Sleep when the baby sleeps

I'm starting to think the whole "sleep begets sleep*" thing is a load of crap. I totally bought into it with Jonah, but I could never really document that he slept better at night when he slept better during the day. His daytime naps were crappy until he was about seven months old, at which time he finally settled into a consistent twice-a-day nap routine (from his previous three or four 30-45 minute naps a day routine!). But his nighttime sleep didn't really change - or get any better. In fact, he didn't even sleep through the night (and I mean real sleep through the night, not the "five hours is sleeping through the night" definition) until he was 15 months old.

So let's talk about Ava. The girl can sleep, and I love her for it. When she was six weeks old, she slept for 6 or more hours, four nights in a row. I was giddy from all the sleep. She's been a good nighttime sleeper from the get-go, regularly doing four hour stretches even at a week or two old. And I've been preaching the "sleep begets sleep" gospel to anyone who will listen.

However, this weekend seems to discount that particular gospel. Her naps are less than consistent. Some days it's 30 minute catnaps all day, others she'll take a good afternoon nap (or a good morning nap), and still other days, she seems to sleep all day. On Saturday she took a three-hour nap in the afternoon. It was great, because not only did it give both Matt and me some downtime, but it mostly coincided with Jonah's nap. Saturday night, she was a bear to get to sleep (it took over an hour of walking around the house in the dark), and she woke up twice overnight, having trouble falling back asleep the second time (which was about 5:30 AM).

On Sunday, she was in the Baby Bjorn and the stroller for good chunks of the day, and did most of her napping in 20-30 minute stretches in them. She only had one nap in her bassinet. Sunday night, she fell asleep with no trouble at 8:15, woke up once around 9 and settled right away, and then proceeded to sleep until 5:45 AM. That's right, almost 9 hours in a row. I'm still recovering from the shock.

Today (I'm writing this on Monday, but not posting til Tuesday) is another story altogether. I had to wake her up twice from naps (once to go the doctor, and once when we arrived), and now she's napping again. All bets are off, since she had shots today, too. One thing this kid is not, and that is predictable!

*Dr. Marc Weissbluth