I know the goal is to raise healthy, well adjusted kids, but I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by all these changes. My little newborn is growing so quickly.

According to the baby books, the 2-4 month time is critical for establishing good sleep habits. On the list:
* Establish a bed time routine (check!)
* Create a modified bed time routine for naps
* Get on a nap schedule
* Transition to the crib
* Stop rocking the baby to sleep
* Loose the binky for a night time sleep aid

Our bed time routine currently is bath, pjs, milk, bed. We won’t be replicating a bath before every nap (although I am thinking about washing our face and hairline with a warm wash cloth). I’m also not going to put her down immediately after every feeding. That doesn’t leave much to work with for a nap time routine. We’re thinking about incorporating reading as the final step in the routine. We’ve been trying to read to her for a couple of weeks, but she is only now becoming interested in the pictures.

We’ll begin transitioning Nicki to the crib when Domingo gets back from his business trip. It’ll be easier if we’re in an established schedule. I don’t want to implement too many changes at once and disrupt her night time sleeping!

As for the last too, well I’m hesitant. The argument is that as baby becomes more aware of her surroundings, she will disoriented if she goes to sleep in mom’s arms with her Binky, and awakes somewhere else without it. She’ll need mom’s arms to fall asleep again. But the book also says no infant sleeps through the night constantly. We’re already the exception to that rule. In fact, last night Nicki sleep 10 hours, and the night before that 9. More to the point, I’ve seen Nicki on the video monitor wake up and put herself back to sleep. (I fully credit my amazing daughter with this skill, and not anything we did. Domingo and I got lucky with her!). Waking up somewhere other than moms arms has not been a problem. For all I know she expects to wake up in the rock n’ play, like a respawn place in a video game.

Still, this advice is coming from doctors and experts who study sleep. I am certainly no infant sleep expert, and just because something isn’t a problem yet doesn’t mean it won’t become one. I wouldn’t want to set us back because I wasn’t ready to (and making excuses not to) stop rocking her to sleep. Once on a schedule, we’ll stop rocking her to sleep. Next month.

The other change this week is day care. Today was Nicki’s first day. Well, it was a visit day. Nicki and I went together. It was rough. There were tears and they weren’t coming from Nicki.

In a perfect world, I’d stay home with her until she reaches two or so. That way she’d get the best of both worlds in my estimation – individualized attention, and social interaction. But, alas, I need to graduate. As much as I would love to be a stay at home mom now, I know it isn’t for me long term. In the tech world a couple year hiatus makes you obsolete.

I’m nervous about daycare and full of guilt.

Posted in Family Life | Tags: Baby Development, Nicole