Big Fat Boy

Long before Spencer was even a bean in my belly, Chris was certain out next child would be a 'big fat boy'. Since we have always struggled to get Eloise to eat enough and even more, to sleep, Chris decided that our second baby would just do both from birth without question. As it happens, he seems to have predicted correctly. Spencer's appetite is excellent, if not insatiable, and I'm confident this contributes to his ability to sleep. 

For the past few weeks I've been trying to follow Spencer's cues when it comes to developing a routine. I definitely don't have it figured out, but I am starting to see a pattern. I'm still a little lost when it comes to his routine in the mornings but Spencer is easy going enough to sleep in the Bjorn or stroller as we do school drop off or head off on an activity. By lunchtime he is ready for a big feed and goes down for a few solid hours in his crib. He wakes up again, we feed, play a little, do a bath, get him into jammies and he's back in the crib around 5pm. Spencer sleeps right through Eloise's witching hour and the bustle of dinner before waking again around 9pm for a bottle of expressed milk with Chris, then goes down for another five-ish hours. After this stretch of sleep he wakes every two hours or so to nurse but still, not bad for a little dude who is just a month old. 

Besides lots of food, I contribute Spencer's sleeping to his sleep position. I remember a friend with two good sleepers tell me that she put both of her kids to sleep on their tummies. Spencer had been fussing and resisting sleep in his crib for hours one day so I decided to give tummy sleeping a shot. That first time he slept on his tummy was the beginning to longer stretches of sleep for Spencer and more sanity for me. I feel like I'm breaking the rules by doing this but I'm okay with that (I am a rebel after all). I put him into the crib awake on his tummy, he doesn't make a peep and then goes right to sleep. It's a miracle.