Charlotte is a Sleeper!

I haven't forgotten that Lilah didn't sleep through the night until after her 1st birthday or that it seemed like we were up all night trying to get her to go to sleep for the first few months.

I am thrilled that Charlotte (now 2 months) has been a great sleeper from day one. My experiences with Lilah had me preparing for 2 hour stretches of sleep at night (if I was lucky) for the first year or more. My dear, dear Charlotte is AMAZING! She goes to bed around the same time as Lilah (between 7 & 8pm) and sleeps until 6:30/7:00am, only waking twice to nurse. 

I was very used to the 2-3 hour naps that Lilah now takes and was not looking forward to loosing that 'me' time when Charlotte was born. Luckily, one of Charlotte's naps usually overlaps with Lilah's so I still get a hour or so of quiet alone time (or time to cook and clean).

With Lilah, I dreaded each time she decided to drop a nap whether it was when she went from three naps to two or from two naps to one because I would get so used to the time I had to do what needed to be done or have some quiet time. Looking back, each change was for the better and actually made life a lot easier. With Charlotte, a napping pattern seems to be emerging and I think we are heading toward a three nap a day schedule. I actually can't wait until she is in a predictable two nap a day schedule and I know by that time I am going to be looking forward to a one nap a day schedule simply because it makes getting out and doing things so much easier!

As crazy as it sounds, I am actually looking forward to the day when Lilah drops her afternoon nap altogether (which, however, I am hoping is not going to be for a LONG time or at least until Charlotte is down to one nap as day) because it will be so nice to have that alone time with her while Charlotte is sleeping.  

I don't know how much of Charlotte's great sleeping habits can be explained by parenting vs. her natural habits and cycles. Right from the beginning, I just naturally started nursing her in a quiet dark room around the same time as Lilah was going to bed which may be the reason that they go to bed at the same time. She gained weight really quickly in the beginning which may explain why she was sleeping for long stretches early on. Whatever the reasons, I am a happy, rested mommy and I have happy, rested BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL children (and a happy, rested Daddy too)!