Sleepy Time

I feel as if we are finally beginning to exit the 'newborn haze' stage of parenting. The first month felt pretty much like survival mode as far as Caris' sleep and feeding went.....whatever worked, we did. I look back on those first few weeks when I was sleeping at most an hour at a time and am just glad we made it through. Now that Caris is a bit more substantial and adjusting to her new world,  I am attempting to transition to more purposeful parenting and establish some sort of routine with Caris, especially since I have to go back to work in 5 weeks :(  

I am currently reading two books that have provided insight and guidance in my attempts and highly recommend both : Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child  by Marc Weisbluth, M.D. and Secrets of a Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg.  It has been reassuring in some ways because I have found I am doing many of the things they have suggested intuitively. They have definately provided direction and clarification to where we want to go. My main goals are to try to make sure Caris is getting a healthy amount of sleep, gets a routine that is comfortable for her, and has a safe environment to establish trust. I like both of these books because they consider the babies' personality and needs. I am not one that is comfortable with putting her on a strict schedule or letting her cry it out, so this works for us. 

So sleep. Caris has been sleeping pretty decent during the night. In California, she started a good night time sleep pattern and has continued with some minor fluctuations. She usually sleeps from about 11 until 5 and then goes back down for a few hours; she does well with her swaddle at night. We have had trouble getting an early bedtime though; she has been pretty fussy from about 7-10 or so. Daytime is a different story....I feel like I spend my entire day trying to get her to nap. I try to put her down at the first signs of sleep like the books suggest, but she fights it. I try for the whole time and then it's time for her to eat again! The little one will truly only nap if she is moving via the car seat, stroller, or our moby sling (that is why she did so great in California, we were always on the move!). Her best sleep occurs when I take her out, it's a verified fact at this point.  If she stops moving, she wakes up. She won't sleep in her swing long either. I end up running an errand with her or leaving during the day just so she will get some rest. I don't know if that helps or hurts the cause for naps, but I know she needs sleep so I do it....Again. I am trying to be more purposeful. 

Tonight we made some improvements... I hope. We had a bedtime routine with bath, book, change, and swaddle, did two cluster feedings, and I was able to get Caris down in her crib for the first time with relatively little crying by about 8:30. I am nervous this will impact her night sleep, but they say sleep begets sleep so I am hopeful this is just an improvement on her night sleep and won't cause to much change.... we shall see. Right now I am watching the video monitor and she seems to be doing pretty good. I even witnessed some self-soothing! Way to go Caris. We will try again tomorrow and see if we can at least get one good nap in. But for now, I'm proud of how she has done the last few hours. Good night sweet girl!