Luke's sleep

Luke's been sleeping pretty well for about a month now, so I feel like I won't jinx myself it I blog about it!

Probably a month to 6 weeks ago, we were kind of fed up with the sleep situation around here. We decided to do a combination of No Cry Sleep Solution and The Sleep Lady, mixed in with a little bit of my knowledge of how Luke works. We've been very consistent about his bedtime routine for several months now, so preparing him for sleep hasn't been the issue. But helping him fall asleep without pacing around the room for 30 minutes- that was the challenge.

We started with a bedtime routine, shorter than Beth's because by the end of the night Luke's usually worn out so he doesn't have the patience for me to read him a book or two. When I go to sit down and read/rock, he immediately wants to nurse. He'll let Ryan read to him for awhile, but then calls me in to be the "closer!" I nursed him till he popped off (he won't fall asleep while nursing- not his thing) and then I rocked him for another minute, paced him for a few minutes, then laid him down while he was VERY drowsy. I mean, nearly asleep. Then I left. He woke up and started fussing, so I set my timer for two minutes. When it dinged, I went in, laid him back down and patted his back, shushing him, and stayed with him till he was calm. Then I left again, and set the timer for 4 minutes. Went back in, same thing, then left. I planned on doing 6 minutes, but by a few seconds after I left, all was silent! Same thing the next night, and the night after, and I think by the fourth night I could lay him down drowsy and leave, and not hear another peep from him.

I don't remember how or when he started sleeping longer stretches. For awhile, he'd wake up at 11 pm and we'd let him fuss for two minutes, then four minutes, etc. I don't think we even made it to four minutes though, I think he was out after one time of going in and quieting him down. When he'd wake up at 2 or 3 am, I'd nurse him then put him back down, and always went down easy after that. Then he'd wake up for the morning around 6. Ugh that's hard!

After some time, he's sleeping longer stretches. We put him down around 7:15 and usually don't hear a peep until around 3-5 am. I go to him, nurse him, and put him back in bed and he's down again till about 6:30-6:45. That's about what's happening now.

Now, for nap time, I still haven't figured that one out. A few weeks ago, for about a week, he voluntarily was sleeping longer stretches and he was so happy that week! It was amazing! But, I can't make him sleep during the day, you know? Right now he naps from about 9-10 am, then 12:30-1:30, and sometimes from 3:30-4:15. When he was happiest, he napped from 9-11 then again from 1-3. I didn't know what to do with myself, Beth and I got a lot done around the house that week!

I love our bedtime routine for our kids. Getting our kids to sleep has never been an issue since we've been so rigid about the routines. Ryan and I have it easy, I know it! It's a blessing most of the time, but a curse some of the time. We have them so "trained" that neither of them will really nap under any other circumstance. On those rough days, don't you know I'd love to pile them all in my bed and nap together! But, Beth won't sleep anywhere else in our house other than her bed, and Luke won't sleep next to me anymore. It's sort of sad, because I know those are some tender moments I am missing out on! But, I tell myself, at least I have the chance to get some sleep at night, sleep that I desperately need. Now I just need to make myself go to bed earlier than midnight, then I might actually catch up on some sleep from those incredibly rough early days!