Thursday, October 15, 2009

This is real life...


In my vast research of babies and their sleep habits lately, I can't help but kind of laugh at some of the things that they say. These sleep books really harp on the fact that babies thrive on a routine. That's fine and dandy, but just because I have a kid doesn't mean that we are staying home for every nap time. This is real life. I'd like to have a little bit of a life, even though I have a child. If we need to go to Target at 10am to pick up something and it conflicts with nap time, guess what? My baby can learn to do what he needs to do on the go.

I have always been able to sleep just about anywhere and through anything. I slept through a big earthquake when I was 10 or so. My parents have taken me on tons of road trips since I was a wee-tot and I have always slept in the car. It makes the time go by so much faster when you leave at 5am, fall asleep in the car, and wake up when you only have an hour or two till you get to your destination. My sister is also a champion sleeper. My parents would be blasting AC/DC in the front seat while my sister and I each had our own bench to sleep on in their Dodge Durango. When Hubby and I took our trip to Italy a few years ago, I slept for about 75% of the plane ride. It was convenient that I could sleep on the plane since my little TV decided not to work about 10 minutes into our flight.

So yes, my baby thrives on a routine, and we have one. He is a good napper, and now a good night time sleeper (Yay for 12 hours of straight sleep the last couple nights!), but he also needs to be adaptable. If I have a chance to meet a friend for lunch, he can take his afternoon nap in his stroller while I chat with my buddy. WEB will learn that just because we may not be in the place he typically naps or eats that we will continue with these tasks regardless. Don't get me wrong, I'm somewhat of a schedule Nazi, but it's so both WEB and I (and whoever else may be babysitting) know what is coming next and at what time. Life with a kid is so much easier when you remove the guess work. It's 10am and he's fussy. Oh, that's because it's nap time. It's 12:30pm and he's getting cranky. Oh, that's because it's lunch time.

It's hard not to take these books verbatim, especially as a new parent. I think you have to learn what works best for you. It's all about trial and error, and hopefully these books will help get you on the right track to a system that works for you and your family. Being only 6.5 months into this new family thing, I know there are still a million things I have yet to learn, but I feel like we're on the right track. Often times I read about a cool tip or trick, maybe see a similar version in an article, and ask Lani what she thinks or if she's tried it. If it works, I try to pass it on to some of our friends that are new parents. Sometimes it does take a village to raise a child, but if it helps you gain a little bit of your sanity and independence back, then why the heck not?

1 comment:

  1. I'm totally loving this blog.

    I had a similar upbringing and think its much easier when you teach your child adaptability!

    =) Y

    ReplyDelete

We love to hear your thoughts, good bad or random! We love comments of all kinds!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
 

Blog Design by Eedee Design Studios