Today was a day of victories and failures. Thankfully it started and ended with victories, and the beginning and end are the most important, right?
I put Gwen down for her first nap in her swing after she had been awake for just over 2 hours. This may not sound like a big deal, but two days ago she was unable to stay awake for 2 hours without having a major meltdown. She would usually start fussing about 75-90 minutes after the previous waking, and if I didn't act quickly and get her down for a nap the rest of the day would be ruined. Upon reading The No-Cry Nap Solution, I found out that a 5-month old should be able to stay awake for 2-3 hours between naps. Author Elizabeth Pantley said that if your little one takes 45 minute naps and is unable to stay awake for more than 1-2 hours in between, their nap length is insufficient. That seemed to describe Gwen pretty well, so I was tickled pink when she was able to stay awake for over 2 hours fuss free.
I put her down for her nap in her swing. When she realized she got to swing she got that amazing gummy smile on her face. I didn't even have to sing and she fell asleep. I decided to get a few things done during her nap and had my fingers crossed that she would stay asleep. When I first looked down at my itzbeen (a stop watch that tells you how long it's been since you last changed the diaper, fed the baby, how long baby has been asleep, which side you fed baby on last) I realized that she had been asleep for 50 minutes without a peep! I didn't hear her until 2 hours rolled around. At that point I had made 14 cupcakes with buttercream frosting and 3-dozen cookies. I had also cleaned the kitchen. It's amazing what I can get done when I have more than 45 minutes! I went up to get her up from her nap and realized that she wasn't awake - she was just making noises in her sleep. I left her room, finished some more tasks and didn't hear her until she had been asleep for 2 hours 30 minutes. I nearly peed myself with excitement. What a good way to start the day!!!
Since she had already slept over 3 times as long as a normal nap I figured that she would have no problems leaving the house for 2 hours 30 minutes to run errands. I was wrong. In another week this may be true. But right now Gwen is still trying to catch up on all of the sleep that she missed out on. I was at a local chocolate shop picking up a gift for a friend when I saw G rubbing her eyes. Eye rubbing is her tell. I popped her in the car and tried to engage her in conversation on the way home. Apparently I wasn't very interesting as she was asleep within 5 minutes. In the past, this always spelled disaster because her car cat-nap took the edge off of her tiredness, and she was unable to fall asleep again once the car stopped and she got up to bed. I was determined that today would be better. And it was, but it certainly wasn't great.
She woke up when I turned the car off. I took her straight in to her swing and put her inside of it. She was crying super hard at that point. I can't say that I blame her. She was tired and it took me a few minutes to get her from the car to the swing and to hook the safety straps. Then she wouldn't calm down no matter what volume or speed at which I sang "Hush, Little Baby." I thought she might be hungry, but I didn't want to unswaddle her and unhook the 5-point restraint (and I would have to unswaddle her to unbelt her as the swaddle wraps around the restraint system). I realized that the swing was at an ideal height, however, for me to kneel on the floor, push the swing seat to the side so G was at an angle, and breastfeed her in the swing. It wasn't comfortable, but it got the job done. While she enjoyed eating, she worked herself up into a tizzy again once she was done. I took her out of the swing and realized that she just wanted to be awake. Apparently, without the lulling sensation of driving she wasn't really all that tired after all.
After about 20 minutes in the jumperoo, however, she had worked herself to exhaustion (jumperooing is hard work). I put her back in the swing and sang her to sleep. She slept for 40 minutes and woke up. I intervened at 40 minutes and sang her back to sleep. She slept another 20 minutes and was awake for good. I don't know if she only slept that long because she took such a long morning nap that she didn't need a long second nap, if she was thrown off by the car ride and attempted nap 20 minutes before, or if I let her cry too long when I was hoping she would calm herself and that I wouldn't have to intervene. Whatever the reason, nap 2, while better than naps on any given previous day, was not as good as nap 1.
Then disaster struck. We were supposed to have a showing at our house tonight at 6:00. I got a phone call at about 11:00 am canceling it. Since we didn't have a showing, I didn't do anything to try to make her naps work out so she would wake up right before we had to leave the house and I didn't clean the house. at 4:30 pm I received a phone message asking if someone else could see the house from 6:00-8:00. Uh-oh. Gwen had been awake for 45 minutes. She wasn't ready to go back to sleep. But if I didn't get her to take a nap there was NO WAY she would make it through 2 hours away from home without a nap. Plus, if she took a nap in the car until 8:00 at night she wouldn't be ready to go to bed until 10:00, which would be way too late of a bedtime for her. I rushed her to her swing, even though she wasn't tired. It took 15 minutes of swinging and singing, but I got her to sleep for 30 minutes. Not great, but not awful considering she wasn't even tired (this is the first time I have been able to convince her to take a nap against her will).
