Aisha is neither smiling nor smizing. This is a full-on, sleep-deprivation-induced meltdown.
Like her mama, Aisha is what Bajans would call, “a night bat” – or night owl, in North American terms. She has been a good, solid sleeper since she was born, but lately, her hours have been getting later and later. It used to be that she’d hit deep sleep mode around late evening; these days it’s closer to midnight, and sometimes beyond.
In some ways, I don’t mind, as it means that she doesn’t wake up before 9 or 10 (I’m so not a morning person); it also means that I can’t plan any evening activities like salsa, or going to see a movie, or even a late dinner with friends. My mother happily babysits, but I’d prefer that the babe is asleep so as not to pose too much of an imposition, so most (okay, ALL) nights, I end up just staying home.
I know that an earlier bedtime will only benefit her in the long run, so last night was my first attempt at sleep training. She usually takes two short naps lasting about 40 minutes to an hour during the day, and then one longer nap (about two hours or so) in the evenings. Since I’m aiming for a 930 curfew to start, it means that I had to cut her last nap by about a third.
It was almost 7 when I woke her up, and li’l Miss Aisha was hardly amused.
I let her wake up fully before we had some playtime, and then I started winding it all down. The bath, bottle and bed process started at 8, and by the time 9 o’clock rolled around, she was manic with tiredness. She stopped grumping long enough to take her final bottle, and then it was time to go down for the night.
I wound up falling asleep as well, and awoke at quarter to 4. She followed suit about 20 minutes later. I gave her a bottle, and we hung out until 6 – and she’s pretty much been asleep (save for a brief prairie-dogging at around 8) since then.
It’s 9:01 as I type this, and she’s still asleep. I read someplace that nine-month-olds should sleep about 14 hours a day, including naps. I’d say she’s doing all right thus far. I’ll wake her in a bit, and then monitor her naps throughout the day.
If I time it right, I’ll even be able to get out for a spell during her nap time, and treat myself to some brunch.
Wish me us luck!
this wasn't in the manual 
She sounds like a pretty great sleeper! That’s awesome. Eva goes down around 6.30pm and wake up is anytime between 4.30 and 6 am. I’m not much of a night owl though so I don’t mind too much.
Yay Eva! I don’t think, in the history of man, that Aisha has ever gone down that early. 😀
Tessa, that’s my Tessa’s sleep schedule also. Though I haven’t been thrilled to get up at 5 AM on the weekends, we are always up that early during the week, so it works for us. 🙂
Yes, it does mean I try and get to bed ridiculously early too, which can be a bit tiresome, but I’d rather that than very little sleep!
Sounds like such an amazing first night of sleep training! Sleep training for us was a nightmare but once we had it down it became our lifesaver. We liveeee by it now and could in no way have been sane parents had it not been for sleep training. It will suck at times but it’s worth it. Good luck!!!
I can’t begin to imagine how tough it must have been with two! The kid is pretty easy-going, I have to say, so even though she’s a bit grumpy when it’s time to sleep and I’m keeping her up, she’s been a champ. This is day 3, and so far, it’s been not bad at all.
I haven’t been up past 9 pm in as long as I can remember. 😉 We are early birds!! Sounds like your first night went well. These little babies just like hanging out with their parents too much. I need to remind myself that someday, she won’t want to hang out with me at strange hours of the day anymore… 🙂