Mom Tip: 10 and 25 minutes

I learned the 10-minute tip with my first child. Once Karston fell asleep on my lap, I needed to wait 10 minutes (with a margin of two minutes) before getting up from the rocker to transfer him to his crib. If I (fell asleep and) waited more than 12 minutes, he would wake up when I set him down. If I didn't wait at least 8 minutes, but usually 10, he would wake up as I stood up. The magic wait was 10 minutes. Just 10 minutes asleep on my lap, then put him to bed. The 10-minute trick also works on Cale.

The 25-minute tip is more subtle, but just as magical. I didn't notice this one with Karston because I was so busy learning the more obvious ones, but in retrospect, I think it also applied. For the nights when Cale wants to nurse to sleep, we can't spend more than 25 minutes in the chair before Cale goes in his crib. When he nurses to sleep, it's often difficult to tell when he falls asleep, so this rule covers that case. At the 15-minute mark, I try to stop the nursing so that he gets 10 minutes of pure sleep, but last night worked fine with 20 minutes of nursing and 5 minutes snoozing on boppy on my lap. Cale will stay asleep as I put him in his crib and pull up the covers if we move at the 25-minute mark; otherwise he wakes up. He also sleeps better if I stick with the 25-minute plan.

Don't think that this means bedtime is a 25-minute routine! There's a whole series of actions leading up to it, from cleaning up to kisses to bedtime stories. Last night Cale cried when I finished the third book (he and his brother get 3 books at bedtime), so I let him pick his favorite (Little Gorilla) and how many times (twice) to re-read it. I'm glad he loves books!