The Candied Lemon

My sweet little baby turned 4 months old this weekend. YAY! In celebration, I wanted to post about her daily schedule, in hopes of helping someone navigate life with their 3-4 month old!

Reagan is... how do I put this delicately? A HORRIBLE NAPPER. She sleeps consistently through the night, but wants to stay up aaalll day without a wink of sleep. I always thought my child would sleep when she was tired, but no such luck! I have put up my dukes and show up every day armed with a few tools and a plan for the day to get her to nap successfully. Some days, it actually works! And some days end with both of us in tears... haha but I am proud to say that there are many more smooth days than tough ones as of late.

After many days of Reagan crying and crying and NOT napping around the 2.5/3 month mark, I searched the internet for a solution. I came across many schedules that just looked absolutely NOTHING like my little one's (complete lack of) schedule.

PAUSE. I would just like to say that before Reagan entered this world, I thought that I was completely equipped to be a mother. I had experience (almost 4 years!) of nannying, and I started babysitting at age twelve. I have always loved kids, playing, the excitement of teaching them, and going on adventures! Fast forward to about day 1 with reagan. Since then, breastfeeding, multiple trips to the ER, constant worry, and inconsolable screaming & crying all showed me exactly how novice I truly am. JOY! More to learn ;)

UNPAUSE. The internet mostly had nothing encouraging to offer, but what I DID find useful was an article that talked about how long a little 2-4 month brain can truly stay awake. 1-2 HOURS! I was shocked. That seemed like A LOT of napping! Especially for my little marathon baby. It also mentioned an eat, play, sleep routine which I would soon find to be my bread and butter.

So off we went, to try the routine that I was admittedly unconvinced of. And what do you know, I found that Reagan was getting fussy right at the 1 hour 30 minute mark. It was like clockwork!

Eventually, we fell into a groove and this is what it looked like! (*It should be noted that this is a good day! Reagan is a baby, so her days vary greatly, but I would say this is a good example of the rough routine we try to stick to.) If you are struggling with this issue, I hope this helps! Every baby is different, but I always find it helpful to see how other moms are getting by!

6:00 AM: Reagan wakes up! Mommy rolls out of bed to get the little stinker.

6:30 AM: Reagan is ready for a baba! She downs 6 ounces of formula because she is so hungry from championing through the night.

7:00 AM: Play time! Reagan lays contently at her activity mat and is still too groggy to start bein' feisty! This has become one of my favorite times of the day. It's peaceful and I'm with my girl.

8:00 AM: I swaddle Reagan and get her cozy for the first nap of the day. I turn on her lullabies and I rock her in the glider for a song or two (if i'm lucky) and put her in her Rock n' Play when she is just falling into sleep.

During this nap, I generally take it easy. I watch tv, put on my make up, read scriptures, have some breakfast... some "me" time.

9:00 AM: Reagan is up!

9:30 AM: Second breakfast for Reagan!

10:00 AM: We play! Reagan spends some time on the activity mat until that gets boring. Then I practice sitting and tummy time with her- and try relentlessly to get her to laugh for the first time!

10:30 AM: Reagan gets swaddled again for nap attempt #2! We play her music, rock in the glider, and she's back in the Rock n' Play.

During this nap, I workout. She usually sleeps for 30-45 mins, which makes it the perfect time slot for an exercise video.

11:15 AM: Lovebug is up! We play some more! This is also the time I use to run any errands we might have for the day.

12:30-1:00 PM: Reagan has lunch.

1:00 PM: Nap attempt #3... this is the most important nap of the day and is usually her longest, so I do everything I can to get her down! We swaddle, listen to lullabies, rock in the glider, lavender essential oils. THE WORKS. If everything goes as planned, Reagan will sleep for 2-3 hours on a good day. If she doesn't get this nap, the rest of the day is quite an... adventure :)

During this nap I clean, declutter, work on anything I might need to, make myself lunch and watch tv or read a book.

3-4:00 PM: Reagan wakes up. She's pretty hungry from all of the beauty rest so we eat right away!

4:30-5 PM: We get in the car and head to our favorite park with a great walking route. Reagan looks around and observes the world around her. I LOVE that. Mom listens to a podcast and pushes the stroller while doing lunges & leg lifts. Passersby stare and question my sanity.

5:30-6 PM: We come home and Reagan takes what I call "the mini nap." This is her catnap to get her to bedtime. She still needs to be swaddled and rocked.

During this nap I start dinner!

6:30 PM: Reagan is awake from her 30 minute catnap. She goes in the bouncer while mom finishes dinner.

7:00 PM: DAD'S HOME!!! Reagan watches the Dodger game with daddy while I finish and plate dinner. David and I eat dinner at the coffee table (LOL) while Reagan watches the game from her activity mat. As luck would have it, this is usually when Reagan has her fussy time :) She is hungry, tired, and ready for bed!

7:30 PM: Reagan's final meal of the day. She gets swaddled and takes a nice warm cozy bottle. She is usually asleep by the end of her feeding, but sometimes will need a little rocking in the glider before she's out for good.

David and I get some baby free time to binge Netflix or just talk! Mommy finally gets a shower! And then it's lights out by 10:30 PM to start it all again at 6 AM!

With the first couple months of a baby's life being so random, it is such a relief when they finally fall into somewhat of a routine. I love having parts of the day that I can count on (most days!). I get frustrated when things don't go according to the routine, but that's part of the mommy gig! We press on!

If you are struggling with a nap resistant little one, I promise there is hope! it takes time to figure out what works for both of you but when it clicks, it's great! I already feel Reagan approaching a new pattern which I will need to figure out. These babies keep us on our toes!

And we still love the heck out of them!!