Okay, I should preface this by saying we got really lucky with this little girl. I've never functioned great when I don't get enough sleep (which for me means eight plus hours!) and usually get terrible headaches if I haven't slept enough, so I was pretty nervous about this aspect of parenting.
But it turns out, Mia LOVES sleeping. Jeff and I hesitate to tell other parents how much Mia sleeps so as not to incite violence or jinx ourselves. So I won't be telling you here ;)
That being said, she was a great napper during the day for the first month, and then when Jeff went back to work it was like a switch flipped and she wouldn't nap at all. Like, she was consistently awake for six to eight hours straight, with just short catnaps when she finished nursing until I tried to put her down. And she would get MAD by the end of the day, usually from when Jeff got home from work until she went to sleep for the night she would be super fussy and do quite a bit of screaming.
Finally in the last few weeks we seem to have figured a few things out. First is that I should be looking to put her back to sleep within two hours of her waking up. Second is that while we were swaddling at night, she really needed a swaddle for her naps too. And third is that instead of trying to lay her in her Dock-a-Tot in the living room for naptime, she really should be off in her crib instead so that my activity doesn't wake her.
8:00 am - Wake up and eat eat eat - I grab a boppy so we can just sit in bed and watch the news.
8:30 am - Diaper change and eat eat eat some more. The pediatrician said that since she sleeps so much, she's making up the calories here.
9:00 am - Mia hang out in her lounger and stares at her favorite piece of artwork (lollll it's a terrible generic wood carving from Target) or sits in her bouncer while I get ready for the day. If I didn't manage to shower before she woke up, I'll do it now, or depending on my laziness level skip it and add on another layer of dry shampoo and deodorant.
9:30 am - Playtime on her play mat in the living room. The doctor told us that HALF of her awake time should be on her stomach, so I try to squeeze in a lot here while she's up and happy.
9:45 am - She is OVER tummy time and starting to get little grumpy, so we do a little more eating.
10:00 am - We move downstairs to her nursery, get in the swaddle, and nurse a little more until she falls asleep. Yes, nursing to sleep is bad, but the pediatrician said it's okay at this point. Then I run around like a crazy person trying to get things done around the house or on my computer while simultaneously trying to consume as many calories as possible.
12:00 pm - Wake up and eat some more, definitely not while singing some Disney songs.
12:30 pm - Diaper change and then play time on the play mat or in her bouncer. Try to put her on her tummy and try to avoid the screaming that ensues.
1:00 pm - Load up into the car seat, double check that I have the one thousand things I definitely won't but potentially could need, and make our way down four flights of stairs for an outing. If it's nice we'll go for a walk, or we might run errands or explore Target again. She stays awake for a little, and then will fall asleep.
3:00 pm - Come up and shlep Mia, the car seat, the baby bag, and whatever things I have managed to acquire while out and about back up four flights of stairs. I nervously watch her sleep in her carseat (since that's a thing babies aren't supposed to do anymore) while I put away said things I've acquired and try to cram some more food into my body.
3:15 pm - Take Mia out of her car seat as gently as possible but definitely wake her up every time, then we eat some more.
3:45 pm - More playtime and definitely no tummy time screaming.
5:00 pm - We've been (impatiently) waiting for daddy to get home from work and starting to get fussy, so we eat a little more.
5:15 pm - Head downstairs to get back into the swaddle and nurse to sleep again. Dad gets home and wonders where his child is and assumes that she must just sleep peacefully all day. We try to pull something together for dinner before Mia wakes up.
6:15 pm - This nap is usually shorter because Mia prefers to be awake as soon as we've got hot food on our plates. She eats more.
6:45 pm - Our longest awake period of the day. Mia will play with daddy, maybe get a bath or Facetime with her grandparents, hang out in her bouncer or in her swing, and maybe eat a little.
9:00 pm - We head into the bedroom to change into pajamas, do one last diaper change, put on her Owelet smart sock (so that her parents don't have to be crazy worry warts), and do lots and lots of eating (while I watch an episode or two of Schitt's Creek) before she falls asleep - usually around 10:00 pm.
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