The baby is always one step ahead of me.
Always.
Just when I think I have everything figured out, he changes it up.
As we discussed here, he was only napping for half hour at a time, after trying everything and I mean EVERYTHING including letting him sleep on me again...he still woke up after half hour...I decided he was just going to be a half hour napper and that I would have to accept that and work around it. I wasn't going to continue to stress about how much he was sleeping, all it was doing was making me crazy and definitely NOT making him sleep more.
Our "schedule" went something like this:
7-8am - Baby up so everybody gets up
8am-9am - Almost exactly one hour later - Baby down for a half hour nap
Then the day proceeded from there with baby needing a nap no more than 2 hours after the last time he got up.
This resulted in 5 half hour naps in the day (sometimes 6 if bedtime at 7-7:30 resulted in a half hour nap on the boob and baby not really going down for the night until 9pm) and me feeling like all I did everyday was put the baby down for a nap over and over and over again.
But whatever, if that's what he wanted to do then FINE I was adjusting and working with his schedule he made up, tedious though it may be.
And then out of nowhere...he started to take one 1-hour nap a day. Which still meant he had about 5 naps everyday and that he was a cranky beast by the time 7pm, his "bedtime", rolled around because lots of half hour naps does not a happy baby make.
And then, AND THEN, this morning he took a glorious long nap, we're at 1 hour and 45 minutes...and he's still asleep.
WTF Baby?
I mean, I'm thankful for the extra time to myself, but guess what I've done?
Absolutely nothing. Because I kept thinking he's going to wake up?!
For the first half hour I just sat in front of the computer with my coffee, enjoying my half hour to myself. After we hit half hour I sat anxiously by the baby monitor waiting for him to wake up. Because normally that's all I have!
When he made it to 45 minutes I went and did the dishes and then went back to watch the baby monitor some more, CERTAIN that he would wake up at the one hour mark.
When he made it to an hour and 15 minutes I thought for sure I didn't have enough time for a shower now as he'd already been asleep so long but thought I'd just skip the shower and get dressed and put makeup on and get ready for the day.
When he made it to an hour and a half I kicked myself for not taking the damn shower.
And now, now we're at just over one hour and 45 minutes and here's what I'm doing...I'm writing this damn post...and baby is still asleep.
This makes me super anxious as I'm like "what's wrong with the baby?!" But normal babies sleep for 2 hour naps don't they?
This makes me super anxious as I'm like "what's wrong with the baby?!" But normal babies sleep for 2 hour naps don't they?
I can only hope that this is the new normal and not just a crazy growth spurt or some other out of the ordinary reason for baby to be napping so well.
Everyone cross their fingers for me!!!
ok, I had to laugh.. your explanation of sitting around waiting for him to wake up because it "should be anytime now." is so accurate! then they just keep sleeping and you are pissed you wasted the time. :-) Hopefully this continues to be a normal thing!! Austin started napping long naps at least once a day at the age Jett is now. Fingers crossed!!
ReplyDeleteI'm telling you....this is the 4 month miracle both of my kids experienced. Seriously...right around 4-5 months....my kids daytime naps got more regular and longer and then we fell into the 2 -2 hour naps a day until a bit over a year. Just go with it....but I totally understand your issue today...I have done that wayyyyy too many times. Yay!
ReplyDeletekd
I've got nothing. I'm still trying to figure out how to get Hazel to sleep somewhere other than in my arms or the Ergo. :)
ReplyDeleteOmg this exact thing happened to me the first time Apple slept 3 hours. I should have taken a nap! I have started trying to live in the now, like, baby is asleep NOW, which means I should immediately do the thing I was going to do when baby is asleep(race to the shower, collapse for a nap, or whatever). Like the first time they slept 5 straight hours, i went to bed even though if they had been going on their old schedule they would be up in one hour - I ended up getting 3 hours of sleep instead of 1!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I hope he continues to get these long naps!!!!
I do exactly the same thing!! Nice one Jett mama needed a shower!
ReplyDeleteI have the same issue on occasion with Molly! Some days she'll sleep 2 hours, others 45 min. It really makes it hard to get things done and yup, I become the monitor stalker too!
ReplyDeleteSounds like us. Just when I thing we have a little schedule down then, boom, it changes. Oh well, I just shower at the first chance I get and anything else done that day is a bonus!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is having an issue with napping now too so I know how you feel! Our little dude will eat and pass right back out but her, noooo, she has to stay awake and fuss for the entire length of time between feeds.
ReplyDeleteI'm crossing my fingers that you little man will continue to fall into a napping routine... for more than 30 minutes! :)
That boy is keeping you on your toes! You are doing an amazing job adjusting. You're giving me a great glimpse into my near future!
ReplyDelete