Paying the piper

Would this face look this cute at 4:30am? Every morning? Because that's when he's waking up. Consistently.


We didn't think so either. But as he is our child and lives at our house, we (and that's a royal We) are obligated to do something about it.

I dissected Patrick's schedule for possible conflicted. Naptime? Food? Wet diapers? How the hell do I fix this? What was once an occasional anomaly was now a predictable routine. Shit. I even broke one of my own "rules" and tried bringing Patrick into bed with me for some snuggle/sleeping. For two minutes, I thought I was onto something. Then he popped up, threw himself out of the bed and ran...RAN! out the door and down the stairs, to where breakfast and Charlie and Lola were waiting.

And I tried this twice. Got me nowhere.

Upon serious reflection, I was reminded that most of my parenting issues have been the result of shoving his needs aside for my own. While I'm immediately satisfied, the dept is incurred and called due in ways I would never predict. Like a 4:30am wake up call.

I started remembering all those events where I pushed his sleep time just a little bit later. The playdate with my girls when the gossip was just getting good. The dinner party where the kids finally left us alone with the wine bottle. They playground when my Mom and I lost track of time. The errands that went too long. The bedtime routine started too late.

My needs over his.

The piper has arrived.

So I have a plan. I'll need to be disciplined and consistent. Hopefully it won't take as long to reset his clock as the books seem to think. Thank goodness I'm a morning person. This would kill somebody less..perky...in the AM. You known who you are, missy. :)

The Plan: What we are already doing
1. Naptime starts between 11am-12pm
2. Dinner/playtime/tv time/bath/jammies/snack/teeth/books/nurse/bed
3. Down to sleep between 7:30-8pm

The Plan: What's new
1. We will not screw with these times. No pushing it because "he's doing OK." I've already left a MOPS meeting and dinner down the street earlier than I liked to stick to this.
2. I'm not getting him out of bed before 5am. I'll change his diaper, give him some water, and offer books, but he stays in his crib until 5am.
3. Naptimes don't go longer than 2 hours. A 3.5 hour break in the afternoon was great, but I realized that the long naps were compensation for an early morning. Toddlers sleep an average of 12-14 hours in 24 hours. Hopefully he'll sleep more at night with a shorter nap.

This has been my biggest sleep issue. He's lovely with the rest. Patrick naps well (and heavily) with no fussing. And given enough wind-down time, he goes to bed really nicely with no fights or hysterics. He sleeps great on his own. I'm OK that he's an early kid. This is just a bit much.

Wish me luck.