Sleep tales

Today I was putting Jocelyn down for a nap at a friend's house who recently had surgery so I could clean her house for a bit during naptime. Jocelyn didn't think this was a great idea and vocally expressed as much. I went in to comfort her and she quickly snuggled into my shoulder, she then pulled back so she was sitting up on my lap. I asked her if she was ready to go night night. Her face instantly turned upside down and she quickly rushed to lay back down on my shoulder. It was clear  that she knew exactly what I had said and that she didn't want mama to leave her. This little episode reminded me of a few other random things about Jocelyn's sleep.

- She doesn't consistently sleep through the night, but she has gotten much better since her birthday. Up until then, she was faithfully waking up once a night, if not two or three times. Since then, she has only woken up once by herself and twice when a sibling cried in the middle of the night. One time, she woke up really really early, and I was able to just go in and rub her face and comfort her and she fell back asleep. The other times, I do take advantage of the opportunity to cuddle her, feed her, and give our little peanut a few extra calories.

- She isn't super attached to any "sleep special thing" yet, but she has grabbed for her swaddle blanket a few times and we did find pink bunny a few days ago and have started giving that to her in bed again. (I'm a big fan of special things when it comes to sleeping - makes sleeping in random places like the car or stroller or stranger's - family's - homes much easier.)

- She takes much better naps in her own crib than in anyone else's home - even if it is dark and quiet. But she will usually give up and sleep other places, just not as long or as easily. She likes her crib, although she usually sleeps in it sideways so that her head is touching the crib back and her feet are touching the crib rails. Doesn't look very comfortable.

- If she falls asleep in the car before naptime, she will usually let me carry her quietly in and lay her down in bed. This was a total shock - and absolute blessing - to me.

- She is currently napping twice a day - from about 10:00 - noon (sometimes longer if I let her, even 9:30 - 12:30 on some days). And then about 2:00 - 4:00 (sometimes later, almost 5:00). Bedtime varies based on the day of the week, but it is anywhere from 7:45 - 9:00 (those late days are hard for her), and she is consistently awake at least by 7:30, sometimes as early as 6:45.

- Sharing a room with three kids is going pretty well in regards to sleep. With preschool and no naps, M&M fall asleep really really quickly at night. The smoothest nights are ones where they read their story, pray, and get tucked in all before Jocelyn comes into the room. If they have a few minutes to calm down in the dark room before she comes in, they will often have already fallen asleep. If the room is already quiet, Jocelyn will wave goodnight to the parent who isn't holding her, happily blow a kiss, and snuggle into bed without much fuss. However, if there is any delay to the quiet room, she sometimes really fights laying down and can scream for 20 minutes or more. M&M are very willing to sleep through this crying! (And she can sleep through their nose in the middle of the night or early morning about 50% of the time.)

- She sleeps with equal frequency on back or belly.

- I always want to watch her sleeping - but she is a super light sleeper so I'm usually scared to check on her.

There are my random naptime comments about Jociegirl's sleep patterns. Thankfully she is sleeping right now :)



She hadn't napped at church that morning and fell asleep on way home. She stayed asleep as I carried her inside, laid her on the bed while I changed, carried her back to car, and drove to the birthday party that afternoon. She was zonked.