Routine Building

Posted on | June 16, 2009
by | Kim, Obl.O.S.B

Yesterday I mentioned that everyone’s routine got messed up. Poor Elise has been getting rocked by solid foods (in a not good way), resulting in us giving her a LOT of prune juice. Greg was having issues with his shunt hurting him and could only work half a day of work. There’s stuff I’m personally involved in that is wearing on me. Any and all routine went out the window yesterday.

When I say “routine”, I don’t mean a rigid schedule. Elise is a lot like me, in that I need some semblance of “what comes next” to really thrive. Since birth we have had Elise on a ‘on demand’ way of life – which has worked wonderfully for us and we totally love it. However, Elise is getting older. We’re slowly introducing structure into her life as a way to combat her plethora of naps in the day time and her “snacking” on the breast. What I’ve done that’s been the most beneficial for our little cupcake is get her down from 5-6 one hour naps to 2 (or 3) longer naps. I don’t go in after say, 1 hour 45 minutes and wake her up. If she falls asleep at 8a – like this morning – if she wakes up at 9:30a, 10a; that’s fine. We’ve also been blocking out stimulus to help her spend longer on the breast and not snack / be distracted and then get hungry a short time later. We also have been giving her a set bedtime and wake-up time.

So, our routine is something like this:
6am: Greg and I wake up, eat breakfast, Internet, etc.
7am: E-muffins is up, diaper changed, fed, clothed. Playtime until first nap.
Sometime between 8 and 9 – nap #1 (average 90 minutes)
9:30/10:30 – eat, diaper, play time!
Noon: Greg comes home for lunch.
1pm: upstairs to play with Uncle BIL (home on 60 day leave) and Grandma.
2pm: Nap #2 (average 2 hours)
4pm: Eat and diaper, play with Grandpa.
5pm: Greg home, dinner time.
6pm: Wind-down – bath time, good night kisses from grandparents + Uncle, read books, cuddle
7pm: Bedtime

(And of course, she’s getting more changes than outlined here).

It works well for us because I can flex it – move the morning nap early, like today; thanks to being not up to snuff or for Play ‘n’ Pray; I can move it late if she sleeps in or just isn’t tired. The big stretch – the ~10am – 2pm is the key – lots of play, solids, she gets to see Greg and her uncle AND Grandma – it’s just really good for her all around. Pray ‘n’ Play fits in there perfectly (10a-noon on Wednesdays). The whole bedtime thing is also working well. Long-time readers may remember me saying her bedtimes were around 11pm! OY!

With the implementation of the routine, she has effortlessly moved into her crib, which is right next to my side of the bed. Genius. We get our sleep, she gets her own little area to sleep in but she’s close enough that her separation anxiety is at bay and she can eat easily. Once she’s weaned we’ll probably move her into her own room (or area of the apartment if our house isn’t finished) but for now; we are all getting a plethora of AWESOME SLEEP and I know Greg and I feel like totally different people. CRA-RAZY.

I think if we tried to move her to a routine when she was younger, it may have worked. I think once she hit about 7 months, it would have been fine. Too young and it would have backfired on us, or resulted in a LOT of crying. In this whole routine / moving to crib business; she only cries if she’s overtired and then it’s the “I’m frustrated!” cry as opposed to the “I NEED SOMETHING” cry.

So that’s what I need to get back to for Elise. And us, as well; but especially for E-bears.

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