New routine

The past couple weeks have been pretty uneventful. I must admit, it's been really nice! It felt like we were pretty busy for awhile there, so it's been nice just to be home. Eli has not been sleeping well at all since we got back from Idaho though, so I started him on a new "routine" yesterday, and so far it's actually going really well. I get really nervous talking about parenting techniques for some reason, because I don't want people judging me or thinking I'm doing it wrong, especially since this if my first, and I often feel like I am doing everything wrong. But, I feel really good about this new "routine" thing and Eli has been mucho happier since we started, so I thought I would share.

I've been reading this book called "The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems". It talks about the "E.A.S.Y" routine. E-Eat, A-Activity, S-Sleep, Y-Your time. I had pretty much been doing that in that order anyway, but he never seemed to sleep for more than a 1/2 hour - 45 min. at a time during the day, and he was waking up way too much during the night. Remember that post on his 3 month birthday? He was sleeping 8 hours straight every night! But then he stopped....

So anyway, this book talks about how you have to adjust for a growing baby (of course). I was keeping him on a 3 hour routine (i.e. eat at 7 am, play, sleep at 8:30 or 9, eat again at 10, etc.). But it said when they are 4 months they should really be on a 4 hour routine. At first I was nervous, because even though he is huge for his age, I still worry if he gets enough to eat. (Ridiculous). But yesterday I started the new routine and it was awesome! Here is what it is supposed to look like:

7 am - Eat; play
9-11 am - Sleep
11 am - Eat; play
1-3 pm - Sleep
3 pm - Eat; play
5-6 pm - Sleep; Somewhere in there get a 45 min. catnap
7 pm - Eat; Prep for bed
7:30 pm - Bedtime
Between 10-11 - "Dream feed" (Feed in his sleep)
Don't get up/feed again until 7 am the next day! (unless he's going through a growth spurt or something)

So yesterday I got him up at 7, fed him, went on a walk with my friend Kristin, played a bit, and put him down for a nap a little before 9:00 am. The plan is to get him to sleep for about 2 hours, but he did his usual sleep for 35 minutes and wake up. The book said this would happen, but it said to try to get him back to sleep, etc. ... don't get him up until 11. So I did that (he didn't sleep much longer, but he wasn't screaming or anything either). So then I fed him at 11, and we played, and then I put him to bed at 1 and he actually slept! I had to wake him up at 3! Which normally I wouldn't wake a sleeping baby, but I knew it was important to establish the routine. So anyway, then I fed him, we ran some errands, he took a little catnap (perfect timing, right when we ate dinner, yea!) played some more, fed him and put him to bed a 7:30. I then did the "dream feed" at about 10:15, which I thought sounded weird at first, but I tried it and it worked. He did wake up twice in the night, but went right back to sleep with his pacifier and then he didn't wake up again until 6:30. Then he just talked to himself in his crib for awhile and I got him up at 7 am and fed him! And he's asleep now! (9:35 am). Amazing.

So of course he still woke up a couple times, but it is improvement! And that was just day one. Each time he ate he took a good full feeding and didn't act hungry again until it was time to eat again. I know this is long and boring for some of you, but I'm sure someone will appreciate it out there! Maybe just my mom. :) Anyway, so I'm excited for no more middle of the night feedings, and hopefully eventually no more middle of the night wakings. I'm proud of my little dude. He surprised me with how well he has done so far.

And to complete the post, here are a few pictures of my little hero. He is getting so big! I just got out his 6-9 month clothes a couple weeks ago, and he's already growing out of some of them. He sure is cute.

(Next two outfits courtesy of Aunt Amy):
Cute outfit Jeremy dressed him in the other day: (Jeremy was proud of how cute he looked.)
Fun sporty shirt from Aunt Becky (that he pudges out of already):
Oh, and I'm supposed to say: I'm SOOOOOO excited for my little sister Heidi to be coming back out here to school next week. I can't WAIT. She is amAAAzing!!! (was that good, Heid?) Seriously though, I really am excited for her to be out here. Yay! It'll be a party.