Thursday, June 26, 2014

go to sleep little baby

 One time, ONE time Mia fell asleep sitting up. Thanks to my video monitor I saw what happened and was able to take pictures and a video of it. Best thing EVER! Ha ha!
I thought becoming a brand new mom would be easy peasy! I was the queen of babysitting while growing up and I was just darn good with kids. Then Mia was born and no one was telling me her schedule, no one was telling me the various reasons for her cries, I had to figure it all out on my own. I battled myself on every single decision that I hadn't solidified before she was born. But one thing I knew beforehand was that a night time routine was important to me. Starting the day after we brought Mia home from the hospital, I established what our routine was going to be for bedtime. Bath time, meal time, "night-night" time as we now say to Mia :)
In the first few weeks of her life, I had convinced myself that Mia would instantly calm down when we gave her a bath because she knew it was bed time... when in reality that was just my sleep deprivation talking to me. Bath time actually saved my sanity because I knew I would feed Mia, put her down then put myself to bed as well. We stuck with the routine because it's what kept me going each day. It's something that calmed me because I knew what to expect during that time, while I felt like I was barely keeping my head above water the rest of the day, if that makes sense? As Mia grew we adjusted the routine bit by bit. When she started eating solids it was so messy that we fed her before bath time, and I would nurse her after. Once we stopped nursing I wanted to fill that space with night time prayers and a story. Turns out that Mia is so used to the routine that she has no patience for a bed time story. So after her bath Eric and I take turns giving her loves, we say a little prayer, lay her in bed and snuggle her up with her taggy, her teddy bear and a blanket :)
We rarely have to battle Mia once we lay her down for a nap or for the night. As long as she has her binky (dreading the day we take that away, I'm wishing I would have done it before she turned 1) she lays there until she falls asleep. There have been times where we've had to endure some crying, but not much. We usually don't let her cry for more than 5 minutes because we have learned that something is usually wrong (like a dirty diaper) before checking on her. It's rare, but some nights Mia just wants to cuddle. So if she's having a hard time going to sleep and keeps crying for us, I'll pull her out of bed and she will cuddle with one of us for a bit while we watch a show. I must admit that I don't hate this :) I know it's just an off night, and she will go back to putting herself to sleep like normal, and she won't be small enough for these snuggles much longer!
One of the best investments we made was buying a video monitor! This has helped me learn Mia's habits for sleeping. I can't hear the difference in her cries, but I know if she's crying for me if she's standing up, or if she's trying to cope herself to sleep when she's crying while still laying down. Plus we just love watching the things she does while playing in her crib (before or after sleep). One time I looked at the monitor just in time to see her do an accidental summercault, ha ha! For the most part, we have been blessed with a baby who doesn't battle nap and bed times and we are definitely grateful for that! There are so many battles that come with mommy hood... the less we have on our list, the better!

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June 26:       Bedtime Battles (nap or bedtime)
Thank you to everyone who linked up! I have learned so much from you and loved getting to know you better! The blogging community is so amazing and I'm grateful to have you all as part of my support system! xoxo

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

You guys did get lucky with such a good baby!

Hannah said...

It's always tricky to be able to distinguish what their cry means. I bet having a video monitor would be so nice so you could see what they are up to and might need. It's so great that she just goes down to bed for you! Emerson pretty much does the same thing, I think it's having a routine that helps so much. But who knows, maybe if/when baby #2 comes around it will be completely different.

KelseyB said...

What a good little sleeper! We have never had any issues with the getting to sleep portion either. But now that the boys are older they like to avoid the bedtime routine all together. Avalon is still to young to really get it, but she likes to follow her brothers around while they get ready for bed!

Sarita @ it's my girls' world said...

What a sweet baby! Love that sitting up and sleeping pic. We have one of my first falling asleep in her jolly jumper--- funniest thing ever!

Video monitors are the best! totally makes you more secure. I never used mine with my second though!

Unknown said...

You are SO lucky! I've heard stories of these babies that just fall asleep when you lay them in their crib!! We were not lucky enough to get one of those babies! Kimber takes 2 hours to fall asleep at night. We have tried everything! Cry it out doesn't work b/c she gets SO worked up that she throws up all over & then we have a huge mess!! So we continue to rock her/walk with her - we do whatever it takes to get her to fall asleep!! BUT atleast she is finally sleeping thru the night!! That only took 11 months to happen!

oomph. said...

i wish i had gotten a video monitor. i only had the speakers, but i'm sure they do some pretty funny things when we're not looking!

[oomph.]
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Ashley Brickner said...

Our video monitor ended up being a piece of crap, and that always bothers me!! I would love one!!! Baby two that is a must! ;)

Shaunacey Bonneville said...

what a sweetheart!
Our video monitor has been a lifesaver!

Kirsty and Seth said...

You have done a great job getting her into such a good routine. She looks so sweet falling asleep sitting up. Caleb did that once at my Mum's house when he was sleeping in the travel cot. He wasn't well and one minute he would be crying, the next he would be fast asleep. He sat up to cry and the next minute he was asleep leaning against the side of the travel cot. My heart melted a little!

kirstyandseth.blogspot.co.uk

Pink and Fabulous said...

The nigh time routine is key and it sounds like you have someone who loves it too!! Happy weekend mama!!

Lou Lou Girls said...

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Happy Sunday! Lou Lou Girls

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