I have my name on it.*
Tonight I have taught my son the very important lesson of you will be ignored unless you scream really loud, in which case I will then come in running and do whatever you want me to. This last time (the third time) he went from screaming to smiling real big the second he saw me. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you NEEDED something, wouldn't you still need it if your mom was in the room. I'm usually better than this, but he's catching me on a very exhausted night and for some reason this makes his cries seem much more sad, lonely, scared, etc.... As soon as he finally goes to sleep, I will join him and drift off guiltily dreaming about how I'm ruining all chances of him having healthy sleep habits with my inconsistencies, which will then turn into a dream about rabbits driving tractors, because you know... dreams are weird.
7 comments:
I'm starting to worry.
That behavior sounds a bit like a certain younger brother that the two of us have.
Pain in the old keister until he gets what he wants. Then, charming as the devil.
It's the smile that'll get you. Every time.
If you were my Mom, you would probably encompass all of my wants and needs too.
He is so gorgeous. I actually picture my son looking like River. I am thinking of a dark-haired boy, even though that is genetically difficult for us...or would make people questions Andrew's fatherhood.
If it makes you feel any better, I'm having an impossible time figuring out my little guy too. Sleep schedules are all crazy, and completely depends on his mood and how gassy he is. He now won't fall asleep unless his face is covered, he's held a certain way, with a certain blanket. My little guy is ruined. Let's just compare notes with each other so we don't feel bad then...we're in the same boat, for sure :)
I recently read an article for my physiology class about the positives of "The Family Bed" and I learned that sleeping with your baby actually teaches them sleep rhythms and patterns and how to wake themselves up in the nighttime to regulate position that can affect the amount of oxygen they're receiving. My professor and his wife and children all slept in a family bed until the kids were old enough to decide they wanted to sleep on their own and according to him, they have fantastic sleep habits now and it was one of the best things he could ever do with his children. So, don't feel guilty, Lil, you do what's best for you and River and the books can suck it!
p.s. if you'd like me to send you the article, I would be happy to do it...it eased my mind about Gavin's sleep habits too!
I'm with Amanda...
Never read the Family Bed, but heard a lot about how kids are much more secure..
Need to find out if there is a chapter on how kids learn to nap without parents napping with them.
You should know, you slept with us till around the age of three... when you decided you wanted a room with your baby sister...
You little brother was just dumped in a crib and ignored... which is possibly one reason he turned to screaming...
I'm chose not to co-sleep because, though it may or may not do great things for the little one, it would have done bad things to my husband and I who are light sleepers. Plus, we like to keep the marriage bed the marriage bed. Furthermore, it's awesome to put the wee one in his crib at 6:30 pm and have time and space to ourselves until the morning.
Sleep training is totally worth it. Pick one book/theory (even if it's co-sleeping) and stick to it. YOU CAN DO IT! I swear by Kim West aka The Sleep Lady, but she isn't for everyone. Consistency is the key.
You're a supermom and River's a lucky guy.
I had a dream the other night that I was on an island like Lost and we were divided up into groups. One group could have everything they needed, one couldn't have anything and one had to be on the run all of the time. I was in the third group. But for some reason I decided that I needed to make bread so we could have something to eat. So, I sent our scouts into the woods to find yeast and flour. I woke up going, "huh?" I think our dreams get more creative when we have kids.
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