routine

I have never been one for routines. In my own life I am more of a spur-of-the-moment type of person. However, I recognize the importance of establishing routines for a baby and young children, and have heeded to the advice of many professionals who speak to the importance of daily schedules in order to regulate your baby, in particular when it comes to sleep. Eddie is still not on a set routine, per se. His naps are still inconsistent in both their timing throughout the day and their duration. In general, he wakes up sometime between 6 - 8 a.m. and then goes down for a morning nap after being awake for 1.5/2 hours. This nap is typically short (45 min - 1 hr.). Then his afternoon nap is sometime between 11:30 and 2 p.m., again all dependant on when he woke up and how long his morning nap was. And then he often has an early evening nap sometime between 3 - 5 p.m.

But his real routine that we have been sticking to for over a month now is his evening bath. We noticed that he seemed to have an easier time falling asleep at night after having had a bath. So now we are dedicated to this ritual that occurs sometime between 4:30 - 6 p.m. every evening. Daddy Eddie has sacrificed going to the gym after work many a nights just so that he can come home, play with his son and partake in the evening bath. There have been a couple of times when he cannot be present and so I call in a substitute (my sister) to come over and help with the bath, since we feel more comfortable with another set of hands to pass Eddie in and out of the tub while I am emersed in the water.

This weekend I saw firsthand how important the routine is to little Eddie. Daddy Eddie went out of town for a hockey game and so we traveled up to Wisconsin on Friday to stay with Nanni. In the past, little Eddie has adapted quite well to new surroundings - even my parents' crazy house filled with endless stimuli and barking dogs. But this time Eddie seemed significantly more aware of the fact that he was in a new environment. Putting him down for a nap was a bit of a challenge - even the boob wasn't able to soothe him. And even though he enjoyed the bath in a different tub, he freaked out right afterwards and took ten minutes to calm down - truthfully, the episode was triggered by Nanni yelling at the dogs because she thought they were eating the pot pie. I wouldn't classify Eddie as having "stranger anxiety" quite yet, although I know that it can happen at various times within a baby's first year of life. But he is definitely sensitive (like his Mom) and probably a bit attached to his home (like his Dad). All in all he adjusted quite well and by morning he was his usual happy self, but his original discomfort did not go unnoticed by me, hence a tad of sressing and worrying on my part.

In a way this weekend was a slight wake-up call to me that it is important we expose Eddie to more people and new surroundings to ensure that he is comfortable with others and can adjust smoothly...not only for his own sake, but also for mine, as my tendency to worry escalates quickly when I see my baby is out of sorts.