Friday, August 04, 2006

A one-nap girl

For the last three days now, The Little Madam has been reasonably happy to have just one afternoon nap per day. I put her down for a morning nap around 9-9.30 anyway just in case, because she always looks and sounds a bit tired by then. But this is always followed by half an hour of listening to her (via the monitor) talk to herself and play with her Ocean aquarium cot toy.

Yesterday she napped for a whole 2 hours! I'm so unaccustomed to this that, after the first hour spent on the Internet, I sat around twiddling my thumbs and wondering when she was going to start making "Get me outa here" noises.

But if this turns out to be more than just a temporary nap glitch, then it's potentially going to be a great thing. I'll be able to take TLM out for the morning without having to get her home after about an hour and a half. We'll be able to attend swim classes without me worrying that it's impinging on her lunch time and nap time.

To some extent, I will be able to restart my daytime social life.

What worries me now (and there's always something for me to worry about) is that I've gotten into the habit of offering her midday breastfeed before her afternoon nap instead of after she wakes from it. I want to start weaning really soon, and somehow I don't think that giving her rice milk in a sippy cup is going to have quite the soporific effect that a good suck on a nipple does. It'd be like shoving the boy's face into a car exhaust and expecting it to have the same relaxing effect that a couple of puffs on a cigarillo would.

3 comments:

Rainypete said...

I don't know how much protien is in the rice milk as hat's what keep the little tummies full and sleepy for longer. I know regular milk kept our daughter sleepy for her naps. Good luck on the new social life......do you still remember how to have one?

Avery's mom said...

stop with the baby monitor! we quit back when avery was about 3 months because I was obsesivly listening . If she's going to wake up and want you....she'll make the noise to get you. I dont mean to sound harsh but she is almost a year old now. time to break from the baby ways of old.
Also, nothing is going to compare nutritionally to your breastmilk but you might try giving it in a bottle instead of sippycup. it will have more of a suckling effect hopefully for her.

Violet said...

rainypete: I think the fortified stuff is okay - my GP told me it should be. It might not have tryptophan though, which is the substance in milk which makes you sleepy. As for my social life, I'll just have to start small - one or two coffee meetings per week or something.

avery's mom:I can't help it - I'm a monitor junkie!

The Little Madam isn't allowed cow's milk because of the potential for milk protein allergy, and she's never taken to a bottle which is why she drinks from a sippy cup.