3 Naps a Day ... Keeps grumpy baby away!

Who knew a nap would be so critical to a baby's schedule?   When William was first born, he would nap all the time at his leisure.  I remember staring at his closed eyes, trying to will them open.  I wanted him awake more so I could see his big blue eyes and marvel at how beautiful my little son was.

Now, fast forward 2 months (today! Happy 2 month birthday!)....  My daily prayer is that he takes three good naps a day because I know that a good nap means a happy baby.

It is obvious when he has napped well, because he wakes up like this:

No joke, this is how he woke up from his nap the other day;  talking, cooing and sporting a smile as wide as the Pacific Ocean. 

It didn't take us too long to get into a routine.  I knew from the offset that I wanted an "eat, awake, sleep" routine similar to the babywise method; however, I wasn't sure that I wanted to follow that regimented of a schedule.  But as I spent a couple days closely watching his "natural schedule" and writing down when he slept, was awake, was hungry etc, I realized that he naturally fell into a very typical babywise schedule.  I would be lying if I called our adaptation a schedule--we adjust the times a little every day to fit him--but it is a definite routine.  He eats every three hours, plays after his feedings for about an hour or hour and a half and then goes down for a nap.  I watch for "sleepy cues"--yawning, fussing and staring off into space--to help determine the right time to put him down and, as a result, rarely have a cry session when I put him in his bassinet.  Next up: Figure out how to keep the pacifier in his mouth during the entirety of the nap so I don't have to replace it every 30 minutes...

And because I was always googling "sample infant routines" before arriving at ours, I will share ours. 

William's Routine

7:00 - 7:30:  William wakes up (VERY happy, in fact the happiest of the day)

7:30:  Eat

Around 8:15 - 8:30:  William is EXHAUSTED (apparently, being awake for an hour and a half is tiring!)

so @ 8:30 - 10:15: Nap

10:30: William eats again and then has play time (walk around the neighborhood, run errands)

12:00 - 1:30: Nap

1:30: Eat then play (tummy time, singing and play mat)

2:45ish - 4:15: Nap

4:30: Eat then play, then play with dad when he gets home

6:00 - 6:45: short cat nap 

7:30: Eat then bath, massage, singing and getting ready for bed

8:00: Bed (if he makes it that long)

He wakes up around 2am and 5am for dream feeds and then falls right back to sleep.  Not too shabby if I say so myself!

William may think that eating is the most important part of his routine, Mama would argue that naps are most important.