Sleep & Routine
I always find it interesting when people share what sort of schedule, if any, that they have for their infants. Sammy is still on the Eat, Play, Sleep schedule and I’m proud of myself for sticking to this! With my older two we always fed before sleep so they got used to nursing to sleep…which makes it harder on you because they always associate falling asleep with nursing or a bottle! Hopefully this pays off.
Naps
Currently we are on a 90 min wake schedule rather than timed naps because every day is a little bit different. Traditionally I have waited until baby has gotten to be 6 -8 months before trying to implement set times/drop down to just a morning and afternoon nap. The last couple of weeks his naps in the morning have been shorter (about 45 mins). In the afternoon he tends to take one long nap (2-3 hours long)This works out alright because my older two are generally napping at the same time so we aren’t missing out on doing anything during that time frame! I know a lot of people do a set schedule like Moms on call, but I want to have the flexibility to take my older kids to the park, walk for one of his naps, etc. and I don’t want too much structure especially with 2 older siblings. So, I try to shoot for 75% of his naps at home and the rest we just roll with!
Vacation, Swaddling & Nighttime sleep
Nighttime sleep hit a real tough patch when we went on vacation. This happened with both of my other kids at the same age, so it doesn’t really alarm me. Its just part of the process. ((sigh)) Unfortunately none of my kids could just adjust really easily being somewhere new when they were babies!
He NEVER got comfortable in the pack and play and then ended up catching a cold from my middle son. So, needless to say it was rough. I think his best night he was up twice, worst was 4-5 times! Ouch. When we got home from the trip I feel like he was all out of schedule and honestly he was just a mess. It took a couple of weeks to get him back on schedule (and a few nights of crying) because he was routinely waking after the trip out of habit and expected me to come into his room like I did when we were in Florida. On top of the travel, we had to remove him from the swaddle and he was also going through the sleep regression. So, yeah. Fun stuff. ha.
I tackled all three problems (unswaddle, post-trip hangover, and the sleep regression) with the following:
Unswaddling: bought the Merlin Sleepsuit and used it for a week to help him transition out of the swaddle. Doing one arm out of the swaddle was NOT working and going cold turkey would have been disasterous. We loved the Merlin! He felt cozy and his reflex didn’t wake him up with it, but he could still move around a little bit which helped the transition. Once I felt he was somewhat used to being out of the swaddle with the Merlin, I put him in a sleep sack because I didn’t want to have to wean him off the Merlin in 4 months.
Post trip Hangover: I tried as much as possible to get back into a routine STAT and try to limit naps on the go for a few days. Things improved after a 5-7 days but he was definitely still waking more than usual…which brings me to….
Sleep Regression: This has always been such a challenge for me with my boys. Each and every one of them went through such a difficult stage with the 4 month sleep regression. This basically means that their sleep cycles are changing to be more like ours, and not like a babies. Which is ultimately good, but CHANGE is hard y’all. Especially when you WERE sleeping and now you AREN’T. lol.
So, I reached the point where I had to let him cry a little bit to learn how to self-soothe. We would periodically go back in and check but after one night (two rounds of intermittent crying), he slept 7pm-4 am. Not every night is like that, but at least I have him back on somewhat of a schedule sleeping from 7pm-1 or 2 am. Usually after that he might be up every 2-3 hours but it sure beats being up every 2 hours like clockwork after I put him to bed! ALSO..he’s out of the swaddle! So #winning!
If he’s still waking when he gets a little older, I’ll get a little more aggressive/serious about sleep training to sleep through the night (between 6-9 months)
Breastfeeding
Nursing is going great- I feel like I’m almost at a point where I’m almost not going to be leaking anymore (yay). He generally nurses about 5 times a day . He still nurses once a night, twice on a bad night. I think its more of a comfort thing for him, not necessarily hunger because a few nights a week he only wakes once. I found with all 3 of my babies that they wanted the comfort and connection when we nursed in the middle of the night. I’m okay with the one wakeup at night, 2 is a bit excessive. ha. So we’re working on that!
I currently still pump when I’m at work or out although I do try to plan things around when he eats (mornings and weekends) because pumping is such a drag. I do love my willow pump though. I can move freely rather than being stuck to an outlet plugged into my hospital grade pump. My review for the Willow is coming in the next 10 days on the blog!
Milestones
