I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the only constant in parenting is change. Just when you think you’ve got something figured out, your kid will flip the script and you’ll have to re-learn her habits all over again. That’s just the way it is and I’m guessing it’s because, as little sponges, they’re always learning new things and new ways to do things and want to try them out. I’m okay with that, even if it can be difficult to accept some times (like when she went from sleeping in to waking up at 6:30AM again).

While I was away this weekend, my wife started trying out a new way of putting Lu down for a nap. It was partially born out of necesity and partially out of Lu getting older and being a little more mature. Historically, I’d hold Lu and jiggle her on my lap or knee until I lulled her to sleep. We tried the “put her in her crib and let her cry it out” way a few times, but she just got so upset and I’m convinced that unleashing that kind of torment on your child doesn’t do them or you any good. I mean, they’re having the kind of physical reaction that it seems like I would have if an angry bear appeared in my house and I couldn’t get out. Would you want to feel like that every single day? I guess you’d get used to it, but what kind of damage is done getting to that point?

Anyway, the jiggle method worked for me, but every time my wife tries it, Lu wants to nurse. So, while I was gone, she tried something relatively new: she put Lu down in her crib and laid down next to it, just letting her fall asleep on her own. And, as the text messages I got throughout the weekend indicated, it took less and less time each day. Mission accomplished!
Mostly.

How is this different than what I mentioned above? Well, she’s older now and doesn’t think that she’s been abandoned just because she can’t see us. She can also signal now when she’s tired, which means I have a much better idea instead of trying guess or just nap at the same time every day (I always hated being told to go to sleep when I wasn’t tired, so I’m sensitive to this). Also, since you’re right there and she can see you, it adds a layer of comfort.

Sunday, after I got home from the convention she started looking tired. She knows the sign for sleep, but she also, without fail, rubs her eyes like a cartoon character when she’s getting sleepy. So, I took her in, she wailed for 30 seconds and then calmed down and went to sleep. The only problem was that when I got up to leave the room, our super creaky floor made a huge noise and she woke up, so I just did it again for a bit and she went back to sleep.

Since then I’ve had a fair mix of success and failures. It’s more difficult in the evening because she seems tired and I want her to lay down, but I also don’t want her to nap too far into the evening because then she doens’t get as much time with her mom and might not sleep as well at night. It’s a tough balance to figure out, but I really like the method and think my wife came up with a winner!

Last week Lucy hit a development milestone that I have to say, I was not excited to see her achieve. She learned how to roll over from her back. Now, she’s done this a few times here and there in her nine-plus months in existence, but it wasn’t part of her repertoire. Even as she’s figured out how to pull herself up and move around in the past few months, I could still put her on her back and run into another room to take care of some things in another room.

Now? Not so much. Now that she can flip herself over I can’t take my eyes off of her for a second. Changing has become a bit more difficult, but the biggest difference now is that she will not allow herself to be awake and lying down in her crib anymore. As soon as she’s awake, she pops herself up and perches at the edge of her crib, hollering down the hall for me to come get her. This has made the days a lot more interesting as well as our evenings.

I used to be able to lie her down in her crib and she’d holler a bit, but would fall asleep in ten minutes or so. That doesn’t work anymore. I now have to fidget with her until she finally passes out which has cut down on her actual nap time which has been rough. Tired cranky babies are not easy to deal with, especially when you’re trying to make dinner before mommy gets home.

It really is surprising how much such a small development can change so many aspects of my day to day life, but I guess that’s just the name of the game when it comes to parenthood.

I can’t remember if I came up with that line or if someone else did, but it perfectly describes my daughter. She’s six months old now and as alert as ever which means she absolutely, positively does not want to go down for a nap, even if she’s rubbing her bleary eyes and rolling over like the winner of a chugging contest. I’ve tried as many ways of putting her to sleep as I can think of, but only a few work. When she was a little younger, she’d usually pass out on the bottle, so I could easily slip a pacifier in her mouth and then drop her off in her crib, but that doesn’t work anymore. After eating she seems more awake than ever, so I’ve had to change tactics.

When we lost power a couple weeks back, my wife and I put a blanket up over the big window in our room to keep the remaining heat we had in and the cold out. We’ve kept it up because our windows such and we need to replace them (which translates into me needing to call a few local contractors my dad tracked down). Since Lu sleeps with us at night now (it’s easier for my wife to feed her that way) I figured I’d try laying her down in the bed with all the sheets and pillows moved far away from her. It worked like a dream. I even got a 3 hour nap out of her one day. But that method is not without it’s difficulties. For one thing, we’re supposed to be getting her used to sleeping in her crib. For another, it cuts the bedroom off for use during naptime which did not jive so well with my habit of showering while she slept. Seeing as how the quiet was more important, I was stinkier than usual for a week or so there. Over the weekend, my wife and I purchased some much darker curtains to help darken the room. They do a pretty good job, but it can still be pretty bright in there thanks to the light blue walls. But, it’s been working alright so far this week. I will say, though, that it seems to take Lucy longer to fall asleep in that room, which means she cries longer, wanting to stay awake. It really is the hardest part of the day because, as a parent I do not want to hear my kid cry like that. I want to scoop her up and take care of her, but I also know that she needs to learn to take naps. It’s a tough lesson for both of us to learn, but I guess that’s a theme I need to get used to as a parent.