Sleep, Oh Sleep

Sleep is something many people don't appreciate unless they're lacking it. I don't think I'm one of those people. I've always appreciated and LOVED sleep! I'm a 9 hours per night kind of gal. Seriously, I typically go to bed at 9:30 (I know, how lame am I!?!) and get up at 6:30. You all know what's coming next, right? Probably not... thus far, my almost 3 week old daughter seems to be a little like her mommy in that area! I don't want to jinx myself, so I'm not going to say she's a good sleeper (as in now and in the future), but, so for her first 2-1/2 weeks of life, she HAS been a good sleeper at night! There have only been 2 nights that she's woken on her own before I wake her to eat. I know, I know, never wake a sleeping baby, right? But she's so small! I just feel the need to force her to eat! So her first week of life I woke her every 3 hours to eat, when she was 1 week old, I woke her every 4, and now at 2 weeks old, I'm waking her every 5 hours to eat, which means I've been only having to get up once at night! Everyone says, "You just have to do what you feel comfortable with", and this is what I feel comfortable with!

So, last night I had to plan out our future nights (just in case she decides to continue being a great sleeper!) If you know me, you know I'm a planner, and I like to have my 'plans' written out. Don't worry, I can be flexible, I realize everything is dependent on Ridley and whether she wants to follow my plans or not. Most books I've read say let the baby start sleeping 5 hours at night at 2 weeks, and 8 hours at night at 6-8 weeks, so instead of doing 5 hours for that long, and then making a big jump to 8 (and possibly creating a habit of waking up after 5 hours) I decided to add a little bit to Ridley's sleep each week. So in my dream world... this is what the next couple of months will look like at night...

2 weeks (currently) - 5 hours

3 weeks (starting Wed!) - 5.5 hours

4 weeks - 6 hours

5 weeks - 6.5 hours

6 weeks - 7 hours

7 weeks - 7.5 hours

8 weeks - 8 hours

9 weeks - 9 hours

10 weeks and beyond - 10-12 hours

The thought of doing 5 hours for the next few weeks seems exhausting, but THIS schedule seems attainable! The thought of the progression actually excites me! There's nothing better than adjusting my alarm clock at night to get even an extra half hour in my stretch of sleep! Now I'll be honest and say, every night I go to bed nervous that it's going to be our first 'bad' night, but cheers to having a 'plan' whether we get to follow it or not!