The new sleep regime

Last night, Owen slept over 7 hour straight--setting a record by far.  If only we could get him to do this between 11PM and 6AM!  Alas, his longest sleep cycle has always been the first one, so we were still up at 2:30 in the morning.  I'm going to renew my efforts to feed him one last time before I go to bed.  We now have a video monitor, so I can see when he reaches a lighter sleep state and is moving around.  Maybe if I go in then, he will be willing to wake up enough to eat. 

As we approach the 3 month mark, I think Owen is ready to begin forming sleep habits, and I want to do what I can to make sure they are good habits.  

I am putting him down in his bed before he is totally asleep in my arms and then just sitting nearby and patting him until he nods off.  I just don't have the knack for getting him rocked to sleep like Noah has, and now that I am flying solo at bedtime this works better for me anyway.  I find that rocking him agitates him as much as it soothes him, and he drifts off faster with out the rocking routine. 

Our "Mommy and Me" class leader really encourages the use of a transitional object or a "nunu" as we are calling it.  This is little soft blankie that Owen can hold in bed to help him snuggle in for sleep.  We are keeping his plush giraffe nunu around whenever he sleeps or nurses to allow him to form a bond with it. 

We are also starting to form a bedtime routine that will hopefully someday cue Owen that it's time to settle down for the night. Bathtime, then pajamas, then nursing, then singing the alphabet song and reading the bedtime book.  Then lights off and into bed.  Right now this involves a lot of whining and fussing because Owen is pretty grumpy by the time 7PM rolls around. 

And finally--the napping issue.  Yesterday Owen once again refused to nap save the 30 minutes that I was doing laps in the pool and he was under Olivia's care.  It was great timing for a nap, but not nearly enough sleep for him!  By the end of the day he was so fussy and tired that he didn't know what to do with himself.  And it's not just Owen's problem.  I get cranky when Owen doesn't take a nap too--I need a break.  This kid is giving me a run for my money. 

The new nap regime involves 2 or 3 naps per day, no excuses!!  I have read that consistency helps, so we'll try to get up around the same time every day and I'm going to put him to sleep for naps--in his bed or his swing--around the same time every day.  I'll keep you posted on how this works out.