The Sleep Chronicles - The one thing I obsess about...

Well, okay there are several things in everyday life that I obsess about, but the one thing with Willow that I have been obsessed with, since before she was born, is her sleep. I have read books. I have done searches on the Internet. I have asked other moms, both old and new, what they have done. And I think I got it right from the beginning. Willow slept through the night very early and we were happy. We have a well-established bed time routine and she knows all the steps. She goes to sleep in her crib and sleeps soundly until the morning.

The problem we are running into is the time she wakes up. Her night time sleep amount is getting less and less. I hear about moms and dads whose children sleep 12 or more hours a night and I am happy for them and secretly jealous. Willow is now sleeping about 9.5 hours per night. This is irrespective of how much daytime sleep she gets. Whether she gets 3 hours or 1.5 hours during the day, she sleeps 9.5 hours at night. It used to be 11 hours and I am not sure what changed aside from her growing up a little bit. (We have been charting her sleep since about December)

In the beginning of her life, we started the bedtime routine at 8:00pm. This was a good time for us because we knew we wouldn't be sleeping for long before we had to get up again to see to her needs. Now a days, the bedtime routine starts at about 7:00pm and she is asleep by 7:40pm at the latest. This means that she is waking up at 5:00am, but I'll get to that in a minute. Getting her to sleep at this time is good for us because it allows us to get the dishes and cleaning and whatnot done before we go to bed ourselves at about 9:30pm. And the past two nights, she hasn't been acting overly tired when I start the routine (bath, bottle, books) but when she is done with her bottle she is passing out in my arms and going immediately to sleep when I lay her in her crib.

So, I like the time she goes to bed but not the time she wakes up. I get up at 5:00am myself so that I can get ready for work and have everything finished before she gets up, eats, and gets dressed. So lately, I have been leaving her in her crib to play while I do the things I normally would in the morning. She never cries or is unhappy about this situation. I have been thinking about what I can do to get her to sleep later in the morning and I think I am at the point where I need to push her bedtime later by half an hour. I am undecided. I guess I'll see how the evening goes and go by her cues.

It may mean less time to myself at night but it can also mean sleeping in a little bit on the weekends. I'll let you know how it pans out!

Welcome to The Sleep Chronicles!!