Circadian Rhythm

I wonder what my sleeping pattern was like when I was a baby. Did I sleep well? When I was an infant, did I fall asleep as easily as I do now? Trust me, this post is going somewhere. As for sleeping, I have a history. My family knows well that I can fall asleep at just about anytime, anywhere. Take for instance; if Lima beans were on the dinner menu, I fell asleep at the table. If the siblings were enjoying Nintendo games at our brother-in-law’s house late into the night, I fell asleep near the sub woofers. One time, I even fell asleep in the act of pushing up my glasses.

Now I’m trying to teach my baby to fall asleep using the book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, M.D., as my guide. Nearly every night I hear myself echoing some portion of the book to Jess:

“The book says that babies shouldn't get used to music…”

“But we shouldn’t do that because the book says not to.”

“The book mentioned that babies do that, and Oliver just did!”

Magic.

Well, now the book is telling me this:

And I am trying to work it into Oliver’s schedule because I understand he’s got a rhythm. And he needs his sleep. This chart is a cinch to follow when I rock Oliver to sleep, no problem. But that is the problem, I rock him to sleep. The book teaches (there I go again) to allow him to learn how to soothe himself. So far, we are 0 and 100 or so with this method. Self-soothing is losing, and losing big. And every time it loses, I go back to the book for solace, a cause to which it never fails. Helpful hints are indicated along the way and they help me to persevere.

I’ll let you know if I succeed. And if not, I may resort to Lima beans or hope that there’s a gene for sleeping habits, and that mine is dominant.

A rare moment for Ollie, asleep