I'll admit it - I am lazy. I have always been generally quite lazy, and I am a pretty lazy mommy too! I try to make life as easy and simple as possible - who doesn't? - but I've realised this week that my laziness may be having a negative impact on Miss Isabelle.
Everybody likes a good lie in, but babies are not well renowned for it. However, over the last few months I have been able to 'boast' a lie in (rising at 8.30am at the earliest) everyday. Not because Isabelle is so conked out on her own, but because I like to snuggle down in the morning for an extra while, and have used Isabelle's Kryptonite - boobs - to keep her compliant. This means we get up late and start the day late, and because we are out so often, we end up rushing around, so Isabelle's naps and meals are squeezed in whenever they fit, and naps are mostly on the go in the car.
My laziness also means that we have fallen into the bad habit of nursing her to sleep for naps and bedtime, simply because it's easier for me, and she is willing to do it too.
Ok, so neither of those things sound unbelievably horrific, but this week I realised that my laziness in those matters means that Isabelle's routine is not quite what it should be, and I am affecting her ability to self settle.
So we've had a bit of a shake up in the Jay household this week. No longer will you find me lounging in bed until 9am, no, the ungodly hours of 7am and 7.30am are my new wake up time. This means that we are able to get up, have breakfast together, and Isabelle can have at least one quality nap in the morning, uninterrupted in her cot. This is something she had been doing for a long time when she was smaller, but our increasingly hectic social life (!) meant it got somewhat shoved aside, as getting up later meant we didn't have time for this nap before heading out for the day.
I've also decided to take some time out, and that Isabelle and I will spend more time at home, rather than always out and about.
I'm hoping that these little chances will be for the better for little miss. Already I have been pleased to find that while she is having her reclaimed morning nap, I can get a few bits and bobs done around the house - and since she decided her morning nap would be an hour and 15mins today (unheard of - she only ever naps for 30 minutes!) I got so much done I didn't know what to do with all my free time!
And lastly, moving away from using boobs as the only way to put Isabelle to sleep. Of course this one is more tough, but I am very pleased to report that for three whole days she has not fallen asleep on the boob during the day once. Small steps with this one to pull her out of the bad habit her lazy mommy let us get into!
Small changes, but hopefully ones which will bring Isabelle's routine up to where it should be. Rather than having a lazy mommy hold her back for her own benefit....