Rock-a-bye-baby
Have you ever paid attention to the lyrics to that lullaby? I can totally relate to putting my baby in a tree and whatever happens, happens.
Needless to say, we’ve been having a very rough time with Maddie lately. When last I wrote, I told you that the Hyland’s tablets worked like a charm. Strike that. They suck ass. I’m pretty sure the reason she slept so well last Friday and Saturday night is because she got her two month shots on Friday and was feeling a little puny for those two days. Sunday, she was all grins and giggles, but she was once again firm in her anti-sleep position.
Now that I’m back at work, Gerald and I have to get up at 4:45 in the morning. Maddie doesn’t go to sleep until at least 11:00 pm. This is a Very Bad Thing, indeed. By Tuesday night, I was a wreck. At midnight I was in her room in tears trying to feed her and make her go to sleep. I decided that something ANYTHING had to change.
I discovered that I am the problem. I read so much about “healthy sleep habits” while I was pregnant, that I became obsessed with them. I worried that Maddie was going to have trouble sleeping FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE if I made the tiniest mistake. That was way too damn much pressure, you know? So, I decided that the most important thing was that we all get some sleep. That’s it. Just sleep. I don’t care how it happens.
Finally, at 12:30 am, I put her swing in her room and let her sleep in it. She slept until 4:00 am. No crying whatsoever. I have no problem with Maddie sleeping in her swing, but we were going to need to take out a second mortgage to pay for the batteries that thing eats.
She has this swing. We got it because it’s small enough to be in the living room and it’s portable. We can take it to my dad’s house or to Gerald’s parents’ house when we visit. She loves it and it works perfectly for us. Except for said battery issue. So, yesterday, Gerald got Maddie this swing. It’s the coolest thing EVER. We put it in her room, next to her crib. ( I want her to know her room is for sleeping and it’s ok to be alone in there.) At 7:15 last night, after a bath with some Johnson’s Bedtime Bath and a massage with the Bedtime Lotion, I put Maddie in her swing and closed the door. She slept until 8:45 when it was time to eat. After her bottle, I attempted to put her in her crib for the night. No dice. She started to get worked up and upset, so I moved her to the swing. She slept until midnight when she got hungry again. After she ate, I again tried to lay her in her crib. Bingo! She went down easily and slept until 3:00 am. She went back into her crib until 6:45 am when she started to get a little fussy. Back into the swing until 8:45 am. It was FANTASTIC! Everyone in my house got a good night’s sleep for the first time in three weeks. It was like being born again.
The lesson that I learned? Don’t get too stressed out about things that are out of your control.
It’s probably about time that I learned this one, seeing as I’m almost 31 years old.
Filed under: uncategorized on March 22nd, 2007
Been there done that…glad you came around! I promise you…just like my perfect 18 year old I promise by the time college rolls around there will be no more peeing in the bed, sucking a bottle too long, sleeping with mom, and not sleeping throught the night for a year!
Some how it all works out! Just love her!
Your first paragraph was so funny, I choked on a Cadbury Fruit & Nut Bar (it has fruit! and nuts! it = healthy!) and then read what you wrote out loud to my husband, who also thought it was funny.
I came to the same conclusion: that in some cases, survival is what’s important. The twins each spent some nights sleeping in swings or in vibrating bouncy seats or on me or whatever. At some point I started feeling like I didn’t really care WHAT it took to make them sleep, as long as they slept.
I have often wondered at the parental ambivalence apparent in the lyrics of “Rock-A-Bye-Baby.” Then I had an actual baby. And even though she is actually a good sleeper, she is most often a horrible and frustrating eater, and this has its own set of problems. Not sleeplessness, though, thank goodness. I feel for you, and wish you luck with your swing!
Don’t get too stressed out about things that are out of your control.
Repeat Repeat Repeat!
Draw it in the mirror with lipstick, make a poster for the fridge, put it on Maddie’s forehead with magic marker? hehehe
I have fallen into the same trap as you. I read every sleep book ever published. I realized that the only thing the books agreed on was that I was doing everything absolutely wrong. One night, my husband threatened to take all of my books and throw them away.
For the past week (my little guy is 7.5 weeks old), I have done whatever comes naturally. And it’s working. Many nights we sleep 5 straight hours, which is sleeping through the night to me right now (although one night, I didn’t get more than two hours in a row). He naps in his swing and I don’t even care anymore, because he is, afterall, asleep.
Anyway, new to your blog, glad to see someone going through the same stuff as me. It makes me feel so much less alone!