A Voice For The Community

"I am blessed. I had a wonderful and encouraging support system in my husband, family, and a few nurses who sensed my determination and frustration. I had opportunities to attend support programs and join groups of supportive women who understand. I have formed friendships and am surrounded by great people who share their knowledge. And I have learned. I have learned that every woman not only has a right to choose what is best for her and her child but to make an informed decision and receive support" Jillian, nursing mama to Jack Angelo

This is place to share the stories that come along with being a nursing mama. Wether you breast-fed your baby for 1 day or 3 years, we're not here to judge, simply to listen. Listen to what happened when you tried your best for 3 whole weeks only to be defeated. Listen to how being a mommy changed the way you looked at the world. And all the other stories, insights and moments that fall in between the complex and the truthful lessons you learned from your baby.

Read. Enjoy. Share. This is the voice of the nursing community.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Is napping getting you down?

It's 4pm and I am getting the baby from his lengthy 2 hour afternoon nap (which followed our daily 2 hour morning nap at 10am).  I tackled the housework during the morning nap and just finished my work in the office.  Everything is clean, organized and right on schedule-just as planned!

NOT.  This is actually how I pictured my life when I was preggers-lol!  Sure, I can keep the house clean and organized as well as run my business and rent my properties with a baby, too!  I set everything up so I could "do it all" with a baby during his morning and afternoon naps.  Then Teddy came and well nearly nine months later-we are still no where near those glorious 2-2 hour naps I was so sure every baby took.

My latest poll: Does Your Baby Have A Nap Schedule concluded 0% of voters have a natural (meaning not forced or imposed) nap schedule for their baby!  While 1% of voters had no desire to work off a schedule and 2% WISH their babies would be on a schedule, a staggering 62% of moms admit that a more general time frame works for them and their babies!

My make of these results: My vision of a structured, organized life with baby is far beyond reality:)  I had given up long ago, anyway, on an actual nap schedule with my little one and replaced the idea with some nap time rituals that could happen at or around the same time every day.   Due to teething, milestones, gas and a number of other common baby issues naps in this house tend to happen when AND ONLY WHEN Teddy is tired enough and are not yet happening consistently enough (timing wise) to schedule around them! So for now, me and apparently a lot of other mamas-are forgoing the idea of structure and are learning to get stuff done when we can and enjoy the time with our babies when we can't!

Cast your vote now!!!   New Poll: Do You Wish You Were A Stay At Home Mama??

4 comments:

  1. Hey Crystal, Can you vote on the poll down at the bottom of the page:)
    Thanks for reading:)))

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  2. I was having napping "issues" with Abbey when she was little, and I picked up the book "90-Minute sleep solution for babies" that a cousin had sent me as a baby gift and actually READ it. I didn't take to mind the whole "philosophy" but the description of a baby's natural sleep and awake cycle throughout the day did help me to watch Abbey for more useful cues as to when was a good time for rest.

    Though I don't enforce a nap schedule in our house, I do find that Abbey feels better when she naps well (and naturally) - and the view of a baby's natural sleep and awake cycle helped pinpoint the times that she was ready to nap instead of trying to get her to sleep when she was already way too tired or not tired at all.

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  3. Amy-great advice, I actually read Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Nap and Sleep Solution and learned a lot about sleep cycles but would love to continue the learning with this book!! Our real problem is that we like to fight falling asleep when we are tired:(

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