The day started out so well. Mari had a fairly long morning nap, followed by a long early-afternoon nap. Both were admittedly broken up by awakenings, but I managed to get her back to sleep. She seemed well-rested, though both naps started and ended later than I would have liked.
Then, less than an hour after her afternoon nap, she started rubbing her eyes and fussing again. I thought it was too soon for her to be seriously tired already. After all, she's not a newborn. She's stayed awake far longer than an hour. So I read her a story, put her in her sling and did a few things. Then I nursed her, and she fussed when she was done. I wasn't sure if she was fussing out of fatigue or because she wanted to use the potty, but I took her to the potty. Then I tried to rock her to sleep but she wasn't having it. Before I knew it an hour had passed and she no longer seemed tired. It was also six o'clock. So I had went to have supper, and midway through, she started to fuss again, the fussing of an overtired baby. I had missed the window of opportunity to get her to take a third nap.
I'm still finding it kind of hard to believe that at this age, a well-rested baby would want another nap after less than an hour of being up. But the evidence is there. And once again she hasn't slept enough during the day and being overtired before bed is making her wake up frequently in the evening. Damn. Following this plan is harder than I thought.
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You are so organized! If I might make a suggestion: Isaac is so much a better sleeper than Caleb was (is -- we still have problems even though he's 2 1/2), but I find both guys do better with a pretty early bedtime. Isaac is usually down by 6:45 p.m. and sleeps for almost 12 hours (please don't kill me -- I did nothing different than I did with Caleb, who woke up every 1 1/2 - 2 hours until he was 11 months old); Caleb fights us tooth and nail, but if he's in bed and relaxed by 7:45 p.m., he'll actually sleep longer and later in the morning. Can't remember where I read this, but babies this age often follow a 2-3-4 schedule: first nap 2 hours after they wake up, second nap 3 hours after they wake up from that nap, then 4 hours later, bedtime. So say she wakes up at 7 a.m.; her first nap would be 9 - 10:30 a.m., her second would be 1:30 - 3 p.m., and then she'd be in bed by 7 p.m. It's easier to work with a natural rhythm if you can find one -- however, one of the characteristics of the spirited child is irregularity in sleep and meals! That's where all the record-keeping will come in handy. She might also be adjusting a little for the first few days, as she gets used to getting more sleep?
ReplyDeleteWow, the 2-3-4 schedule is an interesting idea. Sometimes it seems to apply to Mari and sometimes not. She can certainly last quite awhile without actually sleeping in the evening, but she seems very hyper and overtired if she's up much longer than two and a half hours. I guess every kid is different. You're so lucky with Isaac!
ReplyDeleteYeah, Mari, who is very decidedly spirited, seems determined to go off her schedule at every turn... but it probably hasn't been long enough for her to get used to it yet.