Tag Archives: sleep

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Counting chickens

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Saturday, 31 May 2014; One Year and Sixty Two Days Old.

Ayla has officially “slept through” two nights in a row now, but I’m not counting my chickens just yet.

While I haven’t actually had to get up to Ayla during the night, she’s still woken at least once which technically isn’t sleeping through, but it’s certainly an improvement!

Instead of Ayla’s usual midnight cries that require my attention, Ayla’s been making more of a moaning, unsettled sound the last two nights, that sound like she might even been dreaming.

As I write this I realise how bad it sounds to say “I heard my poor baby moaning in the middle of night but I just left her coz she wasn’t crying” but in reality Ayla makes a monotone moaning sound most nights as she drifts off to sleep (my mum has a theory that it’s Ayla’s version of humming to herself, but whatever the reason it seems to settle her.)

Anyway, today I realised that Ayla’s full night’s sleep is probably, unfortunately, attributed to a new illness because today she’s had a mild temperature and been clingy and whingey all day.

I hope it doesn’t develop – my goodness we’ve had our fair share of viruses this past year – but for now it looks like a headache and sore throat which is certainly not fun for anyone.

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Ten hours!

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Tuesday, 15 April 2014: One Year and Two Weeks Old.

I don’t want to jinx myself buuutttt Ayla slept ten hours straight last night!

The only thing I can attribute it to is the bottle of diluted cows milk she had at bed time and the zzzz’s were like music to my aching tonsilitis ears.

Mind you, that doesn’t meant I slept for 10 hours even though I did go to bed at 8pm when Ayla did.

No, instead I was up half the night nursing fever, chills, pain and killer night sweats.

But still, is it a new leaf?! Have we found an answer for a full night’s sleep? Gosh I hope so.

Even better than Ayla’s overnight sleep was her three hour nap today, which I took FULL advantage of by spending it sound asleep on the couch.

I had the day off work and wasn’t sure what to do with Ayla, whether to get up early and take her to day care like usual, or let her (and me!) sleep until we were ready the take the day as it comes.

I chose the latter.

It meant we didn’t get up til after 8am, and at 10.30am, Ayla was back snoozing in her cot!

When she woke at 1.30pm I opted to take her to day care so I could continue my wallowing in peace, but alas I felt so guilty for dropping her off while I was at home the sleep I drifted into was fitful.

Never mind. Another early night, 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep and a good coffee in the morning and I should be right! (Touch wood).

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Weird and wonderful

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Wednesday, 19 March 2014: Three Hundred and Fifty Two days Old.

There was so many weird and wonderful things to take in this morning that Ayla fell asleep on her Daddy’s shoulders on our way back to the hotel!

It’s the first time Ayla has ever fallen asleep while we’ve been out and about and it’s the first time she’s fallen asleep without having a feed first.

Poor Baby Ayla was so plum tuckered that she didn’t even wake up when we took her off Hubby’s shoulders and put her in her cot, and all this was after an uninterrupted 9.5hour sleep last night!

After breakfast we headed out on foot and ended up in an area of Patong that felt like a world away from the hustle and bustle of the tourist strip, and it was here in the backstreets that we stumbled across a fresh produce market.

Wow. The market had countless sights to behold; from skinned pig-faces, to live eels, crates of terrapin turtles ready for soup and white toad-like frogs… some skinned and some still alive.

It was a bit confronting and I’m glad I didn’t need to explain “culture” to Ayla, who was just as intrigued as we were but more so from the strange sounds and smells than the sights I think hope!

It was on the final leg home that Ayla passed out on Hubby’s head, and I’m not surprised given the assault to the senses we’d all just experienced!

Then this evening we took Ayla to Fantasea, our number one recommendation for everyone who travels to Phuket; it’s hard to describe but trust us… Don’t miss it!

Hubby and I went last time we were in Thailand and because the main theatre show didn’t start until 9pm we opted to give it a miss tonight and instead spend some time taking Ayla around the park.

We played some sideshow alley type games and won Ayla a few prizes, and Ayla even won her own prize by playing a fishing game with Hubby!

We had dinner in a gigantic buffet hall that words just cannot describe, and we watched real elephants parade around in front of a huge stone palace which doubles as the theatre hall.

On the way out we bought Ayla a little drum as a souvenir, and of the way home in the taxi Ayla fell asleep on my shoulder this time; one very tired, very happy little girl.

