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October 29, 2015
In one word…SUCCESS!
Those of you who have been following this blog know that Todd has always napped in his swing rather than his crib during the day. You might know that I was slightly dreading the time when the swing couldn’t be used any more. I was afraid that Todd would have a hard time transitioning.
You’ll recall that I did a trial using the crib for Todd’s naps waaaay back in January, when he was only 5 months old. Needless to say, Todd wasn’t ready for crib naps when he was that young. (See post, “Baby Todd’s Sixth Month” for details.)
Little did I know back then that Todd would still be napping in his “special swing chair” through his 14th month and into his 15th month! And– we could have kept going with the swing for a little longer than we did (but clearly the days were being numbered)!
I won’t know how much Todd weighs until his 15 month doctor appointment, but I suspect he’s still got some time before he’s over 25 pounds (the swing’s maximum weight capacity). It’s more about Todd’s ever-increasing size and wanting to give him room to stretch out more while he sleeps. (Although he’s always slept very well and looked comfortable).
I had no idea that October 27, 2015 was going to be Todd’s last day using the swing for his naps. It wasn’t planned. If I’d planned it, I’m sure I would have taken pictures of him sleeping there for the last time! (I feel a little emotional thinking about it…)
The last picture I took of him in his swing was taken on October 13, 2015…
A week short of 13 months old – September 13, 2015
Here are the details of how the transition to crib naps played out. It took ME 6 days to solidify our new routine. But it really didn’t take Todd any time at all to adapt! What an easy baby I have 🙂 . I was worried for no reason!
DAY 1 – WED, OCT 28 (2015)
I didn’t plan to start our transition on this day, until literally right at nap time.
Actually, it was a little past the normal nap time because Todd had a dentist appointment at 10 AM that morning. By the time we got home and I got him ready for his nap, it was almost noon (he normally falls asleep for naps by ~11 AM).
Well…he really fought me when I started putting him in his swing (which never happens in the morning). So, I decided, “Okay, Todd, let’s try the crib!!”
I put him in at 11:56 AM with blinds closed, lamp set on the dimmest setting and door halfway shut. I set up the baby monitors so that the music that normally plays on his swing could be heard in his crib. I think it’s a very important auditory sleep cue for him.
He cried literally for maybe 10 seconds and then quickly settled himself. I could hear that he was quiet but awake for 1/2 hour before he fell asleep. Then he slept for a solid 1.5 hours. Awesome!
DAY 2 – THURS, OCT 29
Todd didn’t poop in the toilet in the morning, so I fed him his “before nap formula milk” out in the living room (instead of my glider chair). Afterward, he indeed pooped in the toilet. Then, I got him dressed for his nap.
I brought him into my room per usual to read books in my glider chair. Maybe it was a mistake to not have a little more of his formula milk to offer him. After a few minutes he wanted to get down (which isn’t good because the next thing he’d want to do is get up on my bed and play).
I picked him up and he was already resisting me (bad sign). I put him in his crib with the lighting/music set up as described above. He cried intensely for 5 minutes without settling down.
I then prepared a sippy cup with a couple more ounces of formula milk and I brought him back to my glider chair. The “nap music” was still playing on the swing. Fortunately, between the rocking, the sippy cup, the music, and a couple more books, Todd almost instantly relaxed. Phew!
Within minutes, he was asleep in my arms. He remained asleep while I moved him to his crib. Then he slept 1.5 hours.
October 29, 2015
DAY 3 – FRI, OCT 30
This day I gave him his before-nap formula milk out in the living room again, because he hadn’t pooped yet. Afterward, he pooped in the toilet. Then, I dressed him for his nap. I did the “nap set up” (lighting, music, etc) before I took him into my room for glider chair rocking and books.
I should have given him a clean sippy cup of plain water instead of letting him continue to suck on his mostly empty cup.
Since the music was playing as we rocked in my chair, I tried not to read the books so much as just quietly name things on the pages. I wanted to see if Todd would fall asleep in my arms like the day before.
