Sleeping

Lily is not the best sleeper. I am well aware this is probably my fault. I like to think I am/was making the same mistake all new parents make...not wanting to take my eyes off my child...ever. Therefore, she goes to bed when we do, and for anyone who knows us, we tend to keep late hours. She would usually crash in her bouncy seat or our arms before nine, and then when we would go to bed, we would bring her in as well. Usually she would wake up to nurse and then go back to sleep. This was working reasonably well, but after last weekend, she has been sleeping terribly...which means I have been sleeping terribly. This morning, after being up every hour from 3 until 6 I decided that we are starting a bed time, with a bed time routine, a consistent bed time, and no exceptions (well, not many!!) I was thinking 9ish, but she was really fussy at 8, so I fed her, changed her, swaddled her (well, her bottom half), read her Good Night Moon and rocked her a little. She fell asleep and I put her in the bassinet, and she has been sleeping soundly since. Will this mean a good nights sleep? Who knows. But I feel that it is a step in the right direction. I think I just really need to pay more attention to her sleep patterns during the day. She has pretty much been a cat napper, but she did sleep a couple good chunks during the day today. But I am trying not to get too excited. Every time I think I have something figured out with her, it changes! So far in her short life, we have really taken advantage of her portability and gone to friends and stayed out late because she would just fall asleep and we could put her down and hang out, or whatever. I realize now that I have probably been doing her a disservice. She will never learn what bedtime is if we continue that. I don't feel too bad about it really, because most things I have read say about 4 months is when you need to start a bedtime routine, and we are coming in just under the mark. However, it can be confusing, as I have also read things that say it is okay to take babes out and about and that it is good if they can fall asleep anywhere because it makes it very easy for them to adapt. So, for now, I think we are going to try the bedtime routine and see if we can't get a little better and more consistent sleep out of her. We both need it!