Sleep

We’ve definitely entered a new Era of Zibby’s Bedtime. Once upon a time, before Zibby quit napping during the day, her bedtime (meaning, the time at which she was generally tired enough to go to sleep) was between 11 pm and 1 am. Occasionally Id attempt to manipulate this to a (much) earlier time, say, by trying to skip a nap. Occasionally for some legitimate reason (other than my own agenda) something would happen to alter her bedtime and it was always a huge mistake. She’d be crabby and difficult and it was always apparent that we needed to adapt to her bodyclock.

It was particularly hard for Buzz, since she usually went to bed hours after he did. We rarely had evening time alone, and he never had any time to himself in the evenings at all. But, when she was between 3 and 4 she quit napping and her bedtime moved on its own to 8-9 pm. I always nursed her to sleep, and because this was her body’s tired time, it took usually less than 10 minutes for her to fall asleep. I had night-weaned her during my pregnancy with Henry, so by this time, if she ever woke up during the night, it was rare, but possibly due to needing to use the bathroom or wanting a sip of water.

For the last several months (6?) we’ve been occasionally talking about falling asleep without nursing. There were rare instances of Zibby falling asleep in the car (at night, around bedtime) or watching tv, but mostly the idea was met with extreme resistance. She would not fall asleep at her regular time unless I nursed her. If I didnt, she would stay up several extra hours. I really wondered how she would fall asleep without nursing.

Well. Im here to report that it just…worked out. While on vacation, Zibby slept in a bed by herself and several evenings, after a super long and busy day, she would get into bed and I’d just say, “I’ll sit here in this chair by you until you fall asleep” , and she’d say ok and just…fall asleep. When we got home, Buzz took over bedtime and goes in with her until she is asleep. Sometimes he comes back out, sometimes he falls asleep too. I think that gradually this will go smoother and faster.

Even just a month ago, I didnt know when or how this would work. 5 years ago, I certainly didnt know. What I DID know, was that I never wanted to fight about bedtimes, or make my child lie awake by themselves for hours on end alone in a room, or make my child cry themselves to sleep. I wanted to trust my self and my child, and I did, and it worked out just the way it ought to.

Cool.

Filed under all about the zibster, daily life, parenting, ponderings, sleep | Comments (5)

INHOME and update

Next week is the INHOME conference, where I will be participating on a panel about blogging, as well as running a workshop making Artist Trading Cards (ATCs). I am excited about some of the sessions and hoping mine turn out ok

Zibby started swimming classes today. She did GREAT! That is to say, she participated and had fun. She had so much confidence and was so proud of herself afterwards, it was really nice. She is doing Spanish, Swimming, and will be starting Tumbling soon. Plus, with the nice weather, our two homeschool groups begin Park Days where we meet up at parks around the city. Even Beach Day doesnt seem that far away….

I joined a vegetable CSA, which Ive been wanting to try for a few years. Ive taken the plunge. We’ll share it with another family who lives close by, and split the box each week. Im feeling up to the challenge of the onslaught of veggies. Cmon Veggies! I will eat you! This particular CSA seems great because it helps homeless people with job training.

Ive also been doing a chicken and egg CSA , but to be honest, I think we’ll take a break from it next session. We get one poultry share, which we split with another family, as well. But we pretty much get 2-3 whole chickens each month, and while I REALLY love and appreciate making my own chicken stock, and having my own chicken schmaltz, Im tired of being the only one eating the dark meat, and never getting any light meat, and really, a whole chicken is too much for one meal, and then I have to use up the leftovers the next day or two, and frankly, its kind of a lot of work. The meat is delicious, for sure. And I truly want to support local and humane chicken raising…but sometimes I just want a boneless, skinless chicken breast. What to do….

Filed under all about the zibster, CSA, daily life, N's Interests, ponderings, vegetables | Comments Off