Three years ago, when Angie was new, I was teaching a class at Montclair State where three of my students also had newborns. So it was that we shared stories and concerns and advice. One of those students gave me a book called "The Baby Whisperer" because, she said, the chapter on sleep was really helpful. At the time, I had another book called The No Cry Sleep Solution which I found to be helpful in getting Angie to take longer naps, so I didn't read the other book.
Two months ago, when Maddie was not yet born, I began reading parts of The Baby Whisperer book and found it to be very useful. One plan, in particular, is helping me to organize our days and get Maddie and the rest of us into a routine. It's called EASY, and describes a pattern of events that repeats over and over throughout the day. Eat, Activity, Sleep, You. Baby wakes in the morning and Eats. Then, after that, there is Activity. After the activity, baby Sleeps again and that leaves, presumably, time for You. While I haven't been able to make the Y part work out (after all, who has time for You when you've other children around), the rest of the routine is going nicely. We're on a roughly three hour routine, where Maddie sleeps for 1 and 1/2 hours out of the three in the routine.
She's a champion sleeper, too. As long as I recognize when she's ready for her nap, her sleep window, I can put her down in the cradle and she'll fall asleep pretty much on her own. I usually swaddle her, rock her a bit until her eyes are droopy, then put her in her cradle so she can do the rest of the falling asleep on her own. I like that she doesn't require nursing or endless rocking and singing to go down. The only thing we need to work on is the length of her naps. She, like Angie did, wakes after about 45 minutes. I'm working on getting her through that rough patch at 45 minutes and back into a deep sleep. Miguel and Angie will be out today at a birthday party, so I will have plenty of time to spend getting Maddie through her naps. In a couple of days, I hope, she'll be napping like a pro.
As for Maddie's nighttime sleep, she's been doing great with that since she came home from the hospital. We're at a 7:30 to 8:00 bedtime with her right now. I'm aiming for about 7:00 or 7:15 so that we can get her sleeping before we start on Angie's bedtime routine at about 7:30. Though Miguel likes to start the routine at 8:00 for Angie so that she's in bed by 8:30 or 8:45, I'm not fond of that. It leaves too little time for US at night. I'm hoping he'll agree to the change in bedtime.
It's only been two months, but I feel like we're getting a handle on the situation. I only have meltdowns once a week or so now, rather than every day. It's funny; my niece-by-marriage, who has a 2 year old herself, was surprised to hear that I get frustrated and overwhelmed. "You always seem so patient and together...I always wish I could be more like you." I laughed. "Mavelyn," I said, "some days, especially when Angie is testing her limits, I just want to crawl in a corner and cry."
We're doing so much better these days!
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