The Catnapper

Being a new mom, people often ask: Is he a good sleeper?

The answer: It depends on the time of day.

From about 7pm to 10pm, he's a great sleeper. And at around 10:30pm to 12:30, he's a great sleeper. From 12:30 to about 2am-ish, he's a fabulous sleeper. This is where the not so great sleeper starts. He'll usually wake up at about 4am ready for the day. Happy at first until he realizes he has to go back to sleep. After much persuasion, I can convince him to go back to sleep until 6ish, and if I'm really lucky he'll go back to sleep (again) until 8am. The morning consists of 1 or 2 twenty to thirty minute cat naps, followed by a 45 minute nap around noon. And in the afternoon I can sometimes squeeze a 2 hour nap out of him. This is all on a good day. The good news is he goes down early and sleeps while Ken and I have dinner...usually.

Even though he's not very fond of the zzzzzz's, he is a sweet baby. He's smiling and cooing a lot these days, even under his pacifier. He only cries when he's hungry or really tired. Even then its just a whimper unless I'm too slow. I've heard that after the 6th week, they start sleeping more at night. I'm hoping this is true and applies to my little guy. I'm hoping that soon the sleep deprivation will all be a distant memory.

And I have to admit, even when I'm dead tired and he wakes me up ready for his midnight meal, I can't help smiling and cooing with him. And every night I think, well, at least we'll get to nap tomorrow...hopefully.