by: Emma Aguirre
My daughter is sitting beautifully (pediatrician’s words, not mine!) and I don’t really have to hold her or help her balance anymore. It’s so sweet to see and it’s a different view point for her. I noticed how good she was at the sitting when I got back from my trip. While I was gone, I’ve learned that she didn’t actually go to bed until after 9pm. It was pretty rough for my husband and he just didn’t want to tell me while I was gone. She was super fussy going down apparently and she wouldn’t settle…well, it’s been a bit of a reoccurring pattern.
Thursday bedtime she was also fussy. I blamed my husband for her fussiness on Wednesday (of course he did something wrong! Poor guy always get the blame!), and I was sure she would go down fine Thursday with me. Not so. I ran through her routine in my head and wondered if maybe it was time to stop swaddling her upper body so both arms would be out. I tried this on Friday and she went down just fine. Foolishly, I breathed a sigh of relief. Saturday was also no problem. Free and clear, right? Sunday…she had to sleep in our bed, something we have never, ever done before and I’m so against.
Let me explain. She went to bed normally at 7pm after spending two hours in her new paddling pool outside playing. It was the perfect Mother’s Day and in the back of my mind I was thinking, “Wow, she’ll be pooped tonight!” We had grilled outside too and I had given her just a small, teeny, tiny piece of (seasoned) chicken. It was completely mashed up. At 9pm, she woke up screaming and I knew it was gas. I broke out the gripe water and by 10pm, she seemed to have settled. After a brief sleep, she was back up and screaming every few minutes. By 11pm, she was overtired and exhausted and angry and frustrated. Every time I lay her down she seemed to scream a little louder. I was taken back to my pregnancy days when the heartburn was so painful I couldn’t lie flat and wondered if that could have been her problem. So, I snuggled with her on my chest in our bed and she calmed down almost immediately. It’s something I’ve never done before. As she was dozing I gently placed her in between my husband and I, and we didn’t hear from her all night.
It was the worst night sleep I’ve had in a long time. I woke up with my face jammed in between the nightstand and the mattress and I’m surprised I don’t have a permanent scar. I was so paranoid about rolling on top of her, so was my husband, that we decided to keep a five mile radius around her it seems. Even our dogs slept under the bed in fear.
So now I’m left wondering what could possibly be the issue. It took her 30 minutes to go to sleep tonight which is so unusual. None of this happens during naps – my sweet baby is swaddled up and dozes right off. Part of me thinks she just doesn’t want to go to bed at night and she’s testing us, part of me thinks last night the chicken may not have sat well with her, part of me thinks it might the new ‘sitting’ milestone, part of me is wondering if she’s teething and part of me is wondering if her bedtime needs to be adjusted…I’m so confused.
Here’s to a good night’s sleep tonight.
