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Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Rock 'N Roll

We had a low key stay home day today. The only reason I even changed out of my PJs is because I had to walk the dog and said PJs were not appropriate to be worn in public. It actually was pretty nice. My only productivity related goal, besides my usual morning routine, was to get some piled up clean laundry put away, as well as some lingering items from our trip last weekend. I accomplished those tasks and spent the rest of my time focusing on Ayden.

Who wouldn't want to spend their day focusing on this little guy?!?
I am actively working on lengthening his naps which is requiring more of my time than usual. If I bounce, walk or rock him to sleep, it takes less time in the moment, but will take more time long term when we are still having to rock or bounce him when he's 2. So now I'm taking time to teach him how to independently wind down before his naps which takes about 15-20 minutes. I'm also using the Baby Whisperer's "wake to sleep" and "pick up put down" methods when he wakes after only 30 minutes, which has unfortunately become a new habit. This, again is taking more time but will hopefully be worth it. I used to just think, "he'll sleep as long as he needs" and would just get him up whenever he woke but he used to take 40-60 minute naps. Ever since he's switched to 30 minute naps he's been fussier overall.

I'll give today's nap lengthening efforts a 4 out of 10... Yeah, not totally awesome but not a bust either. Once he'd fall asleep, I'd set my phone timer for 20 minutes then get to work on the laundry. When it would go off, I'd go in and sit in the glider, and skim Pinterest while waiting for him to stir. It was crazy, every time at almost 30 minutes on the dot, he'd wake.

According to The Baby Whisperer, sleep cycles are usually 30-40 minutes and a lot of times babies will wake during the transition from REM to deep sleep around that time. For the wake to sleep method, you rouse the baby just a little, then sooth them back before they wake up on their own, thus breaking the pattern. If that doesn't work, you move on to "pick up/put down" until they go back to sleep, which is pretty self explanatory.

For his morning nap I caught it just in time and got him back to sleep for about 15 minutes without even having to pick him up. This got him 45 minutes of sleep total. For his next nap, he woke quickly and seemed almost scared. He was crying and my pick up/put down efforts quickly escalated the situation to melt down territory. This was obviously not what I was trying to accomplish, so I broke down and nursed my poor baby. He fell back to sleep at the breast, of course. I kind of loved it and savored it for a while (don't tell The Baby Whisperer...) and when I could tell he was super asleep I transferred him to his crib. This was the best nap of the day, over an hour, but was against everything The Baby Whisperer stands for.  Did I worry too much about it? Nope. I was just glad he got the rest he needed and he was in a good mood afterward.

 

Tomorrow is a new day and Ayden is just a baby. We'll get there. His last nap was in the Didymos while I cooked dinner.

When David got home, the exterminator was here. This was his third visit because our kitchen has been crawling with ants for 2 weeks now. UGH. We are so over them and they are apparently tricky little buggers to get rid of. When he finally left, we had dinner, and had a little family time. David loves working with Ayden on his physical milestones. I came upstairs to find this:



He's a rocker! I couldn't tell who was more proud. Ayden went with David to take Mav for a walk while I cleaned up the kitchen (can't leave any extra ant snacks about) and then we headed to David's parents' house for our last watering. They get home from Japan tomorrow after a 14 hour plane ride. Can you imagine?

We were planning on swinging by my parents' house on our way home for a swim but it got too late. We still stopped by for a brief hello but didn't stay too long and made it home by 9:30. Ayden fell asleep on the way home so I transferred him to his crib and we're settled in for the night.

It supposedly takes 3 days to change a baby's habits. Maybe Ayden will be napping like a rockstar by the weekend!

~Sarah




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3 comments:

  1. Sascha und KarinJuly 11, 2012 at 2:55 AM

    I love reading your blog and watching your videos. You are so inspirational.

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  2. AnnaJuly 11, 2012 at 9:53 AM

    I agree. Sarah, if you don't hear it enough, I for one really enjoy these blogs and look forward to reading them every day (well, every night...during one of my middle of the night nursing sessions!)

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  3. MariaJuly 11, 2012 at 1:42 PM

    Sarah, I followed the baby whisperer very closely and found that most of her advice worked wonders. However, the pick up put down method only aggrivated my son as you said it aggrivated Ayden. What worked for me was to get him to wind down and then lay him in his bed drowsy. I'd say something sweet and low to him and then leave the room. If/when he cried I'd wait 10 minutes and then go in to comfort him with sweet words and a gentle pat on his back. I'd do that for a minute or so (at least until he was calm again) and then I'd leave and start that same 10 minutes over. The first time I did it my son took 2 cyles and was asleep within a few minutes of the 3rd 10 minute cycle. I had to be careful though, because sometimes letting him cry got him too worked up and then it was all for not. To keep myself distracted from the crying, I'd do some sort of chore that would take my mind off of his crying and tried to remind myself that crying is often a baby's way of soothing themselves.

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