Sleep routine

Evelyn is only almost 8 months and I've already forgotten what it was like when she was a newborn! So I decided to write everything down so I remember how I got her to sleep well. Hopefully the next baby will be just as good! (disclaimer: i know every baby is different so this may not work for all babies. this is just what worked for my baby)

Our little burrito

From day 1, we put Ev in a crib for most naps and night time sleep. I didn't want to deal with the transition later on. She took to it well from the beginning. She's never had a problem being put down for night time sleep and naps in the beginning. She was basically just sleeping around the clock as a newborn and barely cried. She'd eat, and basically fall asleep while eating or soon after. Then I'd put her down to sleep. I tried to do 2 naps in the crib every day so she would know crib = sleep. If she was sleeping in her crib, the routine was swaddle and white noise. In the beginning it didn't really matter at all though, she could sleep anywhere and be okay with it. So we let her sleep in the pack and play downstairs, in her boppy, carseat etc etc. We didn't swaddle or use white noise if she was outside her room though.

1 month!

For night time sleep, we started good sleep habits early. We followed the moms on call method. I think it gets a bad rep sometimes as being a cry it out method, but i hardly think it is one. I'd feed her, diaper change, swaddle, white noise, then lights out. She never had issues being put down in the crib for night time sleep. After she was 2 weeks old (basically regained her birth weight), everytime she woke up at night, I'd wait about 2 min before getting her (basically made sure she was fully awake as babies will often times seem like they're awake but really still be sound asleep). After waiting, I'd give her a paci, and she'd fall back asleep. I did this 3 times before I fed her again. As a newborn, she'd only last another 30 min before I'd feed her. As she got older, the paci timing started to spread out to an hour, then a couple hours, and by 7 weeks she was sleeping through the night (6+ hours). By 7.5 weeks, she was sleeping 10+ hours. At this point she wasn't even waking up for her paci anymore. I think by establishing the habits so early, she never had any regression issues (I was dreading the 4 month regression i hear so much about, but she didn't show any signs of it!). She only had about 1 week from the time she was 7.5 weeks to almost 8 months old when she woke up in the middle of the night and that was because of her diarrhea/diaper rash issue. Once I changed her she went right back to sleep. Teething and swaddle weaning hasn't caused her to wake up in the middle of the night as well which i am so thankful for.

Always looks so peaceful!

Naps were a little trickier. Her naps have been awesome lately, but before that it was definitely hit or miss. From the time she was a newborn to 8 weeks her naps were good, she was so sleepy, she'd just eat then go back to sleep.

• At 8 weeks - 3 months I did try to get her to follow the EASY (eat activity sleep you) schedule but she could barely stay awake longer than 30-45 min (which included feeding time) so she basically just went right back down for a nap after eating. She was swaddled, white noise, and then put in her crib for naps. For a nap routine, I'd swaddle her, let her suck on her paci for a couple min until she was almost asleep, then take out the paci and put her in the crib. Most days she went right to sleep, some days she'd cry. I'd give her 5-10 min and if she was still crying, I'd pick her up, let her suck on her paci for a couple min, then put her back down. She never had to do this more than once. At that age, her naps were always long, 2-2.5 hours so I never had issues with cat naps. 

Loves napping with daddy!

• At 3 months I decided to swaddle wean since she was about to go to daycare and her nap routine had been solid. This was the only time I did CIO. It took 3 days for her to get used to being without a swaddle. She didn't have an issue being put down for a nap, but she did wake up in the middle of the nap (about 1 hour in) and couldn't put herself back to sleep. I knew she was capable of sleeping 2+ hours for a nap since she'd been doing it for that last 3+ months so I let her CIO. The longest she cried on and off was 40 min. After that it was about 20 min, then she stopped crying. During the 3 days she learned to self soothe with her thumb. It was so cute. That lasted about a month or so until she decided she didn't like her thumb anymore (good so no bad habits formed but bad that we had to find another way to self soothe). That was also the point in which she didn't want to suck the paci anymore (also good she didn't form a bad habit with the paci, she basically dropped it completely at this point, but bad bc we had to find another way to get her to sleep!). I tried to implement EASY more which was better at this age. her awake time was a lot less than most kids her age tho. I think only about 1 hour max?  

