New Nap Policy

We here at the Lloyd household have instituted a new nap policy. I try to adhere to somewhat of a schedule when it comes to Harrison's feeding/sleep/wake cycle. I feed him (which on average takes half an hour), then we have awake play time (sometimes solo play [see the above picture of Harrison in his bouncer], other times undivided attention from either Mom or Dad, tummy time, and back time, etc.) and this total awake time, including the time when he is eating is about an hour and a half, and then we head upstairs for nap time, which should be the last hour and a half of this three hour cycle. And then we start again with the feeding. I'm a control freak so this kind of routine works for me. And from what we all know about babies/children need and feed off of routines, so it's a win-win situation.

However, now that Harrison is getting older we have been having some serious issues with naps. One of the issues is totally my fault and that is I will get in the middle of something that I deem important (ie: showering, eating breakfast, etc.) and all of a sudden we are past the time we should have been starting our nap time. And when Harrison gets past this point he begins to get grumpy, fussy, and difficult to please, which obviously makes going down for a nap that much harder. I also got in the habit of cradling and rocking him to sleep and then trying to put him down in his crib once he fell asleep in my arms. That worked much better when he was younger and even then he woke up once we put him down 50% of the time.

So....yesterday when I was trying to rock Harrison to sleep for his first nap of the day and it wasn't working, I decided to try something new. You see I used to always be able to rock and comfort Harrison to sleep like nobody's business and better then anybody. I think I secretly liked the fact that I had 'the touch' and plus it's amazing to hold and cuddle your son while he falls off to sleep. But when even my 'touch' wasn't working and Harrison was fighting to fall asleep in my arms I knew that something needed to change.

When Matt got home we discussed our options and reread an excerpt out of a book (Baby Wise) and decided on our strategy. Don't make fun. I think we both knew this was what we should be doing, but it's always easier said then done. Plus, I think we hadn't fully accepted that Harrison is no longer that 2 week old newborn and that he is aging on us and his needs are changing. I realize his needs may change by next week and that our schedule will be turned upside down in a few weeks when I start work, but at least it's a step. Ok. So now we have cut down on Harrison's awake time by 15 minutes and when it's time for a nap we walk upstairs put him in his crib, give him his pacifier (he's a sucker), push the button on his rainforest machine, say goodnight, and walk out. We also are allowing him to cry. Yesterday he cried off and on (but mostly on) for almost half an hour. The only reason why I could take it was because I was in the part of the house where I couldn't hear him for the first part and then in the shower for the last. Matt is unaffected by the crying. When I got out of the shower and he was still crying I decided to walk in and comfort. I picked him up and within a minute he fell asleep in my arms. I placed him back in the crib and he slept until it was time to wake up for feeding. Wow!!! And for the second nap of the day he only cried for about 10 minutes, stopped, cried again for a few more minutes, stopped and then fell asleep until it was time for his next feeding. He got almost an entire hour of sleep for his last nap!!!

Today I put him down for his first nap of the day and it went great. He was quiet for about 10 minutes, then started to cry and cried for 8 minutes (I watch the clock, because I was going to go in after 10 minutes of crying), stopped, and then cried for about 5 minutes, and then I decided to go upstairs and comfort breifly. I just walked in spoke softly "You're ok. I'm here.", patted his belly, stroked his head, gave him his pacifier, and walked out. I didn't even pick him up, which is so hard to do when his eyes are all red and teary and his bottom lip is sticking out, but I was strong. And he fell asleep immediately and has been asleep ever since. In fact I think I may have to wake him to feed in order to stay on schedule. That has never happened.

So now for part of our day we watch Harrison through this little screen. I miss him during this time, but boy do I get more done around the house.