Night Owl For Now

So according to sleep experts, toddlers like Little L should be sleeping from 7:00-7:00, with one nap lasting 1.5-2 hours sometime shortly after noon.

I don't think Little L got the memo, or consulted with them.  Sleep in this household, much like nursing, and weaning from bottles, is child-led.  And my child is a night owl.

Cuz I know you're dying to know, here's sort of our rough "schedule:"

8:00-9:00 am   Wake up somewhere between these times
12:00-3:00 pm  Nap somewhere between these times, for anywhere from 1-2.5 hours
9:00-10:45 pm  Go to bed somewhere between these times

Though it sucks because I don't have a predictable time that I know she will be down for, the up side is that she is learning to trust her instincts when it comes to sleeping and waking, and there is less of a struggle to put her to bed.  Usually, she will come to me, rubbing her eyes and yawning and asking to nurse.

I haven't read too much about this approach to sleep, but I'm not exactly Little Miss Conventional when it comes to sleep practices anyway, so I guess I don't really care since it works for us.  Sometimes in the evening Hubbs and I will take her out for dinner, and other times we will go and run an errand, go for a walk in the park, or get groceries.  This, when others are putting their babies to bed.

She definitely gets her 10+ hours per night, and averages approximately 11.5 hours per 24 hour period, which I think is slightly low for her age but completely normal given that she was never big on sleeping anyway.

The only down side is that it makes for long evenings when I'm sick or I'm tired, or when Hubbs is away.  And I know that although I can indulge her natural sleep cycles right now, eventually I will have to "train" her to sleep early and get up early to accommodate school schedules.

But those drawbacks aside, I'm good with having a baby who naps after lunch and has dinner at a non-geriatric hour.

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