He was clearly very tired, and he might have been close to falling asleep, but I decided to try moving him into his crib before he was actually asleep. He needs to be able to fall asleep on his own.
I looked at the clock when I stepped away, and he cried for less than 2 minutes, then quickly fell asleep. He slept for 1 hour, then was awake but quiet in his crib for another 15 minutes before I got him out.
DAY 4 – SAT, OCT 31
I had the new nap routine established by now. This includes offering him a separate sippy cup containing an ounce of water, after he drinks his sippy cup of “formula milk.” Todd cried for about 8 minutes when I put him in his crib but he was gradually settling down during that time. He slept for 2.25 hours!
DAY 5 – SUN, NOV 1
I worked all day, so Eric was home with Todd. Eric said that Todd cried for a few minutes, but then he slept for 1.5 hours in his crib.
DAY 6 – MON, NOV 2
Today I tried using different nap music: a lullaby music CD that my sister used for her kids. I burned a second copy of it so that I could have both CDs playing at nap time. (I turned one on in Todd’s room, then I played the other one in my room while I rocked him, fed him, and read books to him in my glider chair.)
I suspected that he wouldn’t mind the change of nap music, and I was right. He cried for less than 30 seconds, got quiet, then fell asleep. He slept longer than usual. At 2.75 hours, I peeked in on him. I could see that his eyes were open, and he was sucking on his sippy cup of water. I took this picture…
November 2, 2015
I figured nap time was over, except…when I left his room for a few more minutes it soon became clear that he wasn’t ready to get up. He was perfectly quiet in his crib. I checked back a couple more times, and he remained lying down, relaxed.
Finally after another 40 minutes, I was the one who decided to get him up. He was still perfectly relaxed, lounging around in bed…haha! I figured it was getting plenty late since it was 2:40 PM!
So…THAT definitely completes our EASY transition! I’m relieved! 🙂
Almost 14 months old – October 16, 2015
FOURTEENTH MONTH
SEPTEMBER 21 – OCTOBER 21 (2015)
BEING ONE
- excitedly runs in place screaming (9/26)
- comes to my lap to sit (10/8)
- if I don’t read the “right” book, he’ll push it aside and reach for a different one
SO HELPFUL!
- tries to put shoe on my foot (9/25)
- tries to put glasses on my face (9/25)
- feeds me food
- loads utensils in dishwasher tray (10/17)
- pulls the handle on the salad spinner (10/19)
EXPLORING
- racing to the fridge when we start to open it, flings door wide open, and grabs things
- climbed to 2nd shelf of pantry, grabbing for items (10/12)
He needed some mustard powder – October 12, 2015
SPORTS
- kicks balls (right foot) (9/26)
- tries to put football in “tee” (i.e. plastic ring) (9/26)
- doing the “skeleton” on the skateboard (9/26)
- playing with skateboard in the house (climb on/off, stand up and walk on it, roll it on floor)
- rollerblade with stroller on the Centennial trail (10/3)
- he let me put his helmet on if I did it very slowly (10/14)
Skateboarding – October 11, 2015
AT THE PARK
- I started taking Todd to play at parks regularly this month
- he loves going on the slides with me
- he liked walking on the suspension bridge
- hanging from rope at Lake Goodwin park (10/5)
- he decided he loves swinging now (before he didn’t like it) (10/16)
- I give him Happy Baby Puffs at the park to keep him from putting other things in his mouth
- while playing at the park next to where Kindermusik is held, he went over to the door and then pushed me to communicate that he wanted to go in (10/14)
Jennings Park – September 29, 2015
MUSIC
- every Tuesday we go to Kindermusik
- he waved to another mom at Kindermusik (10/13)
- he loves playing the kazoo (10/12)
- he dances to music he likes
ANIMALS
- he kisses cats in books