First night swaddle weaning

• So around the 4.5 month mark we redid the nap routine by just putting her in her sleepsack then cuddling or reading a book and then putting her down. I also introduced a lovey at this time ( a pink blankie). She didn't really take to it at first, but now at almost 8 months shes loves it! But anyway, at 4.5 months- maybe 6 months I'd do the simple nap routine and put her down. Most days she was able to put herself to sleep. But some days I'd have to go back in and pick her up and give her more cuddles to calm her down, then try putting her back down. she didn't ever need this more than once. She did start waking up halfway through naps during this time and would sometimes have trouble falling asleep. but i didn't get her unless she'd already slept for 1.5 hours at least. she'd usually fall asleep within 15 min, usually less. 

Starting to move around the crib more!

• From I think 6 months to present she's been my awesome little napper. I do it more on a time basis since I can tell when she is fussy she wants to nap. So it's usually about 2 hours after she wakes up. She gets in her sleep sack, we read a book, whitenoise, then i put her in her crib with her blankie. she doesn't cry anymore. she just plays if she's not tired but will usually be asleep within 10 min. She seems to use her blankie to help her fall asleep. She sucks on the tags or stuffs it in her mouth or smells it. I'm okay with that tho since she only uses it in her crib. She sleeps for about 2 hours twice a day.  The 3rd nap is usually alittle shorter. At almost 8 months shes about to drop her 3rd nap. Most days she takes a short catnap around 5pm. but if she had a long 2nd nap she skips the catnap. 

Her and her blankie!

Having said all that about the naps, i think i may have trained her to sleep in her crib TOO well. Up until a couple weeks ago, she'd have trouble if we were outside the house. She couldn't stay awake very long, but she couldn't sleep very well outside her crib. This was good and bad since we usually weren't out so it was fine most days, but the days we were she was fussyy!! i think for my second child, I'd probably try to have them sleep 1 nap out in the stroller or carseat or something, but i'd definitely rather have a child who can sleep in her crib well then outside the crib. now shes good though since she can stay awake longer and isn't too fussy if she doesn't get a full nap. i def recommend the snoozeshade tho! it helps so much. i just put that thing over the stroller and shes out in a couple min. 

anyway, i wrote this mostly so i remember what I did to get Ev to sleep well. I know this won't work for all babies but it worked for mine! I hope the next baby loves their sleep as much as ev!! 

7 months!!

Weight: 17lb 3oz (~57 percentile)

Size Clothing: She's wearing 9 month sleepers now. We switched from 6 to 9 month sleepers around 6.5 months. She wears 6-12 month or 9 month dresses, onesies, and pants. Mostly because I was tired of the 6 month stuff and wanted to pack it all away together. Love shopping for a girl!

Milestones: She hasn't started crawling yet, but seems like she's on the verge of it. She pushes off with her legs to get somewhere and is starting to lift her stomach more off the ground. She is able to shuffle backwards by pushing off with her arms. We haven't baby proofed yet but we need to! Found the girl digging into diaper cream the other day! oops! Shes starting to make new sounds, like Mmmm and growling noises. She's laughing alot more now although she only thinks something is funny the first time. When we try to get her to do it again she just looks at us like we're old news. She also started solids at 6 months exactly. She did NOT like it for like the first couple days. Now she tolerates it. 

First taste of solids! 

Schedule: The only change this month is that we added solid food meals to her schedule. So a typical day at home looks like this -
7am - wakeup (altho she has really been awake since 630 and just talks to herself while mama gets the energy to get up). then 7oz bottle
8am - fruit! about 1.5 oz of puree fruit
9-11am - nap!
11am - 6oz bottle
12pm - veggies and fruit. about 1.5oz
1230-230pm - nap!
3pm - 5-8oz bottle depending on how hungry she is
4-5pm ish - catnap!
5pm - dinner 1.5oz of veggies and fruit!
7pm - 5-8oz bottle, bath, sleep!

on daycare days, exchange the 2 hour naps for maybe 3 catnaps throughout the day. that girl loves to play too much to nap.

