It is time to start documenting Bjorn’s daily life with these ‘a day in the life’ posts. I wrote one for Cullen for every month of his first year, plus several after, so I wanted to do the same for Bjorn because this blog is also a diary for me, and it is fun to compare and contrast each child.
Bjorn turned one month old on Sunday, but since Sunday was an atypical day since it was a weekend day, I decided not to document that day. And then Monday and Tuesday were a bust and really stressful days for me as Bjorn wouldn’t take a nap all day, so here we are at Wednesday finally getting a chance to write down what we did hour-by-hour.
Right now we have a pretty decent schedule most day, but the one issue I’ve had is getting Bjorn to take his morning naps. I’ve easily spent 2, 3, 4 hours trying to get him down. And I’ve tried it all–the car, the Ergo, our standard method (dark room, sound machine, swaddled in the bassinet), nursing to sleep, rocking him, the swing. He just doesn’t go for any of it! However, once the afternoon hits, he’s a champ napper and really only wakes up to eat and maybe hang out for 30-45 minutes before he goes back down. I know he’s still young yet, so I hope things start to regulate out a bit over the next couple of months, but man, it is stressful in the moment.
Here’s what our Tuesday night into Wednesday looked like with a one month old, plus a five year old. It’s definitely been a little bit of a balancing act with two now (as one would expect), but I am so glad Cullen is as self-sufficient as he is: he can get his own snacks, go to the bathroom himself, is a good independent player, and can help me out in many ways. I don’t know how those of who do it with two under two or one in the toddler stage and one newborn! And then there’s those of you who have more than two kids! My props to you!
Tuesday, October 29
6:30p.m. Since Bjorn fought his naps all day, he pretty much goes down for the night at this point. Craig, Cullen, and I eat dinner together and hang out a bit before bedtime.
7:30p.m. I start the bedtime routine for Cullen. He gets his pajamas on, brushes teeth, goes to the bathroom one last time, and then picks out a book to read. During this time, I get myself ready in hopes that I can actually get to bed before 10p.m.
8:30p.m. I don’t know if anyone else’s child is like this, but Cullen is the most easily-distracted person I know. He finds a million other things to do instead of doing what he’s supposed to be doing. We are finally in his bed reading books, but now he has to poop. Sigh. . . This is very routine actually. Ha!
9:00p.m. I thought Bjorn might wake up after a couple of hours, but he didn’t so I wake him up by changing his diaper, and then I nurse him again to try to ‘fill up the tank’ for the night.
9:30p.m. I tidy up the house for the night because I can’t sleep unless everything is in its place.
10:00p.m. Lights out for me.
11:30p.m. Bjorn wakes up. We do our standard middle of the night routine: I nurse him on one side and naturally he falls asleep, so I wake him up by changing his diaper, so I can nurse him on the other side. I reswaddle him and put him back in his bassinet.
Wednesday, October 30
12:15a.m. Back to sleep for me. I’m exhausted, so I literally fall back to sleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.
2:30a.m. Bjorn wakes up again, and we follow the same routine as we did before.
3:00a.m. Back to bed for me.
5:00a.m. Bjorn wakes up a third time. This is pretty typical, and the times are pretty routine as well. While I don’t love being woken up every 2 hours, as long as I can get 6-7 hours of sleep–even if it is broken–I’m mostly functionable the next day. Now when my training picks up, this may be a different story.
5:30a.m. I go back to bed and sleep for another hour before getting up for the day.
6:30a.m. I get up as I hear Craig getting ready for the day too. I go downstairs, unload the dishwasher, and then start getting ready for the day.
7:30a.m. Bjorn wakes up again. I nurse him, and he is up for the day.
8:00a.m. I take Bjorn into Cullen’s room to wake him for the day. Cullen loves cuddling with Bjorn in the mornings in his bed.
8:30a.m. I notice Bjorn is getting tired, so I do our ‘sleep routine’ and put him down in the Dock-a-Tot for a nap. I don’t always have him nap in the Dock-a-Tot, but he wasn’t going down in his bassinet, so I try putting him in the Dock-a-Tot, and after a couple times of trying to lay him down drowsy but awake, he actually falls asleep on his own. (This is not the norm!)
9:00a.m. I finish getting ready, and Cullen gets himself ready (with a lot of prompting), and I set out some breakfast for him. In between getting ready, I am tidying up the house because I prefer not to leave with a disaster of a mess at home. I also get some breakfast for myself: a beet smoothie plus a piece of toast with peanut butter on.
9:45a.m. I successfully transfer Bjorn to the car seat (this rarely happens!), and we head to Toddler Time.
