Picky Sleeper

With parenthood, you quickly discover that your baby will absolutely keep you on your toes beyond anything you imagined. We established a bedtime sleep routine fairly quickly. New diaper, change into a onesie, swaddle and nurse to sleep. Well, obviously nursing to sleep for naps isn't an option during the work week, so my mom and mother-in-law discovered she liked to go to sleep in her swing or bouncy seat for the first morning nap. But in the afternoons she doesn't like those options, so for that nap she wants to be held and rocked to sleep. Then in the evenings she usually falls asleep in her carseat on our way home.

Since she was born, I've never tried to put her on a schedule with the belief that babies' needs change very quickly and I didn't want to become dependent on a clock to tell me what she needed rather than watching for her cues and relying on my own, God-given intuition. That strategy has worked so well because she has formed her own routine, one that she is thriving with and one that myself, my mom and my mother-in-law are able to meet her needs with by paying attention to her cues without the need for much crying or frustration. Therefore, we are all happy to accomodate her needs for sleep (as varied as they may be) because she has no capacity to manipulate - she simply knows when she's content and when she's not. It is our responsibility as her caretakers to keep her content as best we can.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's beautiful Sarah. Thank you for sharing that piece of motherly wisdom. Gives me hope that I too will be able to navigate the journey with grace and confidence next year when my little one arrives.

Liz

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Picky Sleeper

With parenthood, you quickly discover that your baby will absolutely keep you on your toes beyond anything you imagined. We established a bedtime sleep routine fairly quickly. New diaper, change into a onesie, swaddle and nurse to sleep. Well, obviously nursing to sleep for naps isn't an option during the work week, so my mom and mother-in-law discovered she liked to go to sleep in her swing or bouncy seat for the first morning nap. But in the afternoons she doesn't like those options, so for that nap she wants to be held and rocked to sleep. Then in the evenings she usually falls asleep in her carseat on our way home.

Since she was born, I've never tried to put her on a schedule with the belief that babies' needs change very quickly and I didn't want to become dependent on a clock to tell me what she needed rather than watching for her cues and relying on my own, God-given intuition. That strategy has worked so well because she has formed her own routine, one that she is thriving with and one that myself, my mom and my mother-in-law are able to meet her needs with by paying attention to her cues without the need for much crying or frustration. Therefore, we are all happy to accomodate her needs for sleep (as varied as they may be) because she has no capacity to manipulate - she simply knows when she's content and when she's not. It is our responsibility as her caretakers to keep her content as best we can.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That's beautiful Sarah. Thank you for sharing that piece of motherly wisdom. Gives me hope that I too will be able to navigate the journey with grace and confidence next year when my little one arrives.

Liz

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