Now that my little guy is four months old, I keep getting this nagging feeling that I have to break him of some habits. He likes to sleep in my bed for one. This is not ideal for me. I’m a very light sleeper. But, I do love the cuddle time. Today is the perfect example. He took a 30 minute nap in his crib, and then woke up. I let him fuss for a bit, and he would not settle back down. I went in, un-swaddled and re-swaddled and felt sleepy myself. So, I took him into my room (by some miracle my other two were already napping) and we laid down together. Presto. He’s been asleep over an hour.
But, as I’ve said before, I don’t want him sleeping in my bed.
Some experts suggest that you start your baby off how you want them to continue on. In other words, if you want them to sleep with you, start them sleeping with you, but if you want them in their own crib, start them there from day one. However, for my little guy, nothing was the same as with my other two, so I have to learn all over again.
Yet, others suggest that it is OK to let the baby lead in the newborn stage. I’ve definitely done that. However, when they get a little older (like 2-4 months old) then you might want to slip them into a schedule. This is where I’m having the problem.
How do you break those old habits? Maybe I waited too long. I doubt it. I’m still hopeful.
We have started lately by putting my baby down in his own crib for bed each night. This has been going pretty well. He will sleep in his own bed anywhere from 2-4 hours. Sometimes, if I have the energy, I can go in his room and nurse him and put him back down in his bed, but more often than not, I end up bringing him to bed with me so I can get a little more sleep that way. I hope that as he gets older, he will sleep for longer stretches and get more and more used to his bed.
Napping is so important too. I’m going to try and get him on a more reliable schedule now that he is older. He is already in the habit of a morning nap about an hour or so after he gets up. It is just getting that afternoon nap to stick that is a challenge.
All in all, we are getting through it. But, it takes one day at a time. You can’t expect habits to be broken overnight, or schedules to be established that way either. With every baby, you have to have a little flexibility and hopefully, with time, your life will seem more manageable.