Absolutely, positively, no peeking
Clocking in at almost 8 weeks old, I think it's fair to say that Bernadette is a good sleeper. Not a great sleeper, mind you, but not a bottom of the barrel sleeper either. (Could either of my girls be bottom of the barrel at anything? I mean, come on!)
As babies, both she and Deirdre were pretty good sleepers coming out of the gate. Bernadette's taken a little longer to get that consistent 7 to 8 hour stretch going, but I'm well aware that at the 8-week mark, I should count my blessings that we're getting a solid 6 hour stretch to begin with!
Of course, as any mom knows - that 6 hour stretch begins the moment Bernadette's eyes close, and ends the moment I hear her desperate little cry (make that scream/grunt/yell) in the wee hours of the morning, demanding another round at the trough. So does this mean I get 6 straight hours of sleep? Well - I'm getting better at it. I've employed two tactics recently that are enabling me to get the maximum amount of sleep - and I'm loving every extra moment of shut-eye they're allowing me.
First, I've learned to do my nightly routine (contacts, teeth, pj's, etc.) before I feed Bernadette for the last time at night, so that the moment her eyes do close and I'm able to put her down for the night, I can, in theory, head straight for my bedroom and hit the hay. Now do I tend to get side tracked going from her room to mine? You bet. Do I tend to pop back downstairs to grab a water, or a quick snack, and end up opening up the day's mail or finishing up a to-do? Absolutely. But as I said, I'm getting better.
Second, I've been eliminated any and all extraneous "peeking" - whether it's checking back in her room to see if she's fallen asleep yet, or looking at the video monitor to see what she's up to. I don't need to see that she's still rustling around when I'm supposed to be trying to fall asleep. That "peeking" only gets me thinking, waiting, and worrying. Will she ever fall asleep? What if she doesn't fall asleep? Well - you know what? If she doesn't, she'll let me know. Make no mistake about that!
So this idea of "peeking" also crosses over to email, last minute to-do's or anything else I think I can fit in while I "wait" for her to fall asleep. The multi-tasker in me inevitably kicks in after I put her down, and I convince myself that taking a quick glance at my email, or finishing up a few thank you notes would be a good use of my time while Bernadette's settling down. But what ends up happening? I tell myself I'll just take a quick peek at my email, but then get completely engrossed in returning emails. Or I decide to just glance at a blog post I
've been working on, or tackle the last few thank you notes I have to write, but then completely lose track of whether or not Bernadette's fallen asleep. And of course, she has - and the next thing I know, I've lost 45 minutes of my 6-hour stretch of sleep. Eek! As every lupite and/or nursing mother knows, every minute DOES count!
So wish me luck as I continue to abstain from "peeking" - checking my email is one thing, but passing up a glance at this adorable gal can be tough. I mean, look at her. Could she be any cuter?
As babies, both she and Deirdre were pretty good sleepers coming out of the gate. Bernadette's taken a little longer to get that consistent 7 to 8 hour stretch going, but I'm well aware that at the 8-week mark, I should count my blessings that we're getting a solid 6 hour stretch to begin with!
Of course, as any mom knows - that 6 hour stretch begins the moment Bernadette's eyes close, and ends the moment I hear her desperate little cry (make that scream/grunt/yell) in the wee hours of the morning, demanding another round at the trough. So does this mean I get 6 straight hours of sleep? Well - I'm getting better at it. I've employed two tactics recently that are enabling me to get the maximum amount of sleep - and I'm loving every extra moment of shut-eye they're allowing me.
First, I've learned to do my nightly routine (contacts, teeth, pj's, etc.) before I feed Bernadette for the last time at night, so that the moment her eyes do close and I'm able to put her down for the night, I can, in theory, head straight for my bedroom and hit the hay. Now do I tend to get side tracked going from her room to mine? You bet. Do I tend to pop back downstairs to grab a water, or a quick snack, and end up opening up the day's mail or finishing up a to-do? Absolutely. But as I said, I'm getting better.
Second, I've been eliminated any and all extraneous "peeking" - whether it's checking back in her room to see if she's fallen asleep yet, or looking at the video monitor to see what she's up to. I don't need to see that she's still rustling around when I'm supposed to be trying to fall asleep. That "peeking" only gets me thinking, waiting, and worrying. Will she ever fall asleep? What if she doesn't fall asleep? Well - you know what? If she doesn't, she'll let me know. Make no mistake about that!
So this idea of "peeking" also crosses over to email, last minute to-do's or anything else I think I can fit in while I "wait" for her to fall asleep. The multi-tasker in me inevitably kicks in after I put her down, and I convince myself that taking a quick glance at my email, or finishing up a few thank you notes would be a good use of my time while Bernadette's settling down. But what ends up happening? I tell myself I'll just take a quick peek at my email, but then get completely engrossed in returning emails. Or I decide to just glance at a blog post I
've been working on, or tackle the last few thank you notes I have to write, but then completely lose track of whether or not Bernadette's fallen asleep. And of course, she has - and the next thing I know, I've lost 45 minutes of my 6-hour stretch of sleep. Eek! As every lupite and/or nursing mother knows, every minute DOES count!So wish me luck as I continue to abstain from "peeking" - checking my email is one thing, but passing up a glance at this adorable gal can be tough. I mean, look at her. Could she be any cuter?
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