- he kisses a picture of our old cat, Stuart
- he loves to watch the squirrels outside
- he loves dogs
Visiting the neighbor’s dog – September 23, 2015
OTHER OUTINGS
- he loves shopping cart rides, and insists on facing forward
- when we go to the library he gets to roam around
- when we get ready to go out, he practically jumps into my arms at the garage door
- out to eat: Casa Tequila (9/27), Grilla Bites (10/4)
Playing basketball – September 24, 2015
INSIDE PLAY
- he loves splashing really hard in the bathtub
- he zooms his cars down the toy garage ramp
- he likes to climb up on my glider chair and look at books
- he rolls around in the blankets on the floor
- he puts things into other things (i.e dominos in a container)
- he kept putting his pillow blanket on top of his head (10/2)
NEW WORDS & SOUNDS
- bird (9/26)
- baby (he said after Elmo said it on Sesame Street) (9/28)
- bus (9/29)
- grandma, “anga” (9/30)
- shoe (10/1)
- bee (10/2)
- grandma, “gamma” (10/6)
- boat (10/7)
- “a raw” (10/11)
- he dramatically kept making a hard “C” sound (10/13)
- he tried to “moo” (10/14)
- honk (he said after I read that word in a book) (10/16)
- tries to make the “baa” sound for sheep (10/19)
- bear (10/19)
SIGNS & OTHER COMMUNICATION
- waving to Eric (9/24)
- he does “frog” when he sees it in his book (sticking out his tongue and pulling it back in) (9/24)
- he does “butterfly” when he sees it in his book (opening and closing hand like the wings flapping) (9/28)
- he pushes me when he wants food/formula milk
- he pushed me to tell me to keep playing with him (10/15)
FAMILY
- visit from my mom (9/30 – 10/7)
- he loves his Grandma and he lets her comfort him
- spending days with Eric while I’m at work
Morning snuggles with his Grandma – October 5, 2015
MISC NOTES
- he had a mild cold/runny nose (10/2)
Good Morning! – October 2, 2015
FOOD NOTES & ORAL HAPPENINGS
- he likes to put pancake pieces to his smoothie (“dippers”)
- I started adding 1/2 t ground flax in his smoothies
- he started taking Dr Fuhrman’s Pixie Vites multivitamin
- he eats/plays with a dry “cereal snack” in the morning (unsweetened Os & brown rice puffs)
- he loves to eat whole apples while grocery shopping (started 9/24)
- he loves garbanzo beans and strawberries
- new food: date (10/12)
Mmm, Honeycrisp apple – September 24, 2015
OTHER ORAL HAPPENINGS
- he blew air into smoothie pack after I did (9/26)
- 4th tooth spotted! (top right 1st molar, 10/20)
Centennial Trail Parking Lot – October 3, 2015
FORMULA WEANING
- at month’s end, we’re 3/4 of the way through formula can #72 which means he only went through a little more than 1 can this month
- in his sippy cups, he drinks equal parts formula, soy milk, hemp milk, and homemade cashew oat milk
- he drank from his sippy cup about ~5x per day (minimum 4)
Daytime snuggles are so nice – September 27, 2015
SLEEP
- he only woke up at night 3x
- when he woke up at night, he got back to sleep within 15-45 minutes
- he averaged 9.78 hours of sleep per night
- before bed he stays awake longer while rocking in my chair
- he likes to have several books read to him, and he reaches for the books he wants (upon waking up in the morning, before his swing naps and at bedtime)
- he’s always asleep when I put him in his crib at night
- daytime swing naps averaged 1.84 hours
Ready for bed – September 22, 2015
POTTY TALK
- 48 poops were done in the toilet
- 39 poops were “misses” (10 of those times, he did more poop in the toilet as soon as we got him there)
- he refused to stay on toilet even though it was clear he had to poop, then pooped in underwear (9/28)
- 1st poopy diaper away from home (10/4)
- likes to shred toilet paper while sitting on toilet
- he follows direction to put toilet paper shreds in the toilet (10/15)
Little ball player – October 1, 2015
Well, that’s a wrap!
Freeheel Vegan 