Consistency

Ever since Isaac was born, I have been trying all sorts of things to help him sleep better during the day. At first, he would rarely stay asleep after I put him down. So if I wanted him to nap, I pretty much had to hold him. Then as he grew older, I realized that if he woke up a few minutes after I put him down and I tried to put him down again, he would usually stay down longer the second time. For a few weeks I felt like it was up, down, up, down, up down. For every nap, I had to put him down about 3 times.

I kept wondering what was wrong. Why wouldn't he stay down?! Why wouldn't he sleep longer?! So I tried swaddling him. I tried not swaddling him. I tried putting him in his crib, and putting him in his rocker, and putting him in his pack n play. I tried giving him his pacifier. I tried letting him cry.

And then I had an epiphany: it probably didn't matter what I did, I just needed to be consistent!

In the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, the author Marc Weissbluth (a pediatrician), argues that, "Babies and children learn to sleep when parents focus on timing [meaning you watch your baby for signs of tiredness-- not the clock], motionless sleep [meaning not in the car, a moving swing, or stroller, etc.], and consistency in soothing style" (229). Consistency!

So for the past two weeks, I have been putting him to sleep in the same place and soothing him the same exact way for all his naps. For us, this means swaddling him, holding him upright against my chest, and while patting his back firmly, and saying "shhhhhhhhhhhh shhhhhhhhh." We've been doing this to soothe him to sleep for a while now (and it works), but when he started to get crankier (around week 7), I felt like it wasn't working because he was so resistant. However, I recommitted, and kept trying.

And . . .  finally, this week it has paid off!! He's been going down for naps much more easily than last week. And although some of his naps are still on the short side, he has also taken some 90 min naps-- and even a 2-hour nap! Yay!

And so I've been thinking about consistency. It truly is a principle of power. I remember a friend once shared something he had learned in the scriptures-- that consistency was one of the great attributes of God (see Heb. 13:8; 1Nephi 10:18; Mormon 9:9). This friend suggested that if we focus on being consistent-- specifically in keeping the commandments-- we can become more like Him.

Life feels better when there is consistency, and I've realized that I need a lot more of it in my life. Like, more consistent exercise. More consistent cleaning. More consistent religious study. Maybe doing these things perfectly-- or even exceptionally-- doesn't matter as much as just doing them, and doing them consistently!*


*Julie B. Beck discusses this concept in an interview on motherhood that can be found here. It is one of the most insightful discussions I have ever heard. In one portion of the interview, she talks about the importance of precision over perfection-- which I think is basically the same point I'm trying to make.