10:00a.m. We arrive at Toddler Time where they are having a Halloween Party for the kids. Cullen has a lot of fun playing with his friend, making a scarecrow arts and craft project, playing games to win prizes (although he was sad that the prizes weren’t candy–ha!), and eating some snacks. Bjorn sleeps in his car seat the whole time and is the only one of us who wears a costume.
11:30a.m. The Halloween event wraps up, and I feed Bjorn before heading out as he is waking up now. I couldn’t believe that Bjorn slept three straight hours. This is NOT normal, but maybe he is making up from the previous day’s missed naps.
12:15p.m. We arrive home, and I do a few things around the house and get ready to walk up to the post office to mail a package.
1:00p.m. I can tell Bjorn is ready for another nap, so I strap him in the Ergo, and we leave for the post office. Within a block, Bjorn is out. Hallelujah! We have a lovely walk to the post office in the sunshine and the very mild temps (50*F) for the end of October in Alaska.
2:15p.m. We make it back from the post office, which is only a little over a mile walk there and back, but that’s life with a toddler who stops every few feet to do something.
2:30p.m. Lunch time! I finally have time to eat lunch. I’ve been living off soup that is in our freezer and grilled cheese sandwiches. Naturally I burn my grilled cheese because #momlife.
3:00p.m. I tidy up around the house (again), and help Cullen with writing of his letters. I’ve been trying to spend a little bit of time (even if it just 10-15 minutes) each day on ‘school work’ to get him ready for kindergarten next year.
3:30p.m. Bjorn wakes up, and I feed him.
4:00p.m. Craig arrives home, and we figure out plans for the evening. Craig wants to watch the 7th game of the World Series, and I want to go to the gym. I would love to workout in the mornings, but it is not happening these days with multiple wake-ups each night, so I’ve been working out in the evenings. We decide Craig will take the boys to a friend’s (where he will be watching the game), while I go to the gym, and then I’ll pick them up and take them home for bedtime when I’m done.
5:30p.m. I head to the gym for some stretching, foam rolling, pelvic floor exercises, and light upper body exercises.
6:30p.m. I go and pick up Cullen and Bjorn. Bjorn slept for the past couple hours, so I wake him to feed him again. I hang out for a bit and then leave around 7:30p.m.
7:45p.m. I get home and get Cullen and Bjorn ready for bed. Bjorn fell asleep in the car, so I put him to bed first. Cullen is being extremely pokey and not listening to me, so I make Craig put Cullen to be when he gets home.
9:00p.m. I get myself ready for bed and hit the hay.
One thing Bjorn has going for him is that when he does successfully go down for a nap, he’s pretty consistent in napping for two hours. This was the opposite of Cullen’s frequent short naps, which is actually common and to be expected at a month old.
I want Bjorn to be a good sleeper and a better sleeper than Cullen (although that wouldn’t be hard to beat), so I am really trying to establish a good daily routine with Bjorn. While I strive for the same schedule each day, the reality is some days Cullen goes to preschool, some days we meet up for a play date, and other days we stay home most of the day. This is life, so I’m trying to be flexible and remind myself that just like my schedule changes from day-to-day, Bjorn’s napping also changes from day-to-day and some days are good napping days (like today) while other are not-so-great!
I am think about taking the Taking Cara Babies newborn class for some extra help. Has anyone else taken it? If so, have you found it to be helpful?
Leave any other sleep advice below because I’m all ears. I know a lot more this time around, but I know I am still learning.
I love day in the life posts! No great advice for you, unfortunately. My kids are 10 and 16 now and I just remember those early days as being a blur. But it sounds like you are doing a great job!
I am crazy and had two under 1.5 years! They are now 1 and 2.5. My boys are both great sleepers but I had to work to make them that way.
Taking Cara Babies is great and so is Babywise. In summary for both, it’s keeping your baby on a “scheduled” routine. The thing that helped me the most is to wake your baby up during the day if it is time for them to eat again. Even if they just fell asleep 30 minutes prior. Don’t let them take super long naps (I know it is hard when you are at things like Halloween parties!) At night, let them sleep as long as they want.
But honestly, he seems to be doing really well! Also, it drove my crazy when people would tell me to not worry about the house. Ya.. no. Like you,I like to have my home in order. Yes there are toys everywhere during the day but for the most part (especially kitchen) everything is clean and tidy. When I feel out of control with things (i.e newborn, post pregnancy body, hormones) cleaning and a tidy house keeps my anxiety at bay and I just feel better.
I feel like 6-8 weeks is when you REALLY hit a good groove with a newborn because they figure things out too.
Thank you so much for this! I am impressed that you got both on a great schedule. I have been trying to follow a schedule but it varies from day to day depending upon when he woke up for the day, but you’re saying to keep the same schedule from one day to the next?? I sure hope I see a change within the next couple of weeks, but then I wonder if I need to factor in that he is only two weeks gestationally since he was three weeks early??
I just replied via DM!