Before Leighton was born i had a list of do's and don'ts for raising children. At the top of my list. Do establish routines for bed and do follow it to a T. I had watched as people around me figured out what worked best and what didn't with their kids, I read several books on sleep and sleep routines. My favorite book? Healthy Sleep Habbits, Happy Child. It made perfect sense to me. It described all of the differences in babies with colic or not, babies who breast or bottle fed and that every baby is just different in some way. I stuck to this books plan and life was good until life got very very busy. I stressed myself out way to much trying to make sure Leighton got 3 naps a day at least 45 minutes long and got to bed at the right time. I am not quite exactly sure when this happened but at some point, I gave up. I decided that my baby was happy and healthy and that she would sleep when she needed to. Guess what!? It works. Not every day is a dream but honestly when Leighton is tired she goes to sleep. If she only has 1 nap a day instead of 2 she goes to bed earlier that night. We are constantly on the move and my girls adapt so much better to traveling and a change of plans when they aren't held to a strict schedule, and so do i. I know this is not the norm. Everyone says put your babes on a set schedule. Children love routine! And its true, they really do and with all of my schooling in education I know how importnant routine is. I just don't keep a strict one. I know that an hour after Em first wakes up she will go down for a nap. Then she naps between 12-2 and again around 5-6 then goes to sleep at 830-9. Leighton is down to 1 long nap or 2 short ones. When i know she is need of a long nap i plan all of our outings for the day out so that we will head home around 1 and that is when she falls asleep. If she falls asleep in the car, she will be out for a couple of hours. Still all very different than how most moms handle naps but it is what works. It works not only for my babes but me as well. Fighting the sleep battles is not fun or easy, but finding what works for you is so different with every family. You need to establish the routine that works not only for your kids, or is what the best book every suggests, but what works for you as well.
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So well said! We have regular nap and bedtime routines that make it so much easier on us both! My boys actually look forward to reading stories and cuddling. I too also plan my day around my boys' single nap time, though they often do fall asleep on the way home and sometimes, every once in a while, their only chance for a nap is in the car. But it works for us! All I know is that sleep helps make life easier.
ReplyDeleteWe did the same after stressing about the amount of sleep our daughter was getting. She slept just the amount she needed and we were problem free!
ReplyDeleteI'm all for just doing whatever works for your child! When I had Caleb I stressed that I wasn't doing the right things and about getting him into a routine. He ended up being the one who dictated the routine and I just went along with it as it was what worked best for him!
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