Early Bedtime Magic

Well, I got brave and tried the early bedtime with Asher. I didn't know if he was too young for it to be helpful, but I was getting desperate. The history here is that we hired a sleep doula to help us figure out how to help Owen sleep better (gasp! I'm admitting it in writing, and somehow find it shameful I have to pay for parenting skills!), and the cornerstone of all of her advice had to do with putting Owen to bed early...really early. It was so helpful in improving his daytime sleeping. Well, so with Owen, so with Asher! I had really wanted to just do what normal people do and put my child to bed at 7 or 8 or a convenient hour for our family, but as Asher's naps degraded to 15 minutes and it started taking a loooong time to get him to sleep at night, I had to try it again. Alas, it seems that these two boys just require this long night sleep to have even halfway normal napping.

I put Asher down drowsy but awake for the last two nights at 5:30, after bad nap days. Then I let him cry. First night he cried on and off for 25 mins then went to sleep for the night til after 8am the next morning (2 feedings)! Next night he only cried for 10 mins, then slept til 7:15 am (2 feedings). Today he is much more sleepy for naps and not waking nearly as much after every little noise, sensation, or passing of 5 minutes :) Yay!! He is still only doing 45 mins at a time, but that is a BIG improvement. So, I guess we'll resign ourselves to being wierdos who put our kids to bed at 6 since it improves our lives otherwise so much. Asher is REALLY happy and smiley now in the morning; obviously getting some much-needed rest.

Owen and I on the other hand have a killer cold. Owen hasn't had one for a really long time, and he always used to sleep right through them, but this one is really keeping him up and making him miserable. I know how he feels :P We have also had to take a hiatus from bike-riding. Owen got himself some saddle-sores and they are so raw that he shrieks if water touches them in the bath. Yikes! And of course wearing a diaper and getting salt-water on them doesn't feel great either. So we said goodbye to the bike for the moment, to Owen's chagrin.

Well, I'm about to cough up a lung, think I'll sign off.