My baby girl is a fighter. She fights tooth and nail to get what she wants. Literally. Tooth. And. Nail. And what she wants most is to stay up with mommy and daddy. She flails around scratching at anything in her reach, bites me as I attempt to nurse her and further solidifies her goals by one or more of the following methods: flapping, slapping, fake coughing, fake laughing, fake crying, real crying, discovering her foot, discovering how good her foot tastes, discovering she is fluent in a language only she understands and practicing her monologue. Basically, she becomes a nightmare when usually she is a mama’s dream.
If she’s missed a nap, which she did today, she becomes an overtired (teddy) bear, all (2) teeth and sharp nails. And I have committed the cardinal sin of baby sleep training — I’ve given my baby a crutch to assist in her transition from wakefulness to slumber…that crutch is nursing. It’s our special time and there is no better moment in my day then when I hold her delicious warmth against my chest, watch her angelic face relax, feel her breath even out to the sweet patterns of sleep and know that my body produces something magical, all for her. It’s a simple, primal pleasure of motherhood and I partake greedily.
When we have a night when a warm bath does nothing to sway my precious girl’s desire to holler at mama and play with daddy, when nursing is something she scoffs at, when the slightest noise rouses her — I just have to remember this: This tiny, perfect person can’t stand to lose one waking moment with her favorite people on earth and as those people we should feel blessed not burdened
Haha. It’s a lot easier said than done when there is a dryer full of clothes that needs to be folded, a floor that needs to be vacuumed and/or a blog that needs to be written. But tonight, right when I was ready to strap her in to the car seat for a nice, sleep-inducing ride (yet another baby sleep no-no) my girl decided she’s had enough of us, retracted her claws and fangs and fell asleep. Yay Baby!
What are your tricks to getting your rugrats to sleep?
My baby LOVES sleep but when she is in a mood I try Lavender essential oil or a blend called Serenity. I also used this on my 9 year old, he has problems falling to sleep.