Bedtime...

Ethan needs a new bedtime. We're co-sleeping, but I'd like to get to the point that Ethan sleeps in his own bed (currently the bassinet) for at least a few hours before he wakes up and comes to bed with us. Up to this point I haven't been really active as far as getting a sleep schedule/routine/rythm established. We just chill out together until he gets cranky and I get tired and then we go get in bed. Sometimes I lie down with him, then get back up, and other times we all just go to sleep. But I am learning that he needs an earlier bedtime than I do, and it's really nice when I have even an hour or so alone or with Darrell at night.

I'm not planning to do anything drastic, of course...I'd just like to see if we can be a little more structured about this whole thing.

So last night, we did a new little routine. About 9, Ethan had a nice warm bath, a little mini-massage with some lotion, got dressed in his jammies and kissed dad goodnight. Then we turned just the night light on in his room and I nursed and rocked him to sleep. Amazingly, he stayed asleep when I laid him down, and slept for a few hours - at least until we went to bed but I can't remember what time that was :) Now, if only we can make this or something similar happen again tonight, and the night after that, and the night after that!

I know Darrell is disappointed when Ethan isn't awake when he gets home, and that makes me really sad but soon we'll be seeing more of him in the mornings so hopefully that will make up for their missed time in the evenings. I think in the long run this is going to make for a happier everyone.

By the way, the Fisher Price Rainforest baby bathtub that we put on the registry and recieved SUCKS. I gave Ethan a bath in it several times, and it was miserable each time. The little sling was positioned so that Ethan's back hit a ledge inside the tub, which hurt him. So, once he was a little less floppy I took the sling out and tried to bathe him in the tub, but the "seat" part was so small he just slid out of it and again, jammed his back into the ledge. It has been so frustrating, so I finally bought this little seat at Babies R Us, and used it for bathtime last night. I can't find a picture of it, but it's just a simple wire frame with a mesh seat. For the first time ever, Ethan LOVED his bath. He was able to lay in the tub a splash around... he even caught his little rubber ducky a time or two. I'll try to get a picture/video of his next bath. He did keep sliding down the seat, but he actually liked that part because he ended up "floating" in a way. I just had to keep a close eye on him and keep pulling him back up :)