She woke up at 5:15. We finished getting the house ready to show and then left until the potential buyers left at 7:30. Gwen got a little bit fussy during that time, but was pretty happy for the most part! We took her home, gave her a bath, gave her her medicine, and put her in bed. By the time Keith had her wrapped in her swaddler she was asleep. I would say that was a pretty good way to end the day. :-)
I put Gwen down for her first nap in her swing after she had been awake for just over 2 hours. This may not sound like a big deal, but two days ago she was unable to stay awake for 2 hours without having a major meltdown. She would usually start fussing about 75-90 minutes after the previous waking, and if I didn't act quickly and get her down for a nap the rest of the day would be ruined. Upon reading The No-Cry Nap Solution, I found out that a 5-month old should be able to stay awake for 2-3 hours between naps. Author Elizabeth Pantley said that if your little one takes 45 minute naps and is unable to stay awake for more than 1-2 hours in between, their nap length is insufficient. That seemed to describe Gwen pretty well, so I was tickled pink when she was able to stay awake for over 2 hours fuss free.
I put her down for her nap in her swing. When she realized she got to swing she got that amazing gummy smile on her face. I didn't even have to sing and she fell asleep. I decided to get a few things done during her nap and had my fingers crossed that she would stay asleep. When I first looked down at my itzbeen (a stop watch that tells you how long it's been since you last changed the diaper, fed the baby, how long baby has been asleep, which side you fed baby on last) I realized that she had been asleep for 50 minutes without a peep! I didn't hear her until 2 hours rolled around. At that point I had made 14 cupcakes with buttercream frosting and 3-dozen cookies. I had also cleaned the kitchen. It's amazing what I can get done when I have more than 45 minutes! I went up to get her up from her nap and realized that she wasn't awake - she was just making noises in her sleep. I left her room, finished some more tasks and didn't hear her until she had been asleep for 2 hours 30 minutes. I nearly peed myself with excitement. What a good way to start the day!!!
Since she had already slept over 3 times as long as a normal nap I figured that she would have no problems leaving the house for 2 hours 30 minutes to run errands. I was wrong. In another week this may be true. But right now Gwen is still trying to catch up on all of the sleep that she missed out on. I was at a local chocolate shop picking up a gift for a friend when I saw G rubbing her eyes. Eye rubbing is her tell. I popped her in the car and tried to engage her in conversation on the way home. Apparently I wasn't very interesting as she was asleep within 5 minutes. In the past, this always spelled disaster because her car cat-nap took the edge off of her tiredness, and she was unable to fall asleep again once the car stopped and she got up to bed. I was determined that today would be better. And it was, but it certainly wasn't great.
She woke up when I turned the car off. I took her straight in to her swing and put her inside of it. She was crying super hard at that point. I can't say that I blame her. She was tired and it took me a few minutes to get her from the car to the swing and to hook the safety straps. Then she wouldn't calm down no matter what volume or speed at which I sang "Hush, Little Baby." I thought she might be hungry, but I didn't want to unswaddle her and unhook the 5-point restraint (and I would have to unswaddle her to unbelt her as the swaddle wraps around the restraint system). I realized that the swing was at an ideal height, however, for me to kneel on the floor, push the swing seat to the side so G was at an angle, and breastfeed her in the swing. It wasn't comfortable, but it got the job done. While she enjoyed eating, she worked herself up into a tizzy again once she was done. I took her out of the swing and realized that she just wanted to be awake. Apparently, without the lulling sensation of driving she wasn't really all that tired after all.
After about 20 minutes in the jumperoo, however, she had worked herself to exhaustion (jumperooing is hard work). I put her back in the swing and sang her to sleep. She slept for 40 minutes and woke up. I intervened at 40 minutes and sang her back to sleep. She slept another 20 minutes and was awake for good. I don't know if she only slept that long because she took such a long morning nap that she didn't need a long second nap, if she was thrown off by the car ride and attempted nap 20 minutes before, or if I let her cry too long when I was hoping she would calm herself and that I wouldn't have to intervene. Whatever the reason, nap 2, while better than naps on any given previous day, was not as good as nap 1.
Then disaster struck. We were supposed to have a showing at our house tonight at 6:00. I got a phone call at about 11:00 am canceling it. Since we didn't have a showing, I didn't do anything to try to make her naps work out so she would wake up right before we had to leave the house and I didn't clean the house. at 4:30 pm I received a phone message asking if someone else could see the house from 6:00-8:00. Uh-oh. Gwen had been awake for 45 minutes. She wasn't ready to go back to sleep. But if I didn't get her to take a nap there was NO WAY she would make it through 2 hours away from home without a nap. Plus, if she took a nap in the car until 8:00 at night she wouldn't be ready to go to bed until 10:00, which would be way too late of a bedtime for her. I rushed her to her swing, even though she wasn't tired. It took 15 minutes of swinging and singing, but I got her to sleep for 30 minutes. Not great, but not awful considering she wasn't even tired (this is the first time I have been able to convince her to take a nap against her will).
She woke up at 5:15. We finished getting the house ready to show and then left until the potential buyers left at 7:30. Gwen got a little bit fussy during that time, but was pretty happy for the most part! We took her home, gave her a bath, gave her her medicine, and put her in bed. By the time Keith had her wrapped in her swaddler she was asleep. I would say that was a pretty good way to end the day. :-)
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