Sleep train (5 months old)
There are a lot of feelings this way and that about sleep training, safe sleep, etc. But I’m a baby, so I don’t really know about all that - all I know is that sometimes I’m tired, and sometimes I’m not. My family helps me sleep when they think I’m tired, and they also help me learn how to help myself sleep when i’m tired. It’s a skill.
I mean: it takes mama a long time to unwind her mind and body and finally fade into sleep, so why not me? (Papa on the other hand: asleep and often snoring 2 mins after head hits pillow).
I usually wake up smiling so mama knows my sleep is, on the whole, just fine. except if it’s in the middle of the night and I really want my mama to know I’m hungry. Hey - I just tell it like it is. If I’m tired I’ll rub my eyes and yawn, if I’m hungry I’ll put things in my mouth, shake my arms (they call it my “milk shake”) and say “ai yai yai”; and if I don’t like that onesie you’re trying to put me in, I’ll squirm and pretend to cough.
As far as sleeping goes, I looove to be out to sleep via the following methods:
nursing on mama, preferably with my nose nuzzled into her shirt that smells of dried milk
a gigantic bottle from papa (breastmilk preferred, goat milk accepted),
le poussette (stroller),
le voiture (car),
and papa slow dancing me (otherwise known as rocking).
If I must, I can be out down in the crib and I’ll play with my toes until I roll over and fall asleep.
Mama gets nervous now that I’ve taken to falling asleep on my tummy. She checks to make sure my nostrils have access to fresh air. I’ve démontrâted on numerous occasions how very STRONG I am, and I do tummy time daily (which is more than she can say about her yoga…) but she’s a mama - so I let her worry and double-check on me. I’m always fiiiiiine. She once made the mistake of turning me back over onto my back, which woke me up and killed my nap buzz. Crying insued. We both regretted it. Thanks, mama.
If you are not a parent, or someone imminently wanting to become a parent, this is probably a pretty boring topic for you. (So you put a baby down in a crib and it falls asleep, right? That’s what mama and papa thought at first. Wake up call: (pun intended) it’s not like that. oof.
But if you are a parent, like mama you are probably infinitely fascinated with Baby Sleep, because your own sleep is intimately intertwined with it, becoming like the ring in Lord of the rings, so so preciousssssss.
And for those who were on the verge of becoming parents, mama just wants to say something she wishes someone would’ve said to her, which is that babies sometimes need a lot of help going to sleep, so whatever that means to you, prepare. And also: it’s all temporary. Insert profound reflection on the ephemeral nature of life that ties this piece together here, reflection which mama has no capacity for due to sleep deprivation – see above.
Even if she still longs for an un-interrupted night of sleep, she is also becoming aware of how quickly it all goes by, and now cherishes those peaceful nursing moments in the middle of the night, the miracle of life made manifest.
Mama never knew being woken up at 2am by a crying banshee-baby could be, so, beautiful.