Sleep Props

Soooooooooo.... Lucy is perfect. We all know this to be true- it's evident and inarguable. But... she doesn't sleep that well. I have been shrugging it off, as I do pretty well without too much sleep, and because she's super perky and happy during the day- leading me to believe that she's ok on the sleep she gets? My mom says I never slept a wink as a baby- so you know... like mother like daughter?

Ben disagrees. Yesterday he told Lucy that she "had issues." So in an effort to compromise with a sleep deprived husband, I decided to consult "the books." Those wretched books that pile up the second you become great with child. Up till now we've been winging it- and I still hold fast to the belief that we should parent mostly on our gut instincts, that all babies are different, all parents are different and things should be a case-by-case basis. I don't subscribe to any "school" of parenting.

But- as I was trying to be sympathetic to my beloved mate- I put Lucy in her Jolly Jumper, settled down in front of her with 4 different parenting tomes, and my gateway coffee drink the "mocha latte" to read about sleep training. In sum- I apparently have made myself a "sleep prop" for Lucy, and she doesn't know how to put herself to sleep. Perhaps I selfishly like being her sleep prop. Whatever. Also according to the books- babies with this problem are usually surly (not Lucy!), and not growing as well as they should (not Lucy!) - so I don't think that they are the complete and total experts on the issue but perhaps that's my mommy pride bristling.

I'm going to give this the old college try. Which means... we're going to try and attempt a schedule. Not a rigid one- a flexible one- but an actual schedule that we try to get Lucy on in an attempt to help her establish some sense of normalcy. Tough with our own erratic schedules, but hopefully it will result in a well rested Lucy and Ben. We're also switching things up a bit- and Ben's now in charge of putting the Lucy Monster to bed. It made me sad to hand her over tonight- as I've put her to bed every single night since she was born- but I think in the long run it will be really nice for them. That said- Ben's got his sound canceling headphones up there, and the little one is screaming bloody murder. Fingers crossed it's a quick transition folks.