Routine

I've been working on a nap schedule for the Honey Badger since returning from my winter break in January. I've finally nailed it down to a 9am nap, and a 3/3:30pm nap Mon-Fri (the days I work and can control). I feel like maybe I should be pushing him to stay awake until noon, for an after lunch nap like a child in day care would have...but honestly, I like having him asleep twice a day. It gives me time to eat, clean, and watch a little TV while I do it.

When David was a little-little guy we would sit in a rocking chair while feeding him until he fell asleep. It could have taken upwards of 30 minutes! Then we'd try to delicately get him out of our arms and into the crib without waking him. It began taking several attempts to get him into the crib after 8 months. Putting him down for a nap, could take someone an hour if you couldn't get him into the crib. I often ended up falling asleep in the rocking chair and wasting an hour and half of my down time. One of

One of the MAJOR flaws in this earlier plan was the bottle. A baby will sleep longer, if they have a full belly. The problem was, Honey Badger would fall asleep before getting enough milk in his tummy. He'd the wake up after an hour crying for more milk, so you'd have to start the entire routine over again.

Now, I've got a routine that works. I close the shades, dim the lights, turn on his white noise machine, and put a the same song of repeat. This is all to let him know that it is nap time. I then lay the same blanket everyday on the floor and give him the bottle. He lays on the blanket and feeds himself ( I sit quietly in the rocking chair). This way, he doesn't fall asleep before eating as much as he can. When he is full, or exhausted, I'll motion for him to come over to me, and I'll tell him to bring his bottle. He gets up and crawls into my lap, where I usually rock him for 5-10 minutes. If he is asleep, I stick him in the crib. If he is groggy, I stick him in the crib. If he cries, or whines, I let him. He usually falls asleep within minutes.

My favorite part, is that he knows this all know. He gets on the blanket himself when I put it on the floor. AND he comes over to me with his bottle for cuddles and rocking.

I love my job.