I am not sure if I have talked about schedules before. For years I used to be one of the most organized people I know. To-do lists, calendars, ideal plans and backups, whatever could be done to maximize efficiency I owned. Beaten only by my sister, really, who might be borderline OCD when it comes to planning. My main motivation for all this organizing I used to do? I am lazy, really lazy. By keeping myself on a near-optimal track with what had to be done, I could max out on down time. Yes, cozy bed, here I come.

Babyled routines

Since Bubsi was born, however, I have learned to let go of my scheduling obsession. Okay, not entirely – I still try to push my optimal plan A agenda whenever possible. And I still get frustrated when I fail at that. Regardless, I have ventured to allow Bubsi her own schedule. She decides when she is hungry or tired, I just offer the opportunities to eat and sleep regularly. It’s referred to as babyled routines, or so I found out.

For Bubsi, this has worked out rather well. We soon learned to read her signals for being tired or needing the toilet (this one helps tons with potty-training to be sure!). Nowadays she even asks to go to bed at night at a reasonable hour. I am proud that she is so in tune with her body’s needs, which is basically why I did this. Why I tortured myself into letting her set the schedule. Because for me, it is often really inconvenient. I am dead tired but she insists on staying up till eleven? Been there. Bubsi claiming she doesn’t need a nap while being super cranky with bags under the eyes and me having to deal with that for hours? Done that.

Suddenly on a sleep schedule

Life was erratic these past two years, always depending on Bubsi’ whims. Then something changed. Like magic, her sleep has taken on a routine of its own. And it seems like we are truly on a sleep schedule now, almost set in stone. Without me actively trying. It is Bubsi’s self-made sleep schedule, and I certainly hope it is here to stay for a while cause, well, I love schedules:

She goes to bed around 10 pm, wakes up at 9 am (plus some night wakings and nursing). Then she takes one long nap between 1 and 4 pm (usually around 2h). Fantastic huh? Only one challenge to blur the news. By August, she needs to wake around 6.30 am for kindergarten… Any ideas how to do that transition without messing everything up?

Bubsi napping in the sunshine