1 week down...

Today begins Aiden's second week of daycare. Or as I like to call it, "The Tired Maker". Because let's be honest, there isn't much you can do with an almost-three-month old other than feed him, change him, talk to him for a bit, lay him on his back, lay him on his belly and let him cry for a while. Sometimes, a long while. But whatever they do with him for 8 hours or so must really tucker him out.

After his first day exactly a week ago, he came home so worn out that he slept from 7pm until 2am the next morning. We didn't hear a peep from him for 7 hours! He then woke up, ate, and went right back to sleep for another 3+ hours. He continued that trend all week, usually sleeping from 7-8pm until 2-3am, then back to sleep until just after 7am. It gave me enough time to get up, shower and get Alli going before I had to tend to his every need. It made my adjusting to the morning routine with two kids much easier than I expected. I was expecting the worst but hoping for the best... and was pleasantly surprised.

He didn't nap much that first day, and things barely improved the second day. His daycare isn't allowed to let him sleep on his belly unless he has a doctor's note stating it's OK. Good thing Mommy B works with such doctors... or at least that she has access to such letterhead. One slightly modified doctor's letter later and Aiden was sleeping on his belly at school, just like he has for the last 2 months or so at home. Needless to say, he napped much better the rest of the week. Even with the improved nap schedule, he was still wiped out by the time Mommy B brought them home. There were even a couple of evenings I struggled to keep him awake until we reached a realistic bed time. I didn't want him passing out at 5pm thinking it was "time for bed", because it would just throw everything off that night and next day. Nothing that a warm bath with his sister yelling right behind him couldn't fix!

Then the weekend arrived, and to be honest it made me a little nervous. Having been through this process once before, I knew how things worked. I know good and well that the biggest reason Aiden was so worn out each night (and thus slept so well) was because he was likely crying quite a bit at daycare. Not because he was being neglected or ignored, but because that's just how infants are at that age. He's so used to being held 24/7, that not being held is a big change for him - and that's the only way infants can show displeasure... by crying. There are 10 kids in his class and 2 (sometimes 3) teachers. They have to feed, burp, change, pick up, put down and repeat for every kid all day long. Do the math Followers - he's not going to get coddled all the time like he's used to. So, knowing that we were going to have to keep up the trend of "letting him cry" for a while during the day was not something I was looking forward to.

However, we made it through with minimal crying and lots of good sleeping - for everyone. Aiden kept on his same nightly sleep schedule (for the most part) and Mommy B and I were able to catch up with some old friends who were in town. While Mommy B (especially) and I have months of sleep to catch up on, our little man is making great progress. We're basically down to a feeding at 7pm followed by bed time, one "night time" feeding between 2-3am, and his morning wake and feeding at 7am. Not bad for not even three months old yet!

We've been consistently giving him 4oz for each feeding, trying to keep him on a regular schedule. He's been putting them down at daycare with ease, much like his sister used to. Last night, it had been a few hours since he'd eaten last, so I served him up a nice 6oz bottle before he went to bed. The kid downed all but about 1/2oz and promptly passed out on my shoulder. Long weekend with crazy sister + 6oz of mommy milk = major infant comatose. I put him down in his crib at about 7:15pm and didn't hear a sound until 2:45am this morning. Ah, it was glorious!

So here we are, beginning week number two. I'm hoping that the trend continues and we're onto something good already. In a few more weeks (if necessary), we'll hopefully be on the road to really sleeping through the night. Judging by how things are going thus far, I think our little man will be sleeping very soundly in the very near future.