CLOSE YOUR EYES

Sleep training continues to baffle myself, Matt and Lauren. The time change has not helped at all either! We've had to follow Lauren's lead a little more than I would like but she just couldn't fit into the typical pattern of a baby her age. She gets tired after being up for an hour and a half or two hours at the max. This probably has something to do with her heart still and I've just come to accept that we don't have a lot of awake time.

In the morning after she gets up Lauren wants to be reminded what her bed feels like pretty quickly. After her first nap she is up for another two hours and then she sleeps for two more. At this point it is 4pm and we used to try to keep her up until 7 and then put her down for the night. However this just wasn't enough awake time for her. 1.5 hours + 2 hours + 3 hours = 17.5 hours of sleeping. Even Rip van Winkle would have a tough time with that.

Now we have accepted that Lauren needs three naps a day and our house is a happier place. She takes her morning nap, afternoon nap and an early evening nap. So, yes, I used to judge parents who had their babies out past 7pm, knowing that all of the books say that your child should be in bed by then, but I take all judgement back. My baby is just waking up from her final nap then and she will be up until 9pm. We rock the grocery store, Home Depot and the jolly jumper. At 9pm, two hours past the ideal bed time, Lauren and I have a lovely time getting her pjs on, feeding her and singing a few lullabies to her as she drifts off.

As that person before baby, I judge myself as a parent who is not doing the best thing for my baby. As Lauren's mom, I know that I'm listening to her needs and helping her to get a balance of sleep and awake time. As Lauren's mom I want to give my old self a big punch in the face. So there, old me.