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One nap per day

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Sunday, 9 March 2014: Three Hundred and Forty Two Days Old.

It seems that Ayla has recently decided to have only one nap per day… just like a big girl!

Ever since our day care centre tour a week or so ago, where we were informed that Ayla would have only one nap at around 11.30am, my baby girl seems to have decided to start practicing.

See I usually allocate up to 30 minutes for putting Ayla to sleep, so over the course of the day I’ve found myself spending anywhere up to two hours sitting quietly in her room feeding, nursing and rocking her to sleep.

But now with just one nap around lunch time, Ayla and I have started to build a really good routine with playtime, meals, baths and bed.

I’ve also noticed that one sleep per day almost guarantees me a good solid two hours of time to buzz about the house doing the things I can’t get done when Ayla’s awake.

And, one sleep per day is also bringing Ayla’s bed time closer to 7.30pm than 8pm which is great news all round!

PS – if you haven’t already, please vote Ayla as the cutest baby in Australia and help her win a People’s Choice Award in the Bonds Australia Baby Photo Comp…. Thanks in advance! Click here to vote

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Rockabye Daddy

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Friday, 21 February 2014: Three Hundred and Twenty Eight Days Old.

For the last few nights Ayla has refused to go to sleep unless her Daddy’s put her down.

It’s been a huge change for us and one that proves Baby Ayla is growing up all to fast, but as much as its made me feel a bit obsolete it’s also brought a new feeling of freedom.

While I still give Ayla her bedtime feed instead of backing that up with rocking and singing until she falls asleep the routine is now a family affair that Hubby and I share equally.

Plus, knowing that Ayla can go to to sleep at night in her Daddy’s arms means that we’re another step closer to being able to hire a baby sitter and have a baby-free night out!

It also makes me proud to see that Baby Ayla is gaining her independence and starting to make decisions about what makes her feel happy and content, not just what she likes and doesn’t like.

Growing up certainly happens fast, far faster than anyone can explain. I never thought I’d be using the word independent to describe a ten month old baby and I can hardly believe that in a blink of an eye she won’t need me at all.

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The best kind of smile

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Wednesday, 19 February 2014: Three Hundred and Twenty Four Days Old.

Ayla’s top teeth have been trying to make their presence known for the past week, relentlessly pushing and pulling their way through her gums.

But in true Ayla style she’s handled it exceptionally well, even better than with her first two teeth I think, although day today she was making fish faces and sucking on her tongue so I knew Tooth Number Three wasn’t far away.

The only difference I’ve seen in Ayla with teething this time around has been her reluctance to nap in her bed during the last couple of afternoons, instead preferring to be held and cuddled against my chest.

So today I decided to embrace having a teething baby and instead of the usual “feed-rock-put down-and-repeat” process I chose to sit in the big comfy arm chair in Ayla’s room and cradled her while she slept.

It was the stillest, calmest and quietest I have been in a very long time. In fact, I can’t even remember the last time I just sat with no phone, no TV and no thoughts of what I should be doing instead yelling at me from inside my head.

Ayla slept so peacefully for well over an hour in my arms and I couldn’t take my eyes off her the whole time, committing to memory every tiny detail I could.

Ayla’s face was so relaxed and the long dark lashes that rested on her ivory cheeks would flicker occasionally as she dreamt. Ayla’s bright pink lips were ever so slightly apart and every now and then Ayla’s blonde eyebrows would raise up as if asking a dreamy question.

And, just moments before she woke, a gorgeous sleeping smile spread across Ayla’s face; the best kind of smile I’ve ever seen.

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Setting her own pace

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Saturday, 15 February 2014: Three Hundred and Twenty Days Old.

It amazing how over time Ayla is slowly setting her own routine that is much more “in line” with what I expected!

I was one of those pre-parents who raved on about the plans I had for my first child, saying things like “my kid will be in bed by 7:30 every night” and “my kid will have dinner when we have dinner” and “my kid will eat what we eat”.

But the reality is, it’s nothing like that (* insert collective “I told you so’s” from friends and family)

Since Ayla was born I’ve slowly learned to go of the silly, unsubstantiated “rules” I’d made up for what constituted good parenting, and instead have allowed Ayla to set her own pace for growing and learning… within a loose set of “guidelines” that keep her from completely ruling the roost!

