Sleeping Habits

D & I have always been proud of Isabelle’s sleeping habits. She was an absolutely easy baby to handle in terms of sleeping habits …. Errrm, at this point I should probably disclaim that she only sleeps well in the night. Getting her nap during the day can be a pain sometimes as Isabelle only wants to play! Anyway the reason why we say she is an easy baby is cos even as a new born Isabelle could sleep for 3-4 hours in a stretch through the night. At 2.5 months, when I got back to work, she was mostly sleeping from 1am – 6am. Beautiful isn’t it? And at 3 months, this had stretched from 12am -7am (or even later). WOW! Everytime we share this with family, friends, the paed, the gynae, they say we have the most perfect baby.

At approx 6 months, we started developing a bedtime routine for Isabelle. This would consist of some bedtime stories & singing, hugs & cuddles at 8.30pm, followed by rocking her to bed. At 8 months, we decided it was time Isabelle learned how to sleep on her own. So we do the same bedtime routines, and then we try to calm her down by lying down beside her (most times we end up falling asleep too) and let her put herself to sleep. It’s been a month now, and I will not say it has been a success all the time. Weekends are the best; after a day out, Isabelle is usually knocked-out and falling asleep takes a quick 5 – 10 minutes. Weekdays are the exact opposite! Maybe Isabelle wants our attention and therefore wants to play longer? Maybe she has enough nap during the day (we sometimes have to forgo nap times on weekends) and thus is not feeling tired? Anyway, I just thought I would document down some of her interesting habits when going to bed!

1. Isabelle sometimes hums along with us when we sing lullabies, nursery rhymes to her; and that's a sign that she is calmed down and relaxed and ready for bed.
2. Isabelle sometimes cries (it's a whiny cry and mostly with her eyes closed), and that’s a sign that she is tired and wants to sleep.
3. Most of the time after much humming and/or crying, there is suddenly dead silence, and that means she has fallen asleep.
4. Sometimes she needs comfort, and unfortunately a teddy or blanket or pillow will not do. Isabelle wants to lean on our shoulder or arm, or hold on to our clothes (usually pulling around the collar area), and she will fall asleep. I actually like this the most cos it makes me feel happy to know that D & I can provide her this comfort & security, though I wonder what the consequences will be in future???
5. Isabelle loves listening to Emi Fujita’s music. It’s actually much more effective than any children’s bedtime lullaby. Isabelle feels relaxed almost immediately, and it just lulls her to sleep.

Anyway, I look forward to putting Isabelle to sleep every night. Its a quality time of 45 mins to an hour, where we hug, cuddle and roll all over the bed, and I hope Isabelle feels all the love we have for her. Sweet dreams my baby!