Sleep: she's still going strong with sleeping through the night. sooo thankful!! don't know how i'll survive with a newborn in the future. i love my sleep. i sleep about 8-9 hours. The husb is always like, why r u so tired in the morning, u sleep like 9 hours! its true, i've always had suspicions that i have sleep apnea tho so i don't think my sleep is a very deep sleep. anywho, her naps at home are great, her daycare naps are getting worse. but the teachers don't say anything about it so i figure we'll have to make do. we're doing better with sleeping outside the house now. i think part of it is that she can stay awake about 2 hours now before fussy city so that helps. also i've been using a snooze shade to put over her stroller or carseat so she can fall asleep better when we're out. i still try to time things around her naps tho, don't wanna mess with something good!

Her favorite things: daycare! the girl loves going to daycare. i noticed it in the beginning of the month where i'd drop her off and she'd look at me, then look away and start playing with the toys! i think she's saying "okay bye mom, pick me up later!". she's always smiling at her teachers and friends when she gets dropped off. the teachers comment that she loves to smile at her friends. so i'm so happy with our decision to send her there so early. she also loves being on her stomach now. girl will flip over anytime we put her on her back. she also loves her blankie! i introduced it a couple months ago just to help her sleep outside the house. these days we just leave it in the crib and she always grabs it before sleeping and sucks on it like a paci! i don't think she needs it to sleep but i think she likes it as a comfort item.

Her normal sleep attire and blankie!

First time swimming over Memorial day weekend!

We think she liked being bundled up better!

Street fair! Dad loves to hold her like a sack of potatoes!

Introduced the sippy cup! She knows how to drink from it altho she's not that interested in doing it

Her cheese face! Hi Auntie Kar!! 

Love how her hair is longer now and we can put it in ponytails!

CHEESEE

San Diego County Fair!

First Fathers day! Not sure if he's trying to feed her to the duck... JK!

First time sitting in the shopping cart-not impressed

pigtails and cheeseface!!

6 months!!

OMG my baby is 6 months?? when did this happen?

Weight: 16lb 10oz (60th percentile)

Height: 24 3/4'' (10th percentile)

Head Circumference: 43.7cm (87th percentile)

Size Clothing: She's still wearing 6 month sleepers! I had to retire some of them (the pink sock monkey sleeper! :-( ) but she still is able to wear a couple of them. I started buying 9month and 6-12 month pj's and clothes but haven't started using them yet. As far as onesies, shirts, and pants, she still fits in 3-6 month.

Milestones: She started pushing up on her arms when she's on her tummy so like a mini pushup. she also doesn't stay put anymore. she doesn't exactly crawl, but somehow she maneuvers herself a couple feet. i think by shuffling or spinning alittle? i haven't really seen it in action, i just know that when i put her down she isn't gonna stay there! she is sitting up better but still needs to be in the right position or else she'll tip (i blame her big head, no offense baby!) but shes getting better at it. still has to lean forward a bit to balance  but if in the right position she can stay sitting for a long while. she's also alot better about aiming things into her mouth. she can hold her paci's and get them in her mouth.

Sophie time!

Schedule: so her schedule is a little different this month. we dropped a feeding so she takes 7-8oz every 4 hours. so she eats at 7, 11, 3, and 715 ish. then she naps from 9-11, 12-2 ish, and 4-5 on a non daycare day. on a daycare day... well her naps are about 45min to 1 hr and she takes about 4 of them. the daycare teacher says shes just too curious about what the other kids are doing! they had to cover part of her crib bc she'd wake up and look at the other kids playing. super cute tho! this new schedule hasn't eliminated her fussy time but it did push it back a bit. so its only really 6-7pm ish.

Love seeing this happy face in the morning!

