I haven't tried very hard to get Gavin on a schedule. He's managed to get on something resembling a set schedule, at least at night. I don't know how much of this is tapping in to his own natural rhythms and how much is imposed by daycare. They definitely have him on a stricter napping/feeding schedule than I do, and getting up in the morning has imposed some semblance of order on our lives. Gavin is a pretty consistent sleeper at night. But on the days when he's home with me, anything goes.
Part of this is that I try not to force anything on him. When it's just the two of us, he eats and sleeps when he wants. I'm pretty much content to follow his lead. Except on the days when I have things scheduled, and then he inevitably wants to eat just as I'm getting ready to go out, or I have to wake him from a nap if I'm going to keep an appointment.
It's possible that these busy days would be easier if I could predict Gavin's wants more accurately. But I'm not really busy enough to force it. And trying to make him sleep when he's not tired or making him eat at scheduled times just sounds like it would result in a lot more tears for both of us. He's a pretty easy-going baby, and I think that at least part of that is because I try to go with his flow as much as I can. Like that song, Smooth.
The point is that when it's just Gavin and me, there's no schedule. He might nap three times. He might not nap at all. He might go down for three hours in the middle of the day. Sometimes this results in a day when I just can't seem to get anything done. Sometimes (especially when Kevin is out of town) it leads to days that drag on and on. And sometimes, like yesterday, I am gifted with a perfect day.
Everything came together yesterday. Gavin woke up at 6, and even though I hadn't quite gotten eight hours of sleep in, I woke up feeling refreshed because Gavin hadn't woken up to eat overnight. It's amazing what uninterrupted sleep can do for you. I fed him and ate my own breakfast, and then he was ready to eat again and go down for a nap at 7.
Since I didn't need a nap at this point, I dove into my to-do list. By 8:30, I had done all of the cleaning I wanted to for the day. Then Gavin woke up, and we took Kina for a nice, long walk. We got home, Gavin ate some cereal and we played for a bit. Then he went down for another nap. I was able to eat lunch and watch some TV without wrangling him. We played a bit in the early afternoon, and then he took another nap, which let me sit on the couch and finish my book on a nice, rainy afternoon.
The key here is lots of sleep from Gavin. Naps that are long enough for me to get things done while also being space well enough for me to eat without having to worry about entertaining him at the same time. We got to play, but he was never overly fussy or hyperactive. And he still went to bed at 7:30.
If I really wanted to get him on a schedule, this is the one I'd probably aim for. But if every day were like this, I wouldn't appreciate it properly. Plus I'd have a hard time running errands, with Gavin sleeping all the time. Its worthless anyway. Part of the reason that he isn't on a schedule is that every time I thought I had him on one, something would change (he'd get sick or hit a growth spurt) and the whole thing would get thrown out the window. So I'll just appreciate these days as they come, relish in the relatively rare feeling of being well-rested, and be grateful that my kid is so easy.
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