I was talking with Lisa_C, my real life neighbor, the other day. I was mentioning that Luke is getting a little bit over-dramatic about things. Sometimes he throws things, sometimes he grabs on to me or my clothes tightly, sometimes he acts like the world is going to end when he can't have something. This has mostly been going on this last week because we've been inside all week while he was sick. I noticed that it really stresses him out to have nothing to do. Lisa suggested one of the things we can do to help toddlers is to have a routine. I say that word very loosely, because I don't know how much of a routine person I am. But I've tried the last two days to just kind of work around his natural sleep times and here's what I've come up with.
8-9 wake up
9-10:30 breakfast, dishes, getting dressed and ready
1030ish-1 do something... better if it's outside. Friday we went to the park and store, today was farmers market.
Haven't figured out lunch yet, sometimes before nap, sometimes after.
1 or so until 4ish nap time
afternap-before dinner- play outside, read books, play with toys... etc, house chores
dinner
dishes
9-10 bed
The after nap-bed still needs a little work but the mornings have been really great so far. The 'schedule' is only one nap, which, the last few days has really worked out for the better. He seems to be wanting only one nap anyway. I had been trying around noon for the last several weeks and he'd fall asleep and then only sleep like 30 minutes and then take a longer one in the evening from 4-6. Those late naps make his bed time waaay later.
I'm not so strict on scheduling but I think this might add some calm in his life right now. They'll be some days where it's just not going to happen. But it's nice to have something to go with. I have hardly noticed any stress from him at all the last two days. I think most of it has to do with getting out of the house, but I have to think a little has to do with the way I try to set the day :)
3 comments:
Hey, you changed your blog, didn't you? I like it. I'm glad Luke is doing better. Yeah, our routine is pretty loose, too, but I think as he is getting older we need to have more "set" things in the routine. I think that after a certain age, sleep times are really better if they are consistent. Or at least close to consistent. I hope your routine works out for you. I am sort of a routine person, but only for certain things, so it's hard to work in other things. I guess I need a little more self-discipline. :)
I did change it. They had some new features on blogger so I decided to check them out.
So far, the 'routine' is working well. I've kinda been trying to see if Luke is interested in a one nap a day thing. Some days he was doing one nap, but only if we did something in the morning. If he's bored all morning, he ends up sleeping a little at noon, then a lot later in the afternoon. That makes lllaaate nights. I really think the one longer nap is going to work way better. I also noticed that if we get out and do something in the morning after breakfast/dishes he seems to really be all around happy. I think the overreaction/aggressive happens when he's bored and tired. Getting out to the park, store, anything in the morning helps that a lot. And I think it's helped my day too.
That's so awesome that you're doing this :).
I need to try routine. I try, now and then, but I never stick to it because our schedules are so hectic. Jeremy and I work opposite schedules, now I'm at school, we're working on the RV during our spare time, getting ready for the move, etc. But I think it is better for Luna when she has more routine.
Oh, yes, Luna gets aggressive when she's tired too ... it's her way of communicating when she's tired. She's never aggressive when she's not tired.
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