Sleep: we're back to sleeping through the night after the diarrhea fiasco! she sleeps from 730pm to about 7am. she actually wakes up probably around 640am but she's awesome and lets me keep sleeping while just playing with her blankie. she still naps alot, like i said before. about 5 hrs on a non daycare day and 3-4 hours on a daycare day. while this sounds awesome, it's proven to be hard to go out for longer than 1-2 hours! girl does not like sleeping anywhere besides a crib and can't fall asleep in the bjorn or stroller very well. she does fall asleep in the car but only when shes really really tired. so if we try to go out longer than 2 hours she gets cranky fast. so going out takes alot more planning these days so we basically have to go out right when she wakes up. on the same note eating out has been proven to be hard as well! girl has a 10 min attention span and needs to keep moving. so hopefully this gets better when she can eat with us. starting solids later this week!

Girl loves this thing!

Her favorite things: she's in the midst of teething so she loves sophie now and the raz paci. she also loves the feeder paci. we've only put ice cubes in there but she loves it! we'll start putting fruit when we introduce it. she loves being on her tummy now. she can only stay on her back for about 5 sec before she attempts to flip. diaper changes have turned into alligator wrestling. shes playing with her jumperoo more now. instead of just looking at everything she's spinning things and jumping in it more. its a good distractor when i need time to do work!

First hot day in awhile! Romper season!

  

Her blankie. Not sure if she cares for it but I see her smell it when shes trying to sleep!

Lion!

Showing us her bff Sophie!

Her first pigtails!

My first mothers day gift! 

First mothers day!

Love this girlie!

Dad trying to get her to laugh. She says ehhhh

love!

Mom I move so fast now, just try to take a picture of me

5 months!

Weight: 15lb 4oz (~51st percentile)

Size Clothing: Wearing 6 month sleepers still although some are fitting perfectly right now so i know we're onto 9 months soon. As far as regular clothes she still wears 3-6 month. Some pants are still too big for her because her legs are short!

Milestones: Rolling over from back to belly pretty consistently now. Because of this she's started sleeping on her side now. I hope she doesn't roll over by mistake in the middle of the night though and need me to turn her over! <ETA: she JUST did it as I was writing this post!! gosh. she fussed for a couple min then seems to have fallen asleep on her belly. Hope its that easy> She's also sitting by herself better and can do it for longer periods of time as long as she's in the right position. She's also alot better at grabbing objects and putting them in her mouth. She plays with her toys alot more now, especially the ring links.

Schedule: We kept the same schedule up until this week. I'm trying to drop a bottle feed and increase the amount in the bottle. Partly because her last two bottles were too close to each other (5 and 7) where she wouldn't eat her last bottle. So the last couple days we've been doing 4 bottles at 7, 11, 3, and 7 ish and so far so good! she eats each bottle and i don't have to fight her to keep drinking. i'm hoping it helps that fussy period from 5-7 but we'll see...

Sleep: Her beautiful night sleep was disrupted for a couple days this month cause of a virus she got. Diarrhea city = diaper rash. I think it was the rash that woke her up and she needed to be changed. She went back down fine but after just a couple days of that mama was soooo tired. not as easy when they're not a newborn anymore. she got back on track a couple days later but that was not a fun week. Now she's starting to wake up a bit earlier than before (7am instead of 730am) i think because we've been putting her to sleep earlier. but i think this is better because girl is FUSSY at night. so i know she wants to go to bed earlier.

Her favorite things: she loves those ring links that hang. she's always tugging at them. she also loves when people talk to her. she's starting to smile alot at strangers (well strangers to her... our friends tho). she has no hesitation in giving someone a big gummy grin if they're smiling at her. she does get alittle shy and rubs her head in our shoulder but then she'll look back at them and smile again. she loves being in the sitting position and looking around. no longer are the days where she can just lie in the boppy for long periods of time. girl needs to see everything!

Having fun on Easter weekend

Easter Sunday at Auntie's house!! 

Little thumb sucker... She stopped doing it lately though

Master at tummy time now

The cutest sleeper I know

Love her gummy smile

Having fun at my friends bridal shower!

Daddy time!

Her first time in her high chair. Can't wait for solids next month!! 

Too small