Saturday, January 30, 2010

Day 12: The new 10-day plan

I've already made some changes to Mari's original 10-day plan, but I haven't written it all down until now, so here goes. Unless otherwise specified, the original plan still stands.

1. Mari's schedule will look something like this:
7:30 - Up and play
9:00 - Naptime routine (Breastfeed boob 1, potty, put on sleep sack, story, lullaby, breastfeed boob 2, rock and shh)
9:30 - Nap
11:00 - Up and play
12:30 - Naptime routine
1:00 - Nap
2:00 - Up and play
3:30 - Naptime routine
4:00 - Nap
5:30 - Up and play
7:00 - Bedtime routine (Breastfeed boob 1, potty, bath, massage, put on pajamas, story, lights out, breastfeed boob 2, lullaby, rock and shh)
8:00 - Sleep

2.  In addition to the feedings described above, I will offer supplementary feedings shortly after waking up for the day (if she didn't feed immediately before/after waking up), immediately after her late-afternoon nap, and at at any other time on demand. If she doesn't wake up demanding a feed in the evening, I will feed her just before I go to bed. After that last feeding, I won't feed her for at least four hours, after which I will revert to a minimum three-hour stretch between night nursings. If a four-hour stretch goes well for a few nights, I will start stretching it out until she goes at least five hours without a feed in the next 10-day plan.

3.  The above schedule is subordinate to Mari's sleepy cues. If she seems sleepy sooner than a prescribed bedtime/naptime, I will get her to bed right away, skipping the story and song part of the naptime routine or, if necessary, the bath, massage and story parts of the bedtime routine. I will strive not to keep her up more than two hours at a stretch and I will never keep her up more than 2.5 hours at a stretch.

4.  I will try to ensure Mari naps for at least an hour each time, unless it's the last nap of the day and the previous two naps were long. I will continue to stay near her during naptimes so I can immediately put her back to sleep if she wakes up after less than an hour. If she wakes up during a nap, I will put her back to sleep by rocking her entirely to sleep. If she wakes up a second time after being put down, I will hold her for at least five minutes after she has fallen asleep, then put her down again. If she wakes up a third time, I will give up.

5.  At bedtime, I will hold her only until she starts to close her eyes. If she fusses after I put her down, I will soothe her without picking her up, by shushing her and putting a hand on her belly or stroking her. If she's still fussing after a few minutes and doesn't seem to be trying to put herself to sleep, I will pick her up and rock her until she has her eyes closed, then I will mentally count up to "ten-one-thousand" before putting her down. If she still won't fall asleep, I will repeat the process, adding ten counts each time. If I have picked her up four times and she's still fussing, on the fifth pick-up, I will rock her completely to sleep. Same applies at the beginning of naps except that I will rock her completely to sleep on the third pick-up.

6.  After she has gone to sleep for the night, I will stay in her room for only five minutes, then slip out. If she fusses within a further 10 minutes, I will immediately go in and soothe her. If she has been asleep for at least 15 minutes before she starts to fuss, I will let her fuss for up to five minutes before going in, in hopes she puts herself back to sleep. However, if her fussing turns into full-blown crying, I will go in immediately.

7.  Mari will sleep in her crib until at least the second time she has woken me up after I've gone to bed, after which I will bring her into bed with me. She can spend one nap per day snuggled up next to me in our bed.

Today: Mari adhered quite closely to the ideal schedule and napped quite a lot today, nearly four hours in total. However, she had some trouble falling asleep and wasn't asleep until 8:25, so the longer naptime may have been compensated for. We'll see how she does overnight.

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