Attempting to share parenting responsibility has not always been smooth, especially when Stella's routine during the first year fluctuated by the fortnight. When you factor in the amount of naps, the amount of feedings, when the naps take place, how long the naps last and her movement capabilities, it was almost impossible to come up with a plan for us to share the daily load. The number of schedules and scenarios we drew up and attempted to follow were staggering, like trying to find the combination of a three number lock.
I'll take her before nap 1 and after short nap 3. You have her in between naps and before dinner. I bathe her, you put her to bed. If she takes two naps, we'll switch at lunch and again before dinner. A month later it was flipped again. Etc, etc, etc.
It would have been helpful if those damn baby books summed up life in the first year more clearly. "If you're looking for a neat little schedule, GIVE UP IMMEDIATELY."
But now, suddenly, she seems to be following a pattern. Up at 8:30, down for a nap at 1, bath at 7, bed at 8. It occurred to us recently that she's followed this pattern for nearly a month and doesn't seem to be giving it up.
Our desperate scheduling schemes have morphed into Kari taking her until naptime and me taking her until dinner, which means Kari is done at 1pm and I can get extra time to work while Stella naps. We also started alternating nights of giving her a bath and putting her bed, which means one of us is DONE at 7pm every night. Bliss.
We know this new routine may not last very long, so we're enjoying every minute of it.
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2 comments:
Very nice.
I remember the day a neighbor walked into our apartment, looked at the o/c chart I had made of Sam's erratic sleeping and eating schedule, and declared, "This is the day you need to copy. Do this every day and Sam will be a happier baby." So we did. And life got much sweeter.
Yes, enjoy this time you ought! What I wouldn't give for any schedule allowed by but one little sweetum... at three you find yourself choosing between bathing and eating on a daily basis. (For myself, of course. :)
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