Changing Things Up

Weaning Superman has meant more changes than just giving him a bottle when I would have been nursing him. 

At first it was just nap times.  When I was nursing we would just head upstairs, I would change his diaper, put on a sleep sack, then sing the "night night" song as I nursed him.  But when he wouldn't take the bottle after I sang the song, I began to give him the bottle downstairs as we wound down from playing, then continue with the bottle as I got him a new diaper, a sleep sack and then read stories to him.  So by the time I finished with the stories he would basically be done with the bottle and it was time to turn off the lights, turn on the white noise, and sing the song.  

This made room for some cuddle time that we had not had previously and I love it!  As I sing his "night night" song he rests his head on my chest, wraps his arms around me (the best he can), and we rock together.  I get so few moments throughout the day where he will just sit still in my arms, I usually continue rocking for a minute or two after the song ends just to stretch the cuddling out a wee bit longer.    

So when I stopped nursing Superman right before bed every night, our evening routine morphed a bit to look a little like the nap routine.  My husband would give him a bottle as he got him ready for bed and as he read stories to him.  But then I would come in sing the "night night" song (while my husband is still in the room) and attempt to give him more milk.  Then husband would leave and I would try to give him more milk.  Usually? He would drink a tiny bit or just flat out refuse.  So then he and I would cuddle and rock for a minute or two and I would put him to bed.  After about a week I realized that I was becoming obsolete.  There was no reason for me to come in...in fact it would probably be less disruptive if the same person did the stories, the song, and the rocking.

So last night when my husband suggested that since he had just done the bath, that I do stories and put him to bed.  I jumped on the opportunity (first I made sure everything was okay with my husband because he rarely gives up the opportunity to read to Superman).  It worked fabulously, he went to sleep almost straight away and it was perfect.   Why we didn't think about this sooner is beyond me! 

So now we have a new plan.  On the days that Superman gets a bath (every other day), I will do the bedtime stuff.  The other days? My husband will do it. 

What I realized this morning was that this is a fabulous way to transition him to getting used to me not putting him to bed regularly.  Once the new baby comes I doubt I will be able to do it every night and it is nice to know that it won't be a complete upheaval of the routine.    

So what are your bedtime routines?  How do you share these responsibilities with your partner?