january 2001
the pursuit of naps

I am stealing a few minutes to update the site while baby kane thankfully naps the afternoon away. sleep has become a precious commodity around here, for baby more than for us. kane resists going to sleep more than the girls did when they were babies. as I remember, both of them were able to drift off without more than a few sleepy bleets. kane, on the other hand, wails loudly and continuously for what seems to be forever (we can't stand to hear him cry) before he finally relaxes and falls asleep.

we have been trying to "train" him to fall asleep since I will be going back to work in three weeks or so and we worry about how he will live through the days without naps and mommy far away at work. we started putting him on his tummy to sleep when I found out by accident that he felt really liked sleeping in this position and would fall asleep quickly and stay soundly asleep for hours. then we went to the baby doctor and she told us in no uncertain terms that babies should not be put on their tummies due to the risk of SIDS.

so now we are trying to get him to sleep in his car seat since it cradles him more than laying flat on his back in his bassinet but it is difficult. we put him down and he cries. he cries so hard that I am afraid he will give himself a hernia crying. I go in to talk to him after 10 minutes and he cries even harder. then we leave him for 15 minutes, then 20 minutes. sometime around the second or third visit to comfort him, he falls asleep. but it is very hard listening to him cry in the between times.

in contrast, when it is time for us to go to bed and we take baby into the big bed with our flannel sheets and flannel comforter, he falls right to sleep and sleeps the night away, except getting up every three hours to quickly nurse. after which he falls right back to sleep. nights are a breeze - it is the days that are hard. the photo above is kane in our big bed in the morning, nestled happily into the warm flannel sheets with the morning sun streaming into the window behind him.

this has been going on now for about two or three weeks. hopefully after one week or so of consistent naptimes, kane's ability to fall asleep will increase and he will drift off peacefully instead of fighting for every inch of wakefulness.

{ back to baby kane }