Wednesday, August 20, 2008

The Predictability of Unpredictability

The past two weeks or so Dean has decided that the morning nap is just not for him. He generally plays and talks quietly in his crib about 1/2 hour or so and then starts whining until I come in and get him (usually another 20-30 min. in hopes that he'll fall asleep...). That then leaves him with only one nap. According to Dr. Weissbluth, 17% of babies lose the morning nap at this age. I just didn't think it would be Dean! He just cut out the late afternoon nap a few months ago.

Today I put him down again, resigned to the thought that it was really just a quiet play time rather than a nap, in order to get a shower in. Much to my surprise, he was totally quiet when I got out of the shower. And almost two hours later it's still quiet.

Now to give you a taste of his sleep unpredictability, here is a little snippet of his sleep log:

Monday night:
  • Because he only had one (one hour) nap he was EXHAUSTED and we started getting him ready for bed at 5:45.
  • He was asleep by 6 PM.
  • He woke up and cried for a few minutes around 10 PM. Put himself back to sleep.
  • He then woke up at 1 AM and I made him cry it out (not sure how long since I shut my door so I could sleep).
  • He had very loud and intense crying about 2:30 AM (I could hear him through my closed door and with a pillow over my head) and I went in and fed him. He was up by 6:15 for the day!
Tuesday day:
  • Because he was up by 6:15 he was showing tired signs by 7:45. Rubbing his eyes, cranky, etc.
  • I put him down for a nap early (8:15) because I was exhausted (my body DOES NOT like getting up at 6:15, ESPECIALLY when I stay up and watch Olympic gymnastics!) and needed to lay down myself.
  • When I woke up at 9 he was still quietly talking to himself in his bedroom. I got him out of bed.
  • During my 9:30 piano lesson he seemed REALLY tired, so at 10 I tried putting him down again. He pretty much cried and cried and cried for 45 min. and never fell asleep. I got him out of bed.
  • After running errands, I tried putting him down again at 12:30 (He'd been up since 6:15!!) and he cried for nearly 50 min. before falling asleep out of exhaustion. He only slept 1 hour.
Tuesday Night:
  • We got him ready for bed at 6 and he was asleep by 6:20.
  • He didn't make a peep until 4:15 AM!
  • He slept until 7:40 AM!! and was then up for the day.
Wednesday day:
  • I put him down this morning, at 9:40 thinking (like I said earlier) it would just be quiet time for him while I showered.
  • He slept until 11:20 AM. (Longest morning nap he's had in ages!)
  • I put him down again at 1:30 after my piano lessons. He fell silent (and I'm guessing asleep) about 1:50 and is still sleeping. Oh, I spoke too soon. He woke up at 2:45.
I just never know with this kid. He's been a very unpredictable sleeper his whole life. I try and be consistent, but it's very hard when he's so inconsistent.

I guess I'll just take it one day at a time. (Overall, he's getting to be a happier baby during his awake time, even with his nap dropping, so I'm very happy about that.)

3 comments:

Lindsay said...

I think your post title sums parenting up pretty well. :) Garrett's sleep is starting to get a little predictable in its unpredictability, too. A few weeks ago I was sure he'd decided to abandon the morning nap, but, after about a week of fighting it, he's back to napping about 2 hours after he wakes up in the morning. Yesterday he fought the afternoon nap (much to my great dismay). And though he always goes down for the night between 8 and 9 pm, his wake up times are so kooky, it's starting to drive my tired self crazy. Sometimes, if I'm super lucky, he'll sleep till 7:30 or 8, usually he gets up around 7 r 7:15, but lately he's been rising between 6 and 6:30. Of course, whenever he wakes up earlier, he's cranky for most of the day. Ugh. Anyway, keep taking it one day at a time. That's all you can do some days. :)

Jodi Reeve said...

Oh, I feel the exact same way almost every day. My first was so easy and I could predict when he would need to nap, but not this one it can be very frustrating.

Kristi said...

What a pain. Kate's schedule changes about every three days, so I never quite know what to plan for. I've taken to closing her door at night, plus closing my door and turning on the ceiling fan. Then I don;t hear her until she's really awake.

Good luck staying sane!