Sleep Update: Summer 2011 Chapter

So there is a mommy on the internet who posts pictures of her baby sleeping in his crib. I think they are adorable. But for me? That is nearly impossible. I think I've only ever posted pictures of Cole sleeping when he has fallen asleep on me. I think I've gotten two pictures in his whole life of him actually sleeping soundly in his crib. Keith got the the third. That's it. 13 months and three pictures.

Since we've come across new issues with sleep, I figured I'd post, just to share with all of you mommies who can relate, all of you who would never dream of possibly interrupting your child's sleep by taking his/her picture. It's only been a few days, but already we learned something new: Cole does not realize that it's summer and therefore, still wakes up at 5 a.m.  Sometimes we get a nice morning where he sleeps till 6 or 7 a.m., but that is rare. The problem with this is not just that he's waking up too early, but that he's still freaking tired and so by 6/7 a.m. he's exhausted and cranky. So, you figure, you should just put him down when he gets tired again. And I would do that. But one of those useless sleep books discussed this very issue. And I hate to admit it, but I think the author actually has a point. She says that if you give the baby a nap before 8 a.m., he/she will continue to wake up at 5 a.m. because he/she will then get used to waking up too early (which is what we obviously have here). And this is very true for Cole. For the past 10 months Keith has been taking him to day care between 7 and 7:30 and he has always been just starting to get cranky around that point. So for the past 10 months Keith has strapped him in his carseat and away they go. Cole takes his 15 minute cat nap and he's a happy baby when he gets to day care.

The author of this aforementioned sleep book says that you must not give the child a nap until at least 8 a.m. So yesterday and today we accomplished this. Keith even helped this morning by wearing Cole and vacuuming at the same time. Cole loved it! Smiles and all. But by 8:30 he was done (both mornings, actually). I am hoping that consistently doing this will help him to realize that he should go back to sleep when he wakes up at 5 a.m. Otherwise, he's going to be miserable!

Babywearing Daddy