I was convinced that most parents ended their days by sitting on the couch, sipping coffee, and taking part in lovely conversation after the kids were put to bed. I thought, wow, that must be nice. Well, folks, I am now those people! I mean, it's not always that dreamy sounding. Sometimes we just sit and watch the news. And you know how exciting Oklahoma news can be.
But from someone who never thought a decent bedtime was possible (due to Duke's legitimate spit-up problem), I'm telling you that it will happen. Putting him down at the end of the day and enjoying Colt by myself is really nice. It's something I look forward to.
Each month's schedule is better than the last as you drop naps, drop feedings, and/or extend waketimes. Here's what we're doing:
8:15 Feed (nurse then fruit and cereal)
Waketime
Nap
12:00 Feed (nurse then fruit and veggie)
Waketime
Nap
3:00 Feed (nurse)
Waketime
Catnap
6:00 Feed (nurse then fruit, veggie, and cereal)
Waketime
8:45 Feed (nurse)
Bedtime
Duke's morning nap is usually 2 hours, give or take a bit. If he sleeps 2.5 hours I go ahead and let him. Then my next feeding is just a little bit later than usual. His afternoon nap is usually 1.5 hours. If he sleeps 2 hours, I let him and I adjust his next feeding accordingly. After that, we pretty much stay on schedule the rest of the day. His catnap usually ends up being 45 minutes to 1 hour. This nap is also one that can be done successfully in the car or in the stroller while we're walking.
Waketime before his first 2 naps is 1.5 hours. Before the evening catnap, his waketime differs. Sometimes after 1.5 hours, he's ready. Sometimes he'll last 2 hours. I just follow his lead.
Bedtime is around 9:00-9:15, allowing him to sleep 11 hours. I don't plan on moving bedtime up too much earlier. I think an 8:30 bedtime would be my ultimate goal. I'm not rushed to get there though.
Next on the agenda will be more changes in his meals. We can start introducing little finger foods and I can definitely tell he's ready for something a little chunkier than pureed stuff.
For now, I'm loving a pretty spaced out schedule, long naps, and earlier bedtime!
This was SUPER helpful, thank you! We've been doing the 7-11-3-7 schedule for a while, and now we're changing to do two things: Prepare for the time change, and extending her waketime.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to extend her DWT every 15 minutes until we get to 8 AM (so it'll be 7 after the time change occurs) and therefore bedtime will be at 8 PM. But since trying to push ahead, she is actually waking earlier now, the later she goes down at night.
So I'm thinking I'll just have to wait and see what happens with the time change and go from there!