Sleep

So, the reason Jack has been so cranky each evening for the past 2 weeks has been solved. He was overtired!

But, not just overtired. REALLY overtired.

Taylor and I got the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child which has helped us immensely.

Jack is not a bad sleeper; once he is down, he stays asleep. The problem was getting him to fall asleep at night. According to the book, there are several things we were doing wrong.

1) Babies should not be awake for more than 2 hours at a time when under 9 months of age. (We were keeping Jack up for up to 5 hours at a time!)

2) Babies should not be rocked to sleep. They should be put into their cribs at a drowsy state so they can get used to putting themselves to sleep. (We rocked Jack in his chair until he was completely out!)

3) Babies should not nap/sleep with an adult's face near their face as it is distracting and keeps the baby from falling asleep. (When Jack didn't sleep, we brought him to our bed which stimulated him more.)

I am sure that each parent follows a different sleep method for their baby, especially those with difficult sleepers. But, with these few tips and some minor tweaks to his nap schedule, Jack has already shown an improvement! We learned quickly over the last few days that it is more important for Jack to sleep well and grow healthy than to spend his waking hours constantly playing with us. That time will develop as he gets stronger and can stay awake longer.