No, really, just laying there

I’m sorry I haven’t posted much.  I’m falling behind in the documentation, but my commitment to catalogue what we’re doing to try and get our son to sleep better is still there.  So, by the end, I hope there’ll be something helpful for any parents who stumble across this little blog o’ mine.

OK, so perhaps the last blog post was mis-named.  While it was about laying my son down, I was still patting him (and sneaking in a cuddle or two on occasion).  So, the next step seems to be a pretty obvious one.  It’s about stopping the patting.

To help with this, we start with a little bit of carrying.  I know this sounds like a step backwards.  But, this is actually about making a break between playing and sleeping.  I’ve observed that going from our normal day to sleep just isn’t easy.  The only decently calm time during the day is bottle feeding.  Even solid foods are pretty exciting.  So, spending a little time just hanging out in the carrier minimizes his movement and I usually get an extra yawn or two before his head starts getting heavy and I can tell he’s bought a ticket on the sleep train and, now, he just needs to get on.

So, as it’s getting closer to naptime or bedtime and I observe a baby who is slowing down a bit… maybe a yawn or an eye rub… usually less standing, more crawling… I pick him up and just carry him around.  Sometimes there’s a little patting, but it’s mostly because I don’t know what to do with my hands other than pat him.  Though. I try to and do some other stuff like clean up or straighten up a little bit.  Eventually, like I said, I might get a yawn and tired eyes and a heavy head.

Basically, he starts heading towards sleep.  At this point, I have to play it by ear.  Either I sit down and try to let him fall asleep on me or I try to get him into his crib and fall asleep there.  Usually, it depends on how tired he is.  If he’s not tired enough, he won’t fall asleep in his crib.  Thus, the best bet is to have him fall asleep on me.  However, I consider every successful crib laying a step in the right direction even if it’s intermixed with sleeps on me.

All in all, there seems to be more good nights than bad lately.  I still don’t know if it’s because of anything we’re doing or if my son is just growing up and learning how to sleep better no matter what we do.  Still, if I’m not trying, then I have to imagine the process would take longer than it might if I was just trying to let it happen “naturally.”

~ by Steve "Oz" on September 1, 2007.