social life

Noah always seems to know when we have something planned.  If we have no plans on the days when I am home with him, he takes the world’s quickest most predictable naps.  Conversely, on days where we have something planned (playgroups, Little Gym, walks, etc.), his naps are always all out of whack and we sometimes end up being very late or missing out on activities altogether.  Noah has been waking up without fail at 6:30AM every morning for the past few weeks which means his first morning nap falls around 9-9:30AM.  That usually gives us a good window from 11AM-2PM to get things done and to meet friends for lunch or other activities.  However, today Noah fell back asleep and slept until 8:30AM, which of course throws a wrench in his nap schedule for the day!  We have Little Gym classes at 11:45AM on Tuesdays and he managed to sleep right through it, again.  I tried to put him down around 10:20AM, even though I knew he could’ve stayed up a little while longer.

There is definitely a specific window in which you must put a baby down for a nap.  Too soon and you risk them not being tired enough to nap.  Too late and you risk them being TOO tired to nap (yes, there is such a thing as being too tired to nap).  I usually try to follow Noah’s cues of being sleepy: the classic eye rub, the yawns, the thumb sucking.  When we’re home and don’t have anything planned for the day it isn’t a problem to let him sleep on his own schedule.  After all, this active and busy of a baby needs naps every few hours!  But, there is really nothing more annoying as a stay at home mom than missing plans because of Noah’s naps.  I know I’ve said this before: it is hard to find a balance between being out of the house doing things and also being home to give him the opportunity to sleep (versus catching a quick nap on the go).  I admit that I’ve often had to put him down earlier than usual to try to time things differently so that we can make appointments and play dates.  It doesn’t work the way I want it to most of the time, but I still try!  Oh well, our social life will probably be on Noah’s schedule until he’s 18…