Houston, we have a routine.

Somewhere along the line, a realization hit me: Camden's 30 minute naps every hour and a half? Not exactly convenient. The fact that he had begun to fight naps and I had to rock him and shush him to sleep until I felt like I was going to pass out from lack of oxygen? Not good. Sticking a boob or a spoon in his mouth everytime I picked up on what I thought was a hunger cue, which resulted in him eating every 2 hours or so? Well, he's 4 months old, not 4 days old. And a 4 month old baby who eats every 2 hours is a snacker.

Simply put, our days were chaotic. There was no structure. Neither of us really knew what to expect from day to day. Camden's sleep was erratic. I was feeling utterly out of control.

And so, I devoted the past week and a half to implementing a schedule and starting some sleep training. Armed with the Baby Whisperer's techniques (no crying-it-out!) and a lot of help from my mom, I set out on the most exhausting undertaking I've experienced thus far as a mother. And here we are, a week and a half and many sleepless nights and tears (mainly mine) later, with these results:

1. Camden has gone from taking 5-6 catnaps a day to 2 longer naps (1-2 hours; one in the morning & one in the early afternoon) and a late afternoon catnap. Take that, 45 minute nap intruder!
2. Camden's bedtime is now anywhere from 6:45 to 7:30, depending on the length of his naps during the day. Previously, his bedtime was around 9.
3. Camden takes every single nap in his crib.
4. Camden soothes himself to sleep at naptime & bedtime! No more rocking or shushing (or nursing) from Mommy!
5. He eats every 3 1/2-4 hours and is doing remarkably well with solids (his favorite so far is applesauce!)

You might remember my post a while back about Camden nursing every hour at night. Initially, I was sure this was "comfort sucking" and that he was using me as a pacifier to get back to sleep during brief nighttime awakenings. Then I visited his pediatrician for his 4 month check up and she felt that he might actually be hungry during the night-- that my milk supply might've decreased. Thus, the reason for the introduction of solids.

I am happy to say that, while our nights are nowhere near perfect now, Camden is only nursing two times throughout a 12 hour period-- a far cry from where we were just a couple short weeks ago. Whether this is due to the introduction of solids, having a structured routine during the day, sleep training, or some combination of all of the above, I'm not sure. He still wakes at other points during the night, and sometimes can soothe himself back to sleep, and sometimes needs a little bit of assistance (but still no rocking or nursing) from me. A work in progress, to be sure, but we're getting there!

And now our days have order. We both know roughly what to expect. It's easier for me to interpret his cues. I realize that a schedule isn't for everyone (truth be told, I wasn't even sure it was for us at first!). If on-demand feeding and go-with-the-flow parenting works for you-- more power to you! That's what I saw myself doing in my daydreams while pregnant. But it just wasn't working for us and I had to re-evaluate. For me, having a (flexible) routine has been a life (and sanity) saver.