A Day In The Life of Violet

When Violet was a few weeks old I found myself googling "how often should I breastfeed my three week old" or "sleeping schedule for one month old baby". Even though I've already done this once, and only two years ago, I still wonder what's normal. Are you the same? So here's a day in Violet's life to hopefully help you feel sane about what you're baby is doing. Or, to help others of you feel sane that you've decided to wait a while before having babies. Liz.

I wake Nola and Violet around 8:30 every morning. (I know that's leisurely late. Don't ask what I'm doing until then. Just assume I'm up, exercised, showered, and have home cooked breakfast on the table.)

I nurse Violet around 9:00, after pottying, diapering, and getting Nola some oatmeal. She nurses for twenty minutes.

At 10:00 she's ready to sleep again. I swaddle her, lay her down, and she cries for a little bit.She usually only sleeps an hour.

At 12:00 I nurse her again.

Between 1:00 and 1:30 I lay her down again. I'm trying to get her to sleep a longer stretch at this time because it's when Nola naps. Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't.

I nurse Violet again after she wakes up, or I have woken her, between 3:00 and 4:00. She will sleep again, about an hour after I've nursed her, napping about an hour.

I nurse her between 5:00 and 6:00. Depending on when she ate last. Then she'll take a mini evening nap, usually in her vibrating bouncy seat. We cross our fingers this hits at our dinner time, so we can make it through an entire twenty two minute episode of King of Queens without either child interrupting.

At 7:30 I nurse her again. No matter when she ate last. This is her last nursing for the night, so I always offer it, even if I fed her at six.

At 8:00 she goes to bed. She cries, at the most recent count, about fifteen minutes. Sometimes she will cry for a very short time around nine or ten. Then she's out until 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning. I nurse her and she goes right back to sleep until I get her up at 8:30.

And. The day. Begins. Again.

In short, Violet is basically eating every three hours, and napping three and a half times a day. :)

When it comes to nursing, here's how I've changed my mindset a little since she was born. In the itty bittty newborn stage you really are counting the hours and making sure your little one is getting enough, even if that means waking them at night. But now that Violet is two months old and a healthy almost-twelve pounds, I think of it in terms of how many times she's eaten that day rather than how often. I think of it like this: Violet needs to eat breakfast, a morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack, supper and a bedtime snack. When I think of it this way it helps me be more flexible and relaxed. And also it helps Violet fit into our family, rather than us ruling our lives around her.

There you have it. A day in the life of Violet. Oh! And isn't that picture of her with her Grandma so cute?