Sleep Tight

So, as I teased at the end of my last blog post, step 2 in my mission to gain some control over my life before I go back to work is getting Will into a proper bedtime routine (and, hopefully, along with that a more regular sleep schedule and duration). 
The planned routine goes as follows:

1) Tummy Time while Mommy draws a bath.
2) Bathtime
3) Infant Massage (I took a class at my hospital - I wish I got a massage every night)
Note: The massage is done in the bedroom with only his nightlight and the hall light on.  After bathtime, only minimal light is used. 
4) Pajamas and Swaddled
5) Nurse/Feed
6) Story/Scriptures/Prayer/Song
7) Sound Machine On
8) Baby in crib

Day 1 of the full routine on Monday started out like this:

Things didn't improve from there.  I woke him up for the bath and he cried...make that screamed...the whole time.  The massage was amended to just a few strokes since he was so mad.  The feeding and scripture time went as planned.  I laid him down to bed around 8:45pm. 

A few minutes later he was full out crying (I'll let him make some noise before I'll come to the rescue).  So, I rocked him and tried again...and again.  Eventually he went to sleep for good around 9:50pm.  Not too bad for the first night. 

Day 2 (tonight) started out like this:

A better omen.  He loved his bath and his massage went really well.  Up until the very end he was enjoying it very much.  I swaddled him up and fed him and he fell asleep during the song and prayer.  I rocked him a bit longer - mostly because I was enjoying it so much.  And I layed him down in the crib around 9pm.  So far he has stirred a couple times, but giving him his pacifier and waiting for a few minutes has sent him back to dream land.  We'll see what time he actually falls asleep.  And how long he stays asleep. 

But, so far, so good.  Now, I just have to be consistent! 

I'll tell you this, though, I'm going to look forward to this Mommy-Will time every single night!

Step 2: Bedtime Routine - in progress. 

Step 3: Routine and Milestone Charts!

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