As a parent, your free moments are limited and you really have to use your time wisely! For example, right now it is 9:30pm and both kids are asleep (at the moment) as is Grumpy. (He has to be at work at 5am!) So what should I do with my time? I could sleep, which is probably what I SHOULD do because Little Miss is not a good sleeper, and I think tonight will be a bad, bad night because she has already been up 3 times. However, obviously I'm not sleeping. I had been sewing, and I could go back to that or I could watch something or read and do nothing. It is very difficult to choose. I decided to blog. I usually try to switch it up, do one thing one day and something else the next. Anyway, that was all my introduction to what this post is actually about. My rules for when baby is sleeping.
Pay attention, new parents. You will want to memorize these.
DO NOT, EVER, EVER, EVER talk about how good the baby is sleeping until AFTER they wake up. If you say "Wow she's been asleep an hour that is so good" it will make her wake up, if you say nothing she might just sleep 2 hours!
When the baby sleeps, do something you would not be able to do while she is awake. So NO cleaning or housework, you can do that around her awake time. You could either sleep (which is what the majority of people tell you to do, especially if your baby does not sleep through the night yet) or do a hobby, read a book, craft, whatever makes your heart sing. But NO housework. NONE. Besides, housework would be too loud and wake her up anyway.
After you lay the baby down, make sure to cross your fingers, in hopes that he will not wake back up. You are not allowed to uncross them until you do so without thinking, if you think about it and do it, he will wake up. Guaranteed.
Never flush the toilet while baby is sleeping. It will wake her up.
Never said "Well he has been napping/sleeping really well the last couple days." Now he won't today/tonight. You can't even THINK this.
Even if your baby only sleeps 20 minutes at a time, be thankful, at least it is something, and the days she won't sleep at all, you will be wishing for that 20 minutes. Trust me.
If you have older children who don't nap, make them have quiet time during the baby's nap time. They can watch TV if they won't sit quietly, so you get a little bit of a break. Yes you may feel guilty and like a horrible parent because you are letting them rot their brain watching TV, however you need a break. And really they need a break too, they just don't know it, so something quiet is good for a little while. You will all have more energy for fun stuff later.
If you would like your baby to take an extra good nap, plan on leaving the house when she wakes up. "We will go to the store as soon as the baby is up." "We will go to the park as soon as the baby is up." "We will leave for the family gathering as soon as the baby wakes up." However, you have to actually have somewhere to be at a specific time, or it won't work.
DO NOT, EVER, EVER, EVER talk about how good the baby is sleeping until AFTER they wake up. If you say "Wow she's been asleep an hour that is so good" it will make her wake up, if you say nothing she might just sleep 2 hour! (yes, I know I already wrote that, but this one is really important! This includes posting something on Facebook such as "Baby just went down for a nap, what should I do?" Yeah, DON'T do that, it'll wake her up.)
You should also make sure your partner knows these rules. If they dare to speak of any of the above mentioned NEVER speak about items, it will ruin the baby's sleep.
As I said earlier, basically everyone will tell you to sleep anytime the baby sleeps. Which if you can I guess you should, however I also feel it is important to do something for you. If I don't have my time, even for a few minutes I am grumpy, and then the kids are grumpy, and then I'm grumpier and then the kids are grumpier, and Grumpy... well he is intolerable. It is an endless cycle. So be sure to do something for yourself a few minutes. Again, whatever makes your heart sing. I know, this is difficult and some days you won't be able to because they won't sleep at all, and it sucks. But you can sleep when they leave the house right? HA. Yeah right, then you will probably just worry about them.
Ok, I should get to sleep.
Don't forget! You only have one more day to enter the GIVEAWAY! Share my page on Facebook/Instagram/Pinterest, and/or follow me! All will get you an entry! Make sure to comment and let me know what you did!!
Don't forget! You only have one more day to enter the GIVEAWAY! Share my page on Facebook/Instagram/Pinterest, and/or follow me! All will get you an entry! Make sure to comment and let me know what you did!!
Kisses~
Any rules you have for when the baby is sleeping??
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