45 minutes... MORE LIKE 20 freaking minute INTRUDER!!
CJ is 5.5 months now and naps for about 20 to 30 minutes in his crib. He made the transition to his crib for daytime naps probably when he hit the 4-month mark (I have the worst memory ever pp) before that he would nap in his swing. The swing was amazing for him. He could actually take really long naps in that thing but I realized when his little feet started dangling off the end (our kid is literally 99% in length, RJ is super tall so makes sense) that he would not be able to last in that thing forever.
These short naps make life insanely difficult. For the most part this is the time I take to pump. Yes. I am pumping exclusively and have been since basically week 1. Post on that another time. To be able to pump, store breast milk, wash the parts, sanitize, etc. He has woken up. There is zero ME time or 'You' time as the Baby Whisperer likes to refer to it in her 'EASY' schedule. E = eat, A = Activity, S = Sleep & Y = You time. In the land of short naps there is no 'You' time. RJ does not quite understand how challenging this can be. Especially when he spends most of his afternoon surfing the internet looking up various things such as possible future cottage building plans. He gets his 'You' time. I do not. Yes I am complaining. Sorry. But it just feels better to get it off my chest. Exclusively pumping is challenging and I feel like RJ does not quite understand why. Again, that for another post. Stay tuned.
So back to his 20 to 30 minute naps. Lately, his second morning nap and afternoon nap have been slowly stretching out on their own. My little sweet angel has suddenly turned into a tummy sleeper. SHOULD I BE CONCERNED? We used to have our Angelcare Sensor pad on until that part of our unit got recalled due to two deaths in the US where babies had actually grabbed hold of the cable and strangled themselves - SCARY SHIT FOLKS!!!!!! So we currently just use the video monitor. I am constantly checking on little CJ and making sure he is breathing by making sure his back is rising and falling.
Through CJ's discovery that naps are much more comfortable if he sleeps on his tummy, he has been learning to self-soothe himself. YAY! There have been a few hiccups here and there because it can be quite a scary thing waking up on your stomach when your arms are still not as strong as they should be (especially when you are tired) but it seems to be getting better day by day! WOOOOOOFREAKINGHOOOO! If CJ could transition himself from 4 to 5 naps a day to 2 long ones all by himself, SJ (that's me) is freaking laughing! (I've now used the word freaking way too much in this post and am starting to refer to myself in the third person, whatevs) The future is looking bright. There is a chance that I will be getting more 'You' time. Hallelujah.
SIDE NOTE - do any of you moms ever randomly think you hear your baby crying and just in your imagination. I do that all the time and it drives me nuts. It makes me feel literally crazy.
Now back to CJ's sleep. First of all, who knew sleeping was such a science. A science that I feel no one truly understands. There are so many different methods which leads you to ask yourself, which one is the right one. It depends on your beliefs and your parental teaching style. It also depends on the baby because we know that every single baby is different. I read somewhere online (stay tuned for a link to this study) that when examining babies' sleep patterns that they could not find any patterns. That a baby who begins sleeping through the night at 3 or 4 months may not necessarily keep sleeping through night consistently. There are so many varying factors that affect whether a baby will sleep through the night.
This makes me feel as though it really does not matter what sleeping method we try, CJ will sleep as long as he pleases and this will vary from day to day and month to month. All we can do is hope that our little guy will somehow continue to learn how to self-soothe and figure it all out on his own.
SJ
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