Still learning

I recently read a blog about a baby who's just a little older than Astrid who takes 2 naps (two hours each) and sleeps through the night (14 hours).

I thought to myself, "Is that really possible? Some kids take 2 hour naps? I must be doing something wrong."

Astrid is a pretty good sleeper at night so that's not a problem; but it's the napping part during the day that needed help.

I realized that when Astrid naps, it's good for her, and she wakes up refreshed and happy. And when she naps it gives me time to do household stuff, or make calls, or just have a break so I can keep my sanity.

Originally the napping routine was 3 hours after she was up, and although she would get sleepy before then, I would keep her up thinking that if I did, she would sleep longer. Wrong. It leads to sleep deprivation and she would only nap for short periods (20-30 minutes). Now I put her down for a nap around 9 and she naps for longer periods of time (a little over an hour). Also, I really try now to get that second nap in too. Uwe used to notice that she would get really cranky when he came home and he used to think it was him, but it was because she didn't get a nap in. It's hard especially when you have shopping and errands to do during the day, but I really try to stay home so she can nap and then go out after she wakes up from her nap.

I told Uwe about my epiphany about the nap routine (and the success I was having) and in typical Uwe fashion he replied, "Well, after the 4th kid you'll have it down."

Very funny, but it is true that as a new mom I'm still learning what works and what doesn't.