Since our last posting about Ava's phenomenal sleep patterns (see April 6), we seem to have hit a bit of a bump in the road. Her impressive 9 hour sleep stretches have devolved into catnaps of sometimes only 30 minutes. Not that we're complaining. Oh wait...yes we are.
More troubling still is that Ava isn't one of those babies that drifts off effortlessly at bedtime. Rather, getting Ava to sleep could be considered an Olympic sport. A triathalon of bouncing, rocking, and swaying, if you will.
Bouncing is our "go-to" technique and has produced some of our record-breaking wake to sleep conversion times. For a real go-getter, this can be accomplished in no less than 20 minutes.
Rocking has a higher degree of difficulty and looks nothing like the type of rocking that puts TV babies to sleep. The type of rocking Ava enjoys requires you to be light on your toes as you hop from one foot to another while being sure not to shake the baby. That's very important. Don't shake the baby.
If bouncing and rocking haven't worked, it's going to be a long night and you may be in hour four of the bedtime routine. The swoop and sway is for experts only and can result in repetitive stress injuries. But think about the workout you're getting! You'll thank yourself later.
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