We have the best of sleepers and the, well, highest-maintenance of sleepers. I'm trying to figure out the extent to which nature affects sleeping the patterns of our very different kids and how much the nurturing has played a role.
We've definitely done things differently with Ty than we did with Lauren Clay, partially because of their apparent preferences. For example, we rocked (or I nursed) Lauren Clay to sleep as a baby, but Ty doesn't fall asleep as easily in someone's arms. When he would get very squirmy in the past, I'd put him in his bed because I wasn't sure what else to do. He would usually fall asleep within minutes. Now I know to go through the mental checklist (full belly, clean diaper, clean baby), and if he's had all those needs met, I put him down. And he plays quietly until he falls asleep. When we put Lauren Clay down, she'd cry for hours (like 2 or 3), and we'd finally give in and rock her to sleep. She'd be out in minutes, but she wanted to be held to go to sleep.
Here are other differences:
-I often put Ty in his bed out of necessity (life is different with another child in the mix!) He'd often fall asleep before I could get back to him.
-We put up room darkening shades in the kids' room back in the spring. If I had to point to the one thing that I think has made a HUGE difference, it's those shades. Ty was a good sleeper before those shades, but we saw a turn for the better once the room was really dark during the day.
-I put Ty in his bed and leave the room. If he can see me, it's much worse. Once I'm out of his sight, he calms down.
-Ty takes a pacifier. Lauren Clay would sometimes take one, but she played with them more than using them to pacify. The beauty for Lauren Clay is that we don't have to wean her of a passy, but there are definite positives to Ty's love of the passy. He can soothe himself to sleep with it; and we can put it in his mouth while he plays, so he's less likely to put other things in his mouth.
-The wind machine (a Sleepmate, like Mel and I had in our college dorm room) is also wonderful for Ty, but we used it with Lauren Clay, too... so that's probably not what has made the difference.
-We put a bumper on Ty's bed. We never did it with Lauren Clay because the pediatrician recommended against it. Many friends put one up, though, and I finally put one in when my cousin Melissa said that her daughter's daycare uses them and her daughter started sleeping much better when she put one in the bed at home.
The down side to Ty's great sleeping habits at home is that he needs to be at home in his own dark room to fall asleep. As a baby Lauren Clay would not sleep in her own bed without lots of cajoling on our part... but she would sleep anywhere else. She used to take LONG naps at UK football games back when the band was located in the section to our immediate left. If there is any distraction, Ty wants to be part of the action, and he'll fight to stay awake. Once we're home, he goes right to sleep... but he needs to be at home.
Another funny difference: the teachers at Mom's Day Out say that Ty will not go down easily for them, and he is often asleep in a stroller or bouncy seat when I pick him up. They have aways said that Lauren Clay is one of their best sleepers. On more than one occasion, she's been asleep on her little cot in the middle of the classoom while the rest of the kids are playing around her. Go figure.
Speaking of sleep, both kids are awake after a brief nap. I was hoping to post pictures from last night's circus and today's elephant bath downtown. I'll upload those in a bit.
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