Random observations on kids, exercise, sports, and whatever else comes up.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

My Baby's Brain (and other things)

Because that's really what all this sleep stuff is all about. I'm concerned about my baby's brain development. Especially because I don't eat fishy Omega-3-rich foods, and I'm terrible about remembering to take my vitamins. My little monkey needs every advantage I can give him, and sleep seems like the easy one.

"Cry It Out" has gone well, and now sleep is achieved with minimal to no crying. Monkey-boy is back to putting himself to sleep at night after I lay him down, and he sleeps for 11 to 13 hours. The trouble has been naps. He has only napped for 30 to 45 minutes at a time...

UNTIL YESTERDAY.

Yesterday I laid him down for his late-afternoon nap, which is normally pretty short. At 3 p.m. he laid down without fussing, and promptly fell asleep. HE WOKE UP AT 5 P.M.! A two-hour nap is unheard of, and the fact that he did it so close to bedtime alarmed me a little. But we started our evening routine shortly after he woke up, and he went right back to bed at 6:30 p.m. and slept all night.



I thought it was a fluke. This morning, his 9 a.m. nap was the same 45 minutes it usually is. When he went down shortly before noon, he was awake 35 minutes later. I was eating my lunch, so I just listened to him on the monitor. He tossed and grunted a little, but didn't cry. And then something magical happened. He went back to sleep.

He slept for two hours again. Two glorious hours. I was able to DO STUFF. Like, more than one thing. I didn't have to prioritize my chores and do the one that was most important. I could do several. It was wonderful.

But really, nap time isn't about me. Honest, it isn't. It's about my happy, well-rested little boy... and his brain.

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