" for emphasizing the beauty of a good swaddle.
hope everyone has a great weekend and gets lots of sleep!!! love!

10 comments:

Unknown said...

I like how you have a laid back approach to the sleep/schedule situation. Too many people think you need to put a baby on a schedule and for what? do they have a meeting to get to? Important clients to meet? When we had Carl he didn't go to bed till we did which was around 10 to 10:30ish. Some people believe in putting their babies to bed around 6 or 7pm which I think is crazy, even know that Carl is going to school his bedtime is at 8:30pm usually asleep at 9pm since he does have school now. Also sometimes babies can become so used to things a certain way that when you try to switch things up for whatever reason they are not able to because they are set in their ways, the way the parent has shown them. Keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

I loved Co-sleeping. I am excited that you made your own mind up about it- rather than listening to the hype.

dawnvon said...

he's such a cutie! oh, and the family pic is adorable!

Leah said...

Hi! I found your blog through another blog. I sort of remember you from JBU. It has been fun reading your blog because I just had an April baby, too (April 29)! I just wanted comment to say that I love this post. I had started to think that I was the only one who is really laid back about feeding/sleeping. I let my other 2 nurse/sleep whenever & it really worked for us. They both had more firm bedtimes as they got closer to 1, but it isn't exactly set in stone. Just a time we shoot for. Anyway, they are GREAT sleepers (although that just could be a fluke). But I am doing the same thing with our new baby & he is a pretty good sleeper, too. Nice to hear your perspective.

wendy said...

I LOVE the miracle blanket...it just makes things easier for us since jonas is pretty set on kicking off any blankets and then getting really, really angry about it.

We did co-sleeping for the first week (and I loved it). Now every morning around 6-7 jonas gets to hang out with us in bed until it's time where we are all ready to get up...and it's my favorite part of the day!

Amy said...

Owen loved the miracle blanket ... And his growth has definitely not been stunted. :)

Krista said...

I like hearing your perspective as you start this journey with your little guy. I have always shot for having a schedule with Aidan (although a flexible one) because it fit our lifestyle and his needs. I think that every baby is different and some really do need things to be generally consistent. My sister in law did things totally different with her little guy and had a much more relaxed eat and sleep whenever style. My nephew was an extremely easy laid back baby. She has had problems with it now that he is older, but she could never be on a schedule because it is not her thing. I love my sleep and love Aidan having an early bedtime because (especially now that he is all over the place) I look forward to the evening hours that Seth and I can spend together. Aidan goes to bed at 8 and sleeps until 7:30ish most of the time. He slept till 9:00 this morning which was unusual, but he is sick, so I let him sleep away. I think it is good, as a parent, to understand that everyone has different parenting styles based on their personalities, the baby's temperament, and their personal lifestyle. I definitely like hearing about what you guys do, although it is different than what I did with Aidan at that age. Keep enjoying this sweet baby stage. They grow up so fast!

Melissa said...

you did it! love the new page!!!

Kim said...

the new page does look great! I'm glad Parker has been such a great sleeper for you all. It gives me hope for someday when we start doing the baby thing...I really don't like operating on little sleep over long periods of time...so hopefully I'll be lucky like you!

Katie said...

Yay for Little Parks! He is so adorable. I love reading about how you are raising him and it's so wonderful to see you flourish as a new mama. You've got this thing down!

We never co-slept with Caleb at night, but many a nap time were spent together. I loved having that precious cuddle time, especially now that he prefers the crib over me! We had to put him on a strict feeding schedule when he was born because he lost too much weight very quickly, but we are definitely more flexible now (although I am an advocate for consistency--you know that!). I just love this and I can't wait to keep reading about your little man. You're doing so great, Silvy!!