Naps

Here are some pictures from this past weekend.

We began naps on our own this past weekend. A friend of mine lent me the book Secrets of the Baby Whisperer. So, instead of Emma taking naps on our shoulders and being with us 24/7 and not always getting naps we thought we would give this technique a try.

We started on Saturday. We watch for signs that she is getting tired. If we see a yawn and see her getting antsy those are usually pretty good signals. We put on a mini fan for some white noise and some soothing music (no music today), check diaper, lights off, snuggle in chair for a bit (2 seconds), swaddle her with her arms out while humming/singing Jesus Loves Me, lift her up and snuggle and lay her down. Say shh...shhh...shhh while patting/rubbing her back until she falls asleep. Saturday and Sunday were hard because she would cry for at least 20 minutes until she fell asleep (on her side). It just didn't seem to be working very well. Monday, after a friend mentioned trying her on her tummy since she can lift her head (no loose blankets, we check on her periodically, etc), I did that. She is asleep within 10 minutes of laying her down. She doesn't really cry, just complains some. On her side she slept for 20 minutes mostly, once almost an hour. On her belly she sleeps 2-2.5 hrs. at a time. What a difference! She is a much happier baby too which makes everyone, including the dog, happier! ha!