"Little Girls!"
I don't have much time to write these days, as I'm trying to keep the house reasonably neat and go to bed at the same time as Baby C, so I that won't be rattled by her 11pm and 3am wake-ups.
I'm thinking of abusing the swing. Specifically, if I put Baby C in her bed for her naps, she can sometimes wake up 15-25 times, needing her pacifier, or to be re-swaddled, or eschewing general unhappiness before she finally drifts off to sleep. But with the swing? Happy, blissful sleep every time. So why screw with it? It's not like she'll still have to be in the swing when she's 12 years old. And if she does? It fits in the trunk, I'll tote it to sleepovers.
Plus, instead of doing the whole "go to bed in your bassinette" game, where she wakes up and cries two dozen times before finally going to sleep, I can put her to sleep with the swing and a pacifier, then give her a "dream feed" where she barely wakes up at 7pm, THEN transfer her to her bassinette, where she just might drift off to sleep without all the drama.
The only hitch I see with this plan is our planned trip to Illinois in late September. What if she's still addicted to the swing? Well, I'm sure they sell them there.
Pass the D-batteries!
(Note: Yes, I'm using rechargable batteries. In case you thought I'd forgotten my pledge to Pete Seeger.)
3 comments:
Well as you know we are using the swing for naps and crib for nights. I use darkness as the hour I transfer from the swing to the crib. For us it's a matter of keeping her upright so as she spits up it runs down onto her bib and not around her neck behind her head, etc. I have definitely dream fed at 9:00 or so and moved to the crib successfully.
But only twice! I struggle with getting her to sleep at ALL after she wakes up in the 4pm-6pm range, until 9:30-10:30. So she'll often be up from 5-9, tired and cranky, but unable to sleep. It doesn't help that we are also doing dinner and bedtime for the older one, so any significant time I spend trying to get the baby to sleep makes the rest of the family cranky.
The swing is not fool proof any more (we are at 3.5 mos or so now), naps are in the 1-2.5 hr range (and lately even as short as 30 min, sigh). So I say as long as it works, do it. And once it doesn't, will you really be any worse off then where you are now?
I also struggled with the travel issue, ended up buying a travel swing. She is usually in the cradle swing, swinging sideways, now moved to her room so she can be in the quiet and monitored and I don't have to check on her or make the rest of the family be quiet all the time. The travel swing is a very different feel, so it doesn't really work... but yes they do sell swings everywhere and if it works it is worth any amount of money to purchase. :) Or maybe someone you know has one you can borrow while you are there?
Sorry for the long comment, this is my life these days! And if our girls are in swings when they're 12, it will be quite a story.
I have no good advice to offer, except a sympathetic waning look in your direction, but I just wanted to say it is absolutely SCARY how much Geege and Chebs look alike these days. Like if you don't stop and focus on them, they look like the same kid. And I'm still jealous of Gigi's hair, since Punk is still slowly growing out a baby mohawk of sandy brown goodness.
And of course Baby C. Oh beautiful Baby C.
Dripping with darling little girls, I might add!
As to Miss C.--you might look into that baby hammock that you can put by the bed (or out in the family room/living room) & give a little shove whenever she seems like she's waking up. She might feel so snuggly in it that she goes to sleep more easily and doesn't wake up as often. I suspect that the swing provides an extra layer of "swaddling" because of its shape as opposed to the flat mattress of the bassinet. Papooses are carried around on the curved back of their mamas, kangaroo babies are nestled into a belly pouch, monkey babies hang onto their mamas' bellies & backs. What baby in the animal kingdom likes to lay flat on a hard surface anyway?!
Bassinet? Is Gigi back in her own bedroom? Did the older girls sleeping together experiment fizzle out?
G.R.
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