18 March 2010

Sleep habits

Okay, here is something that I am learning having now two children.... they are completely different in so many ways!!! I know, most of you are laughing now, having more than two children..... well, I am not there yet.

Coqui was, and I guess still is, a very light sleeper. On top of that, he is very active. So it was hard for him to calm down in order to fall asleep. When we did the sleep training with Coqui, I had no sound machine - I guess the idea had to grow on me. So we stayed in his room at first, and then eventually moved out of the room when he could stand in his bed and see us. Eventually, he learned how to fall asleep. And after three years, he is so easy now!

With Peanut, I never really did the sleep training. I just knew one thing: NOT to rock her to sleep ever! Most of the time, she is easy enough to put to sleep in simply putting her down in her bed. And she would fall asleep by herself. I thought, wow, this is great. Of course, I used a sound machine right away. Now here comes the thing with her that totally baffles me: she loves noises!!! The more the better. Her room is right next to the laundry room. And with Coqui, I could never do laundry. Now with her, she likes it. She seems to be teething right now, so she was not quite ready for her nap this morning. So I just put the wash machine on (I have done so before). The water running into it puts her to sleep! It's amazing. Totally cool.

Now I just have to get her to take longer naps - it is still a hit or miss. Morning naps are about half an hour. But after lunch time, she sleeps just half an hour as well, sometimes only more than that..... and we are not talking about the afternoon nap, because that is still all over the place. So I guess with her, I don't have to work so much on the 'putting-herself-to-sleep' than the 'staying-asleep'.....

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