Remember My Terrible Napper? She Is Getting Better!

I have come to the conclusion that Rosalie is never going to be the best napper in the world, and I'm okay with that. BUT, she is getting better! She will now sometimes take up to 2 naps a day that are over an hour (this is a big deal for me people!), and she is still waking up only one time at night (on average). I know that each and every child is different, and moms have different methods that work best for them, but this is what works well for me, and I wanted to share with all of you other moms out there or anyone who wants to listen/read. 

To start off, Rosalie definitely doesn't have the same schedule each day, so this is more of an example. She does however have somewhat of a routine, so just consider this a basic outline of sorts. 

Rosalie will generally wake up in the morning somewhere between 6 am-7 am, unless she went to bed super early the night before (due to no afternoon nap), then she will generally wakeup shortly after 5 am. She is usually up for at least 3 hours (key word usually), and then she will go back down for a nap. This nap usually lasts for about 1-1.5 hours, and I can always tell when she is ready to go back to sleep because she becomes a little grumpy girl ;). Sometimes this nap occurs in her bed, other times it is in her carseat while I am out running errands. 

Her second nap of the day really ranges depending on the time that she woke up in the morning, what time her first nap was, and/or how long she slept during her first nap. I know this is probably starting to sound confusing, but I am doing the best I can. As an average, we will say that she goes down around 1, and will sleep anywhere between 30 minutes to 3 hours! Yes 3 hours! This only happened twice, and I was checking on her every few minutes or so because I was so nervous ha! 

She is then up for the rest of the evening until it is time for her to go to bed. If she had a good nap day, she will generally go to sleep around 8, but if she either missed a nap/refused to nap, or had a really short nap, then she will go to sleep earlier. If she wants to go to bed at 6, I don't fight her. She is tired, and sleep is what she wants. If it means that I have to wake up earlier in the morning, I am cool with that. She will generally just wake up once during the night to nurse, but she does her have nights where she will wake up 2 times. I honestly don't mind getting up with her in the night because the way I see it, she is only little for so long, and I only get to nurse her for so long, so I am just trying to treasure these moments. Plus she doesn't even nurse for too long, so we are both back to sleep in no time :).

When I put Rosalie down for naps I will generally nurse her to sleep. However, sometimes I will rock her to sleep, and if she sleeps in her swing (which is very rare these days), she will fall asleep on her own. However, at night it is a different story. I would say about half the time I nurse her to sleep, and the other half of the time I will put her in her bed, and sit in my bed next to her, and sing/talk to her until she falls asleep. :)

Also, as a side note. I do not let Rosalie cry. I just don't. It isn't my thing, it isn't Rosalie's thing, so we just don't do it. I do however, let her "complain" in her bed for a few minutes because she is known to  fuss a little bit in the middle of her naps. She is usually still asleep, and will just complain (make noises and wiggle) for a bit and then fall back asleep. If she ever starts crying though, I go get her right away. This is what works for me :) I do not think it is bad if other mom's let their babies cry it out, it just doesn't work for me. 

I think that is all, but if you have any questions please just ask me in the comments :) I am no expert, and I don't claim to be, but I am a mom, and if what I share can help even one mom out there, then I am so glad!

And I just had to add this picture because her thighs are so chunky and perfect, and her Daddy's smile melts my heart! :)

xoxo

Rachel