Goals, Goals and More Goals
One thing that helps me to stay sane staying home all day, every day is setting and achieving goals. I write a list of at least five things I want to focus on for the week every Sunday night and I make myself commit to getting those five things accomplished before the next Sunday comes. At least half of the things on the list I feel foolish even writing down because they are no more challenging than tying my shoes, however I know myself well enough to know that I won’t get these things done if I didn’t have a strict plan. After three weeks or so and having many little and big tasks crossed of my list, I already feel quite accomplished.
This week, I have only one goal: to come up with a “go to sleep” routine for Caroline. She is getting stronger and heavier by the day and is so wiggly that bouncing her around in my arms for an hour to get her to sleep is becoming out of the question unless I start an intense weight lifting program. Luckily, getting her to bed at night and to go back to sleep during the nighttime hours has not been difficult thus far. Her naps, however, are a big struggle.
My initial reaction every time I have a question about anything is to do research to get the answer. God forbid our internet connection be down one day or I not have the time to wait for Amazon to ship and deliver books on the subject. I can typically come up with the answer on my own if I just stop being so lazy and turn my brain on. In regards to parenting, I have decided to work to come up with my own solutions first and turn to others only if all else fails. So here’s my plan:
1. Track nap times. Each time Caroline goes down for a nap this week, I will write it down and try to find patterns when the week is over.
2. Establish a routine and be consistent with it each time she gets tired. My routine will be to change her diaper, rock her in my arms, set her down and stand by the crib, and leave the room. If she’s still crying after one minute (with real tears), rock her again and only feed her as a last resort.
After this week, my hopes are that I can work to get her to go down for naps close to the same time every day, which shouldn’t be difficult. She already goes down roughly at the same times every day, but it always takes a while to get her to sleep. The next step after the week will also be to shorten the time I spend rocking her and standing by her crib until she falls asleep on her own. Wish me luck!
This week, I have only one goal: to come up with a “go to sleep” routine for Caroline. She is getting stronger and heavier by the day and is so wiggly that bouncing her around in my arms for an hour to get her to sleep is becoming out of the question unless I start an intense weight lifting program. Luckily, getting her to bed at night and to go back to sleep during the nighttime hours has not been difficult thus far. Her naps, however, are a big struggle.
My initial reaction every time I have a question about anything is to do research to get the answer. God forbid our internet connection be down one day or I not have the time to wait for Amazon to ship and deliver books on the subject. I can typically come up with the answer on my own if I just stop being so lazy and turn my brain on. In regards to parenting, I have decided to work to come up with my own solutions first and turn to others only if all else fails. So here’s my plan:
1. Track nap times. Each time Caroline goes down for a nap this week, I will write it down and try to find patterns when the week is over.
2. Establish a routine and be consistent with it each time she gets tired. My routine will be to change her diaper, rock her in my arms, set her down and stand by the crib, and leave the room. If she’s still crying after one minute (with real tears), rock her again and only feed her as a last resort.
After this week, my hopes are that I can work to get her to go down for naps close to the same time every day, which shouldn’t be difficult. She already goes down roughly at the same times every day, but it always takes a while to get her to sleep. The next step after the week will also be to shorten the time I spend rocking her and standing by her crib until she falls asleep on her own. Wish me luck!
posted by Alissa at 2:22 PM
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