Saturday, December 27, 2008

Advice Works...

When you are a parent and you ask for help you get a lot of helpful hints and a lot of "trust your gut" advice... the best you can do is hope that your decision a.) is a combination of both and b.) works.

I was getting a little agitated (to say the least) at how fussy and angry the babies getting as the days went on especially at night time.  Many of you have heard and SEEN how upset they would get starting at 6 until about 9... especially if Nick was out of town.  After having lunch with one of my favorite moms yesterday and swapping notes and comparisons of our babies days we concluded that my babies crankiness has been due to OVERTIREDNESS.  I guess because they aren't "newborn" anymore I just assumed that meant that naps were a done deal and cribs were only for bed time.  Boy was I wrong.  After just one day of intentional napping my babies are entirely different.  I'll start with yesterday's afternoon nap in bed at 3 till 4.  Bottle at 5, bath at 6, bed at 6:30 - NO CRYING.  This morning they woke up on their own at 7 and had bottles at 7:15, played on the floor until 8:45 when I noticed that Harper was drowsy and sucking her thumb.  I scooped her up to go and rock and she immediately started fussing - so I put her in her crib and she was out in literally 2 minutes for about an hour.  Lily went to bed about 20 minutes later and they slept until 10.  Bottle at 10:30, played until 11:45, napped in bed from 12 till 1:30, bottle at 2, Target from 2:30-3:30, bottle at 4, watching TV from 4:30 till now 5:19.  Bottle will be at 6, bath at 6:30 then bed.  Fingers crossed they will go down as easy as last night.

I had no idea that napping frequently in BED during the day would be so healthy.  Before yesterday I would think, "keep them up during they day or they won't sleep at night" - so far from the truth.

SO THANKS! all you moms who commented and consoled.  I can breathe easy knowing that they are happier on this revised nap,eat,play,nap schedule.  

My mom always says, "we didn't know about schedules when we were bringin' y'all up" or "we didn't have Bumbo seats when we were bringin' y'all up."  Does anyone else's mom say that sort of thing?

PLUS between H&L they ate an entire jar of baby green beans!  

4 comments:

Shea said...

My mom says the exact same thing, and I can tell you that Savannah absolutely thrives on a schedule STILL! It's kept us both sane!

Stephanie said...

Yay! I'm so glad it worked! But Silas must have been listening to Harper and Lily's tricks, because tonight, three times in a row - dead asleep in my arms, put him down, wake up screaming. I seriously think he's going to cut a tooth any second, but still - it makes for a frustrating evening.

Heather said...

Oh, God, yes, keep the naps. DOn't let them give up daytime naps until you absolutely HAVE to and then still insist on some form of "quiet time." It is very healthy for the kids AND the mommy. :)

The Bean said...

Baby Bean is 3 and still takes a big girl nap every day. Usually for an hour, frequently for 2 hours and every now and then a 3 hour nap. And she still goes down wonderfully between 8 and 9 for a solid 11-13 hours. I LOVE NAPS!