Sleepy bug

Over the past two weeks Alby has been a little star with bedtime.  He is settling down for the night within 15 minutes of getting into his bedroom, only waking once or twice in the night and when noises do come through the monitor he has settled again before I’ve even left the sofa.  This is a real transformation and I’m so proud of him it’s silly.

One of the things I am concerned about though is that he isn’t napping as much as he should.  Whilst I appreciate that as he grows naps will become less frequent, this doesn’t seem to be about not needing a nap but rather not managing to settle down in the mornings.  I used to time Percy’s dog walk with Alby’s morning nap but it isn’t working anymore.  Outside of the walk, prepping for work and nursery mean that I don’t have the time to focus on settling him each morning.  Once at nursery it’s all far too exciting to sleep and he doesn’t crash out until the afternoon, which can happen when in a cot, but has also occurred mid-lunch and even mid-nappy change according to his nursery notes!

This morning Alby woke at 6am which I decided was too early so we had a feed and cuddle and snuggled down again in my room.  When my alarm went off half an hour later Alby didn’t even stir and so, with naps proving more allusive, I left him.  I showered, dressed, sorted laundry, cleared some paperwork, made his lunch (running upstairs every other minute in case he’d woken for fear of him falling off the bed) and finally at 8:15am Trouble Monkey woke up – almost two hours later than normal but better off for it if the clapping hands and smiles are anything to go by.

This evening he fell asleep in my arms having a feed whilst we watched “In the Night Garden” – an hour earlier than his usual bedtime.

I’m not worried about this.  If lying in and earlier nights are needed to replace naps then so be it.  What I am doing, and have been doing since Mark left (as much as possible) is to keep a record of how his day goes – sleeps, feeds, meals… We did this when he was tiny and it helped us to recognise the routine he had set for himself.  Well, now we’re trying again to see how he settles and work off his cues to make sure that he is getting his needs met.  If that gives me a few free hours every morning for tasks then great.  And if today turns out to be a fluke then I’ll accept that too and look at other ways to make sure he gets the sleep he needs.