Life Changing Routines and Two Year Old Bedtimes

Yes, for 6 months Aaron was in a cot and it was a very normal household but Xmas 2010 Aaron had a head cold, congested, and runny nose and every hour or so I was pacing the floor with him, and he struggled to breast or bottle feed due to the congestion.  The husband saw me walking by the cot cuddling him and said just bring him in with us.  I knew it'd be a routine that would be hard to break but I did it as I had work the next day and I knew we'd sleep better together.

Fast forward and he has been in our bed for 2 whole years.

I am now officially a co-sleeper and I love it BUT it can mean late nights and late mornings - since I got made redundant - and life has lost a lot of structure.

Over Xmas Aaron was often going to bed at 10 or 11 and we'd get up at 10 or 11.  It didn't seem too odd as his normal bed time has always been 21:30 anyway.  Me working and him at nursery had never prevented that as we could both cope with 3 early starts given that I worked part-time, (till redundancy in July) 3 days a week.

Just after Xmas there were nights where he'd have had his afternoon nap in the evening and the 10 would become 11 or 12 or even 1 a.m. a couple of nights.

A few weeks ago when he was very sick, he fell asleep at 19:30 two nights in a row and still slept till 10:30 one day and 11:30 another, but in the days after that, when he was recovered (although I did not know it yet) he'd sleep at 19:30 but then wake at 21:30 full of beans and again it'd be nearly 1 a.m. when he'd go to sleep and then sleep till 11 a.m. (which must seem a mad time of day for a toddler to sleep).

Well over a week ago, for 3 nights in a row, I got him back to 21:30 bed time, but the eve of my birthday (31st Jan) I got his Dad to take him to the MIL so I could do an evening of housework and they did not get home till 22:15, and by the time I spent some time with Aaron got his PJs on and gave him a bottle it was VERY late and it stayed VERY late for that night plus 3 more.

Luckily to visit @anyaharris01 on Monday, we had to be up early (me at 6 and Aaron at 6:45) so Monday night Aaron was asleep by 19:30 and last night at home 20:30 and tonight 19:15.

So last night he slept 20:30 to 08:30 this morning.

It's like having a new life.

I must admit, I did not know what to do with myself tonight.... but in the space of an hour I had to go and lie alongside him twice as he is used to me being next to him, so it is not as if I am completely free.

It is now 20:58 and I am hoping he has gone into a deeper sleep as I have a job interview tomorrow and given that my bank account is now EMPTY, I really need to prepare for it.  I wasn't desperate before but I am now.

I also need to tidy the sitting room (that doubles up as his play room)....

Another thing I learned from @anyaharris01 is that we really need TOY BOXES - because every night I am trying to do this:

Sleep and weaning Aaron off meeeeeeeee

Hi

Well... we continue to have some SLEEP success and I am THRILLED.

So on Tuesday he slept in the pushchair at Sandra's (didn't have a camera)...

On Wednesday he slept in the pushchair with Sandra in the park while I had a "meeting" with "work".... ("Gggggrrrr")...

On Friday again he slept in the pushchair, again at Sandra's, below, while we watched Brigadoon :-)

And today for the first time in weeks, he had his mid-morning nap IN THE COT (below) ........... I was so happy I could not contain myself.  I knew it was his 40 minute nap and thought WHAT shall I do.

I can now sleep on my tummy :-)

Cup of tea?
No

Shower?
No

Computer?
Definitely NOT.

Tidy the kitchen?
Boy did it need doing.  I have been back from Ireland for 2 weeks and it was how hubby had it while I was away (yuk)... and due to my FLU, it was way overdue a complete reorganisation.... so much more than just a simple clean.

Weird choice but yes and this was the result:

Yes we are ORGANIX fans :-)

40 minutes is not a long time girls, so only 1 side out of 3 sides of the kitchen was done, but hey Rome was NOT built in a day :-)

Oh and he woke in a good mood soooooo I put him in his high-chair with toys while I opened 4 weeks worth of post and separated it into an ACTION pile and a FILE pile....

And where is he now?.... JUMPING happily in his Fisherprice Jumperooooooooo

The night-time is slowly slowly catchy monkey.  Last night he slept in his cot from 12-3 a.m. only and we co-slept the rest of the time.

The night before, (Thursday night) he slept in his cot from 1:20 a.m. till 7 a.m. and I woke feeling human.

The significance of all of this is that I have been breastfeeding Aaron TO sleep for weeks and co-sleeping for weeks.  It started because he was sick... then sick again... and then teething... and now I am trying to get back to where we once were.

Bye for now, Liska
x

Teeeeeeeeeething

Hi

We are on the teething rollercoaster ride. Big time!

Aaron has TWO teeth coming up in his bottom gum, at the front, and so we are on non-stop calpol, interlaced with Provin (Ibuprofen) in between... Right now he is chewing a teething ring.  He also has an amber teething necklace.

We have the teething poos in abundance.  And the drooling for England and Ireland...
Means 4 bibs and 4 nappies in 4 hours...

He co-slept and breastfed through the night in December, due to a headcold... then same in Ireland due to a flu, and now same due to teething so he has been in the bed with me for weeks, and wakes every few hours or on the hour and in my sleep I breastfeed him back to sleep.

I do not know how I am going to wean him back into his cot............

The teeth are out only a fraction, so they are like two little slivers, and I feel them scratching me when he chews my finger.  When we left for Ireland they were two white dots, but they are now clearly starting to pierce through.

Liska xxx