Scheduling Baby

For all you ladies out there who have yet to be tormented by those tiny little creatures who slobber on your favorite jewelry and lick your face...

Let me let you in on a little secret. Babies just don't work like you think they're going to.

We all seem to think that darling is going to come along with this manual hanging from her neck that lets you know when to feed her, change her, and the exact times to lay her down for her naps.

BAHAHAHAHAHA

if only....

as a mother, i spend hours, literally, hours, trying to figure out why she isn't taking naps, why she isn't sleeping all night..

am i feeding her enough?

is she getting too much solids and not enough formula?

is she overtired?

is she going to bed too early?....maybe it's too late....

and then I get on facebook and get on my mommy pages and ask all the members what time their baby goes to sleep, how much they feed him, why won't Savannah take naps longer than 30 minutes???

and then after getting the typical "is she teething?'

i call my sisters and ask them a billion questions

And then

I end up figuring it out all on my own....sort of....more like suffering through the tough parts until it eventually gets better

(sigh)

Honestly, no one else can give you the answers you are looking for, because each baby is so different and they simply DON'T come with a manual. it's all about trial and error people, trial and error.

But, sometimes just being informed can help! and so, if you are struggling with no naps/frequent night wake ups/problems eating

i've arranged some info all here conveniently in one location (would've saved me some time!)

1. Start tracking your baby's sleeping and eating patterns! yeah, i know what you're thinking..."what a waste of time!" but no. seriously. makes a huge difference. I've been using Baby ESP. It's an app you can download onto your phone and it makes it very easy to time naps and add anything your little mommy heart desires. Personally, I keep track of the times of bottle feedings and amounts, and times and lengths of naps. It'll even give you stats so you can see when you're baby usually takes a nap or how much she eats each day. It's AWESOME. no joke. since we've been using it, we've gone from 3-4 30 minute naps each day to one 2 hr nap and one 40-60 min nap.

2. It's good to know how much sleep your baby should be getting each day or she can either end up not getting enough and be overtired by the time bedtime arrives (and then you're dealing with a very unhappy child who just can't fall asleep) or they sleep too much and wake up frequently throughout the night. So here's a great resource

http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-much-sleep-does-your-child-need_7645.bc

also,  http://www.babysleepsite.com/

3.  take a deep breath. being a parent is hard, like, really hard. if you aren't a mommy yet, be prepared to have moments when you are so frustrated that you could walk out the door and never come back. be prepared to feel guilt. be prepared to have your world turned upside down. and be prepared to love like you never have before.

for those of you who are mommies. i know where you're coming from. whatever you are going through right now will get better. eventually those babies won't be pooping in a diaper or eating the cheerios off of the floor. eventually they will be having babies of their own and we can pass our awesome knowledge on...and laugh because then they will be the ones up all night!

So go ahead and let that monster sweep the floor with his tongue. one less cheerio for you to clean up