The Sleep Quest -- Day Two

I won't dole out every detail of my day in the trenches today, but it's worth noting that today saw some notable improvement. Oliver slept according to his usual pattern last night, even though he went to sleep 3 hours earlier than normal. Tonight looks like a repeat of that, which is very nice. Today he took three naps, without waking up after 10 minutes. His first was from 8:30 to 9:30 this morning, the second was from 11:10 to 12:00, and the third was from 4:30 to 5:15. The second two naps were mostly in his crib, so he didn't even require motion or being held. I don't know if this is a one time fluke, or if getting more night time sleep improved his ability to settle down for his naps. It's also possible that I was aiming too much for two longer naps and his rhythm is geared toward three shorter ones. All I really do know at this point is that once I feel like I have this figured out, it will all change again.

The Quest For Sleep

As Oliver's birth approached, I thought my biggest sleep concern would be getting enough at night. But our children always like to surprise us with the unexpected. As it turns out, naptime is the biggest struggle. Oliver must fall asleep a dozen times a day, but he never stays there. So I am beginning a concerted effort to teach this wee one to nap. For my own bleary eyed use and your amusement, I thought I would document our progress here.

Day One

7:00 AM - Wake up (this is generous, since we were mostly awake from 5:00 AM on) and eat (him, not me)
8:00 AM - Finished feeding
9:15 AM - Eating again
10:00 AM - Full and happy
10:36 AM - Walked to sleep and put down
10:45 AM - Startled self awake
10:55 AM - Startling finally over--back to sleep
11:05 AM - Awake and crying
11:10 AM - Walked back to sleep and held
11:20 AM - Awake and not going back to sleep for anything
11:30 AM - Eating again
12:15 PM - Full and happy--Mommy gets to eat
1:30 PM - Eating again
2:00 PM - Full and cranky--looking sleepy
2:22 PM - Into the car seat for a nap-inducing drive
2:43 PM - Home and asleep--Mommy gets to give doggie a bath
3:00 PM - Awake and seriously cranky
3:15 PM - Eating again
3:45 PM - Dozing off while eating, so into the swing we go
3:50 PM - Sleeping in swing
4:00 PM - Awake in swing
4:10 PM - Still awake in swing
4:20 PM - Asleep in swing--Yay!--Mommy gets to bring the neglected swimming pool supplies indoors at last
4:50 PM - Awake again
5:15 PM - Eating again
6:00 PM - Full and babbling--Mommy gets to binge on Chinese food
7:15 PM - Crying, possibly hungry
7:30 PM - Sleeping in Daddy's arms--lucky baby
8:30 PM - Eating again
9:00 PM - Back to sleep
9:30 PM - Still sleeping--he looks to be out for the night, starting so early is a first for him--I wonder how this will pan out

Total Daytime Sleep: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Total Nighttime Sleep: to be determined, fingers crossed