NCSS More Sleep Logs and a Lapse

I feel like I did during final weeks of college....like I can't believe I took a few days "vacation" from my work and am now really going to pay for it.  The big difference was that back then I would rely on guesswork and, pardon my french, "B.S.".  But today I've caught up on my missed days of logging, leaving out the ones that are too far away to remember (i.e. the day before yesterday!).

So I'll post the ones I could recall here.  I'm debating adding two days to the log for missed days-- but I don't think I'll be that rigid about it.  I'll just do better.  Hey, this is a miracle...I'm forsaking cooking, cleaning, laundry and rest to post this here.  So I'm happy with that.

By the way, you can double-click on a log page to view it up close.  I changed the formatting a bit...sorry, like I said...a wee bit disorganized (but gettting better!).

 

What I learned over these past four days:

~ I shouldn't skip days...it hurts my brain to try to think back and remember what happened

~ Morning nap time is about 2 hours after wake-up, instead of 3 hrs, if she wakes up for the day before 7 am.

~ It never pays to interupt baby's routine.  When morning nap was delayed due to my late shopping trip, it messed us up for the whole day.  I was so tired!  I'm pondering what to do tomorrow when I have my mom's group from 9-12...argh.  And then there's church too.

Well, four more days left!  Then hubby and I will sit down, evaluate and tweak the routine-- based on Pantley's advice :)  We just started reading more at night, so it will be nice to have time to revisit her suggestions. 

So far, love the bath time/ bed time routine and keeping naps as consistent as possible.

No-Cry Sleep Solution

Two days of logging are complete!  I'm rather proud of myself for sticking to it!  Of course, I have 8 more days to go until the first review and tweaking of the routines.  

Here's what Day 1 looked like: 

You'll have to pardon my photo layout..I'm new to this whole blogging thing and they don't want to go where I want them to go.  As you can see, IJ took one nap which met her "nap quota" for the day.  Then she slept for almost ten hours at night, but she cried in her sleep due to teething-related runny nose, I suspect.  She had one full blown wake up.  We've been following the initial bedtime routine of bath, play and rock/bottle-down after Jeopardy, at 8pm.  I can't seem to get away from the Jeopardy thing-- I think she might think of Alex Trebek as an Uncle when she is older!  I also made some eating/poop notes just to see if digestion is affecting any of this.

Wow was Day 2 different!  Her front tooth is making its way in and all the runny nose that goes with it made it really hard to sleep.  After hearing her cry every hour during hte night of Day 1, I was eagerly awaiting morning nap.  But it came and went as the coughing just didn't allow her to sleep.  The second I laid her down the post-nasal drip began and she was awake in ten minutes, frustrated with her body.  The afternoon nap went the same.  So we put her in the car to go to the store with the expectation that sitting upright would allow her to sleep and she would be asleep in a heartbeat.  No such luck!  That little girl was content as can be, chatting up a storm in the back seat!  She looked like she was recovering from pneumonia as she was so tired, but she was in really good spirits-- even when I made my hubby take a detour home so we could try to spot  Clive Owen filming his new movie, Trusted...or Trust...or something lihe that!  No luck on that front either, but it was neat to see all the tents and the film crew. 

All in all, yesterday was a good reminder about the "best laid plans" and how they go awry sooner or later.  It reminded me that this routine is helpful, but primarily I must meet my daughter where she is.  This is not about controlling her sleep, but setting up the conditions in which to make sleep possible and inviting for her.  It doesn't always mean that she'll welcome the invitation, whether it's due to the latest runny nose, a growth spurt or something I can't even detect. 

I'm looking forward to the next 8 days of logging and the review on Day 10!  I'll keep posting the logs every couple days-- but will probably leave most of the commentary until the Day 10 Tweak.

No-Cry Sleep Solution: Let the Games Begin

So here it goes.  I finally managed to make copies of the sleep/nap/ routine log from the book.  We've been following a rough routine though for the past few days, even with the current events that have been going on.  It's really been a blessing to know about when she will nap, and to make time for that to happen.  I.J. also seems much more rested, and I can more easily determine why is she is cranky at any given time.  Or, I can at least rule out whether it's sleep-related. 

Here's what I've discovered so far, without doing the logs....

~ IJ naps about 3-4 hours after morning wake-up.  That nap lasts 1-2 hours.
~ She eats breakfast about one hour after wakeup (but wakes up with bottle)
~ She likes to play after wakeup from nap/bedtime, before she's willing to sit in high chair to eat
~ Bedtime routine is priceless...dinner, bathtime, crazy play time during Jeopardy and then bottle and rock down-- this has been working like clock-work on most days
~ One day of an "off" day doesn't ruin the routine for the next day.  She seems to recover pretty fast, but we try not to make a habit of it.

We've had a couple days where we just couldn't do the routine.  For instance yesterday she napped for just an hour in the morning, as I suspect her teething or poopy dipe woke her up.  She wasn't interested in going back to sleep.  Then she didn't take an afternoon nap until the drive home from the doctor's office -- which was at 5pm.  She ended up sleeping all night though.  That was great!  In fact, a few days I've gotten up before her.  But she's had at least one nighttime wakeup-- but that's an incredible improvement from where we were at the day we started the book and the routines.

I just want to add a disclaimer that this is not "sleep training".  We always go to her when she cries and comfort her back to sleep.  I'm not completely against letting her sleep with us if she's have a sick or needy day for whatever reason- but I don't want it to be the habit so that we can all sleep well and be happy and healthy.  Trying to fill her up on quality mommy time during the day is what I think will help with this.  It's hard to stop and hold her tons during the day and still keep a clean house- but my goal is to do that.  Yesterday we had uninterrupted play time and it was really nice- and more important than any stinkin' dishes in the sink.  Eventually, it will be good for her to be able to go to sleep without the bottle.  My plan is to start working on that around 13 months or a little sooner.  Pantley has the "Gentle Removal Plan" that you use to help littles learn to sleep without bottle, breast or paci.  But first things first!

Darn, I forgot to turn on the baby monitor and I think I hear her crying.  Well, that's one way to extend nap times!  Oops!  Better go get my baby :)

Tomorrow I'll post the first official log page!

(p.s.  Sorry for any grammatical errors, but if I'm going to be faithful in writing, many days I just don't have the time for proofreading.  Maybe someday I'll evolve to that level.)