Sleepy Time Routine: Knocking On Everything Wooden

I hesitate to even write this post; I feel like I am tempting the gods with this one.

But ... I think we might have gotten the whole sleep thing figured out!

After lots of heartbreak, effort, trial, and error, my son has begun to take almost regular two (plus!) hour naps, gets to sleep on his own (crying/whimpering for ten minutes or less), is sleeping through the night, and is starting to do a really good job of getting himself to sleep at night without any fuss! I almost can't believe all this even as I am typing it, but it's true.

So how'd we do it?

Well, first off there is the issue of a routine. You have to do it for every sleep event, be it napping or nighttime, and you have to stick as close to the routine as you can. We chose nursing (though not for every event), followed by the "reading" of two stories (The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and Gossie by Olivier Dunrea), blowing out the lamp (if it's on), hugs, kisses, and an explanation of what is going on (e.g., "It's naptime, buddy, so Mommy's gonna put you in bed and you need to sleep for a while."). Then into the crib for baby and out of the room for mommy. Even if he cries, I stay out of the room for a little while.

Then there is the issue of the environment. We have blackout shades in his room so it's super dark even in the daytime; this keeps the little man from just spending naptime looking around the room being his usual curious self. Also, we have his ceiling fan on for both circulation and white noise. I don't know exactly how important the darkness and fan are, but we are going to Cape Cod for a week starting on Saturday so we'll find out!

One thing I think really helped my son was having something in the crib with him. First we tried Mr. Bear, a soft teddy bear about six inches tall (without a rattle inside); my son loves Mr. Bear and I'd often find him in the morning with a wet ear or paw where my son chewed on him. Now, I know blankets are sort of taboo in the baby world, but one day I thought he was going to be cold so I decided to give him a blanket his Oma knitted him; I figured the weave was open enough that if he put it over his face inadvertently he'd still be able to breathe. He seems to seek both his blankie and Mr. Bear out for comfort, and that helps him feel safe and secure enough to drift off to sleep.

Finally, and possibly most importantly, consistency is key. Once we figured out what our routine would be, we have stuck to it. It hasn't always been easy or fun, but the little man needed to know that we meant business and that this was something he could count on every time we wanted him to sleep.

Like I said, I can't be certain that this great sleep will be a lasting trend, but at least it's a start.

Knock on wood!