4.5 months passed really quickly, throughout this period I knew that T was never able to take naps longer than 1 hr. But I've always thought that it's because he's a natural catnapper (ie takes short naps). And I must admit that because i didn't put him to sleep often enough during the day, i didn't think it was a big deal.
It's only after the nanny left that reality really hit me. T doesn't sleep not because he wants to stay awake, but because he can't stay asleep. For the past 8 days, he always took multiple short naps and he was always kind of tired and sleepy during playtime. The flu of course made his moods even worse.
So today, i began day one of Routine Training, all in the hope of creating some predictability and improve upon T's sleep. I've been warned that all my efforts will go to waste once i go back to Singapore and screw up his schedule again. But i'm hoping that after this round of Routine training, round 2 will be a "breeze".
I am using the Baby Whisperer's recommended schedule, and a light version of Pick Up/ Put Down (Pick up when he cries, Put him down when he stops crying. But i cheat by carrying him for abit longer cos it really pains me to see him cry).
Here's his schedule for the day:
7am- Rise and Feed.
It went pretty well. T was happy that i didn't "ignore" him till 8 like i normally do. He didn't eat much cos he had just ate at 5.
730am- Play.
This went well. His spirits were high and he went boink boink on his jumperoo.
9am- Nap 1.
This is where the challenge began. He fell asleep quite quickly at 9am, but woke up soon after at 930am. He spent the next half and hour crying while going back to sleep, it was horrible!! But he managed to go back to sleep and slept till 1030am. First big hurdle over, PHEW!
1030am- Play.
Just before his feed at 11.
11am- Feed.
1130am- Play.
I brought him out for a cuppa coffee at starbucks. He likes going out. And surprisingly, he didn't fall asleep on the pram like he normally would!!
1250pm- Nap 2.
I am supposed to set the stage for 20 minutes before his 1pm nap time but he fell asleep even before 1pm. He slept well for half an hour, woke up crying and i spent the next 45 minutes pacifying him and putting him back to sleep. He finally woke up at 245pm. Not bad.
3pm- Feed.
330pm- Play.
At this point i wanted to die already so i handed him over to the part time ayi while i snoozed for a bit. And i instructed her not to let him sleep till 5pm.
5pm- Sleep (this is a catnap).
He woke up 40 minutes later, on the dot. I was so glad tht i didn't have to put him back to sleep.
540pm- Play.
Keeping him happy during this time was a bit more challenging. He was crying and refused to be put down. I pretty much carried him round the house. I was sooo happy when mountain man came home because the part time ayi had gone off. I just feel alot calmer (less crazy) when mountain man is around.
630pm- Bath.
It's T's favourite activity so it kept him happy for a while.
645pm- Feed.
it's 15 minutes ahead of schedule but he looked really hungry.
715pm- Prepare for bedtime.
I told him a story, he fussed abit and finally went to bed at 730pm.
I hope i can go through with this again tomorrow. And i REALLY hope this routine thing will give him better napping habits. Mothers if u've been through Routine Training, give me some tips/encouragement pls...
Here's a picture of T for corsage: he has the same links as bubbles and he loves chomping on them!
4 comments:
Hope u guys are all feeling better! Good job with the routine training it will take a while for T to adjust. I started Kirsten on a similar schedule and it took about a week of very intense screaming but she was a real trooper and she's adjusted very well.
These days she takes a 1 hr nap in the morning and late afternoon and a solid 2.5 hours in the afternoon. And it's way easier cos she also learnt to sleep on her own without carrying or crying. HANG IN THERE!
Bubbles also takes half hour naps in the day!! With exception of Mondays it seems, when she naps for longer. I think it is because Sundays wear her out. So I totally hear you. I don't have much time to do things in the day. She doesn't seem sleepy when she wakes up from her naps though, and is always raring to go, so I really have to find things for her to do. But because she is still on a 3-hourly feed (how to train to be 4-hourly?), this means she is awake for about 2-hour stretches each cycle.
One thing that my mum helped to 'train' Bubbles was to pat her, rather than carry her to sleep. Now, when she is sleepy, we put her lying on her side (like you see in my recent post), and pat her shoulder/butt in a rhythmic manner. I often also say the sh-sh-sh sound and sometimes play a lullaby. She often still struggle/cry but we''ll just say soothing sounds and continue patting until she sleeps. This really did a lot of good for my arms/shoulders!
daphne> wat method did u use?
corsage> sending u an email now!
I used the babywise method of letting them learn to sleep on their own. Which involves putting them down in the cot when they are awake. Which is also highly controversial because they cry a lot at first.
What I do is to keep them on a 3-3.5 hour routine of feed (20 mins), play (60-90 mins) and sleep (60-90 mins). Initially, they cried for about 20 minutes before every nap but it gradually went down to about 2-3 minutes of screaming after 2 weeks.
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