I have a theory...

Ok I have a theory about many things... but this particular theory goes something like this: no matter what you do with a baby, they are going to reach their milestones when they reach their milestones. A lot of this baby stuff is really up to them. Of course it does depend on personality, the environment and all that too. But really they are the little bosses.

My current example: SLEEP. That's right, little L slept through the whole night last night. 7pm to 5:30 am. I think she woke up because I made A go and check on her at 5:15 when I woke up and realized she wasn't with me. It went something like this...

Me:Go check on L, make sure she is ok.

A gets up, walks down the hall, walks back, lays down.

Me: Well is she there?

A: yep

Me: Is she breathing?

A:yep, and I know breathing.

Me silently planning my celebratory blog post and unable to return to sleep because of it.

(Just for the record she fed from 5:30 to 6:30 and then went back in her bed until a very respectable 7:30. It was lovely. I got up at 6:30 and made the kids valentines for daycare.)

She has a runny nose. She is teething. I haven't been great at keeping her nap schedule overly regular. In short there was no reason for her to sleep this particular night, but she did.

Rewind to baby one, R. He was on a schedule almost immediately. We worked hard on routines. He slept through the night at about 10 months.

Baby two, K. He had almost no routine. His day was always different. He was driving me crazy so I did the "No Cry Sleep Solution" book with him and he slept through the night in a week. At about 10 months.

Baby three, L. She has been on a loose schedule. We often held her till she was asleep then put her to bed. By "we" here I mean her Daddy, I usually put her down drowsy. And with no concerted effort she slept through the night at almost 10 months.

Do you see the pattern here?

I think my kids were going to sleep when they were going to sleep, and all the effort on my part had some effect, but not a ton.

Of course they have different personalities and we have more parenting skills and we know what to worry about and what to leave be. I have more confidence that whatever the current problems (within reason) they will change weather we work at them or not, because change is the nature of childhood.

I also was quite convinced with my first babe that there was a way to do things that would be right for him, if everyone shushed and patted exactly the same then he would peacefully drift off. Now I know that everyone cannot possibly do things the same way, so I relax and let the grandparents get them to sleep anyway they can. What a special treat to fall asleep cuddling with Grandma. That is part of what makes their relationship special.

All this to say, I wasn't trying or worrying, but really, I liked the sleep. Hope she can do it again tomorrow night!!!