Eating and Sleeping

So our new schedule these days is completely of Aiden's making (for the most part). And it can change in an instant if he so desires. We have found that to be very true...

Aiden has been a great eater and sleeper from the start. But things do change from time to time... He started out sleeping no matter what was going on around him. You could pass him around, pick him up, put him down, talk, laugh, make whatever noise, and the child would sleep right through it. To keep this up, he takes his daytime naps in the living room. I did this with Camden, and he's always been a great sleeper! Seems to work pretty well. There have been some changes, though. Lately, he wakes up easily after we lay him down. We think he is out, and five minutes later, those eyes are open wide! This is ok during the day but a little frustrating when it happens in the middle of the night, especially when it keeps happening, which has been the case a couple nights. (Hopefully that won't become a running trend!)

I think one part of the issue is eating. He always nurses to sleep, and now he's staying awake a bit longer during the day. When he nurses but doesn't go to sleep, he doesn't seem to know what to do! Should he keep eating? Should he try to sleep? Hmm... And then he has a harder time going to sleep without nursing. The pacifier (which he will take from time to time) might do the trick sometimes, but then you have to help make sure it stays in as he is dozing off. It's interesting to see how his patterns change from day to day.

One thing we have noticed is that Aiden might much rather sleep on his stomach and he certainly likes sleeping on his side. We only do this during the day where we are around him to watch him. But if we lie him on his belly, he sometimes goes right to sleep. We won't let him stay that way, but we will put him in the bassinet on his side, and he loves that. Maybe once he is rolling over on his own we'll find him becoming a belly-sleeper. That's where my vote is.

Now eating... That hasn't changed a whole lot. He basically wants to do it all the time! When he wakes, to go to sleep, when he's upset. It's soothing to him, will put him to sleep - he just loves it basically. It's what he does best.

When Camden first saw Aiden, Aiden was nursing. Camden looked a bit like he wasn't sure what to think of that, even though he knew it would happen. The next time Aiden was nursing, I asked Camden "What do you think about seeing this?" He was like I don't know... I thought for a second and then said, very matter-of-factly, "Well, kid, you're just going to have to get used to it." And you know what - HE DID. End of story. He's never acted uncomfortable about seeing so much of mommy since then! It's just how it is. I'm proud of how he's responded to that.

So back to Aiden and his eating and sleeping... I think I've noticed one thing that the kid likes... Eating and then sleeping WITH MOMMY. He does like to sleep on me, but this is different. In the mornings, he usually wakes sometime between 5:30 and 6:30 to nurse. We usually need to change his diaper around then, too. So, we might start to wake up a bit but then he decides to go back to sleep. I often think about staying up, actually getting a shower, etc, but I usually give in and sleep, too. So, since Ryan is up by now (he's been taking Camden to school since he's still home), I bring Aiden to my bed, nurse him, lie him next to me, and we both snooze for another couple or more hours. Ryan often says that between 6-9 is when Aiden sleeps the best. I think it's because he is next to me. I actually lay him fairly close to a certain area (think where he eats...), and I think smelling me helps him relax. If he starts to stir, I move him closer, and he calms right down. This morning, he slept for four hours! He never sleeps that long when he's in his bassinet! At first I thought being that close might cause him to wake sooner and want to eat, but it's seemed to be quite the opposite. And to get him to wake to eat this morning, I actually had to move away some and touch his cheek to get him to want to nurse. Hmmm.... But I can't do this during the night. I don't think Ryan would be willing to give up his spot next to me in bed.