At times I’ve seen a few raised eyebrows from people who’ve been shocked that Ayla’s bed time was anywhere between 8 and 9.30, or that Ayla might go a couple of days without eating hardly any solids but hey, at the end of the day I think being flexible and intuitive has contributed to the happy, healthy Ayla we all know and love.

But as my return to work looms in the near future I’ve been questioning some of my decisions and worrying about how a 9pm bed time is going to be sustainable.

I’ve also spent many a long night wondering about weaning; should I wean Ayla, how can I get her to take a bottle, will she go to sleep during the day if she can’t nurse?

I’ve been trying to catch myself in the act of over thinking, reminding myself that it will all sort itself out in due course and, well, turns out it is.

Around 6pm each night, Ayla starts getting hungry for her dinner. By 6.45 she’s usually finished and having a bath and by 7.30 Ayla’s starting to get tired and rub her eyes.

By 8pm, for the last few days anyway, Ayla’s read a story, been cocooned, and tucked into her bed, preferring to fall asleep on her own now instead of in my arms.

Ayla’s also sleeping much better through the night, and we’ve finally returned to the 7 or 8 hours stints she had when she was six months old.

While Ayla still refuses the bottle, and still relies on mummy cuddles for her day time naps, having a consistent, calm and natural bed time routine is making a huge difference to my confidence and I’m sure the other things will follow in due course.

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Like a charm

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Monday, 10 February 2014: Forty Five Weeks Old.

Ayla was completely back to her old self today, so much so that it was a bit of a shock to the system!

Firstly, Ayla slept like a charm last night (well, the best she’s slept in months) when she went down for a full six hours! Mind you, two three hours stints followed after that but hey, I’m not complaining!

When Ayla got up for the day, at her usual, reasonable time of 7.30am I could tell something had changed because she even looked a little different. Ayla cruised around the house while I got breakfast ready and when the time came to sit down and eat Ayla had her first proper meal in ages!

Even better than the good nights sleep and the comfort of seeing her eat again was the fact that Ayla had a three hour morning nap!

I had a bunch of things to do but kept putting them off expecting Ayla to wake up after 20 minutes. When the first hour passed I thought things might have been back to normal and by the three hour mark I had to check she was alive!

Ayla was such a happy little girl all day; almost no whinging, clinginess or demands and she even spent a lot of the day entertaining herself by playing with her toys and chasing the cat around.

It was lovely to have some freedom but I kind of felt like my right arm was missing… my little Baby Ayla is growing up!

Ayla and I did get some good quality cuddle time tonight though when she sat quietly huddled in beside me on the couch for at least half an hour while she watched a movie with my arm around her. It was the stillest Ayla has been in weeks and I cherished every moment of the calm.

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Teamwork

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Thursday, 6 February 2014: Three Hundred and Eleven Days Old.

I think I’d better start today’s blog at the beginning… 12am.

After going down to bed at 9pm, by 12am Ayla had already woken once for a feed.

By 6am, the time Ayla decided to get up for the day, she’d been awake nearly every hour.

Needless to say when I emerged from the bedroom and met Ayla’s Great Grandma in the kitchen my eyes were hanging out of my head and my skin was pale.

Ayla on the other hand kick started the day with even more than her usual gusto; squealing, crawling, climbing and playing like she’d been sleeping soundly on a bed of clouds to the sounds of angels singing.

Ayla’s overwhelming excitement meant that breakfast became some sort of ordeal and she refused to eat any of the fresh fruits and toast that she’s always looked forward to.

Great Grandma got on the tin pot lids and made up a distraction so that I could at least get some mashed banana into Ayla via a spoon, because given the hourly feeds all night I was completely drained.

At 9am Ayla was ready to return to bed and I welcomed the opportunity to catch up on some sleep! The long night meant I was now fighting off some kind of flu and without sleep I felt like I was going to implode.

But alas…. Precisely 37 minutes after going to bed Ayla was up again.

Thankfully Great Grandma came to the rescue and took Ayla out for a walk in her pram around the retirement village.

Their adventures gave me a good hour of shut eye and when I awoke I found my baby and my grandma playing happily in the lounge.

The smile on Great Grandma’s face was priceless – she and Ayla had seen ducks, and fish, and met a man with a puppy dog, and Ayla had been introduced to a few of Great Grandma’s neighbours.

The two girls had had a lovely morning of quality time, catching up on lost time, and I know it’ll leave lasting memories for all three of us.