Now tha Ev is seemingly down for good until she wakes to eat, I am laying in bed thinking about our bedtime routine. Little Miss is to my left in her Pack N Play, Dan to my right, and Toby down and to my right, snuggled between us.
We began some semblance of a bedtime routine last week. It goes like so:
Anytime after 7 she gets a bath (every other day) or wiped down with a warm cloth, then we read a bit. Right now we are working through "Winnie the Pooh". If we aren't upstairs yet then we just shut the lights off downstairs to signal that it is time for us to begin winding down. If we are upstairs we sit in our glider rocker under the soft glow of our paper lantern string of lights and I'll turn on the CD of classical music that Auntie Elizabeth sent.
We nurse and she is still pretty wide-eyed so we walk circles around the glider. Walking lulls her to sleep better than swaying back and forth and definitely better than being rocked. Rocking won't put her to sleep unless she is already near dreamland or in the middle of the night after waking up to nurse and have her diaper changed.
I try to keep a blanket warm by either sitting on it once we are able to get to the rocking portion of our routine or I have Dan lay on it. Having something warm to lay between her and her Pack N Play seems to help her stay asleep once we have laid her down. I would probably wake up too if I was moved from a warm, cozy spot to a not-so-snuggly, cooler area.
After her eyed drift shut while we walk around the glider I'll sit down and rock her for at least twenty minutes to insure she's in a deep sleep. At least a few times a week, though, I lay her down before she is 100% zonked and I get to listen to her rustle against the sheet, snort and grunt, and eventually make enough noise to alert us that she's now wide awake. Again.
Maybe you can guess what little lady I am back in the glider with at this very moment? We are on the second loop of the classical CD now. Our bedtime routine does not need to be a minimum of three hours long so maybe I'll take the clue she's puttin' out for us: her little internal clock prefers to stay up a little later than Momma & Pops would like.
Live and learn, right? I wish there was a way to comfortably and safely sleep in the glider with her in my arms...I could be catching Zzzs right now!
Awe, I loved reading this whole post!
ReplyDeleteRae - so stinkin sweet. There are always going to be people out there that tell you that you should make sure you put her in her bed while she is awake so she learns to put herself to sleep. I somewhat agree, however, I also know that they are only cuddly wonderful babies for way too short of time - snuggle on! We all learn to put ourselves to sleep eventually right? Why rush. Cheers to snuggling your girl.
ReplyDeleteThescenefromme.com - Glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for stopping by. :)
ReplyDeleteKaty - :) I may or may not have already created a sleepytime monster that only wants to be snuggled but I suppose we'll fight that battle when we feel it is time. Did you lie Grace down when she was still somewhat awake? If so, what age did you start doing that? Miss you, friend! How's South Dakota?