Improved Sleep for All (Thank You, Allison!)

     As some of you may know from our earlier posts, Quinlan has been refusing to stay down for longer than 30-40 minutes for his naps the past few weeks. He has also gotten progressively more adamant about not being put down for naps and most recently for bed. He is more interested in the world around him and would prefer to stay up and play, then he gets cranky and tired and cries regardless of whether you let him stay up or try and put him down.
     We had decided to stop swaddling his arms by his sides as he is now rolling and likes to suck on his hands to soothe himself back to sleep (well, at least at night. He had not mastered this talent during daytime hours.) Mom was getting concerned as she was spending 30 minutes to get him down for only a 30 minute nap. Other parents were consulted and finally a call was made to the pediatrician who told her to "relax, and focus more on his night time sleep," as he was still waking up 3 x a night to feed.
     We were originally opposed to letting Quinlan "cry it out," but he appeared to be crying whether we held him or placed him in the crib. The former just seemed to drive his parents crazy. So, when we went to a friend's wedding Saturday afternoon and our friend Allison watched Q, we told her that it was ok to let him cry some. She took this picture so we could see how happy he was after his 3rd 30 min nap of the day, and when she put him down for nap 4, she allowed him to cry 20 minutes until he put himself to sleep.

     While that was longer than mom and dad had intended, it seemed to have worked as he went down easy for bed that night and has put himself to sleep with minimal fuss for each nap since. He has even started napping for 90-110 minutes! We have also moved Quinlan to his own room and he is sleeping for 5-6 hour stretches waking only 2x (around 11-12 and at 530 AM). He seems much more happy and interactive during the day, as our his parents who have increased their ZZZZs as well. :)