Sleep is taking over my life.
Sleep is taking over my life.
Not my own, but our 4-month-old daughter’s, who already has very strong opinions about when she should catch some zzzs.
I really have no right to even comment on the matter – as many people have reminded me – because she nearly always sleeps through the night. Yep, 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. for the past six weeks.
But for some reason, sleep eludes her during daytime hours. And the right way to help the little cherub settle down for a nap has eluded me.
I’ve tried just about anything and everything to get Miss Emma to sleep between 5 a.m. and 8 p.m.
I’ve tried reasoning with her. Our one-sided conversation went something like this:
“Now, Emma, honey, you are so tired you don’t know your Elmo from your elbow. Please, take a little nap. You will feel so much better after. I promise.”
Of course, that got me nowhere.
Rocking came next. But I could rock until I put myself to sleep and she would still be wide awake smiling up at me.
So, then I got a hold of all the books, you know the ones that crowd your bookstore’s shelves in the parenting section. It’s filled with other perplexed moms and dads scratching their heads and thumbing through books, hoping one of them contains the magic answer. The perfect solution. The silver bullet.
Well, I’m still hunting for that. But what I haven’t come up empty-handed in is a shortage of philosophies about caring for our little ones.
They run the gamut from “attachment parenting” to “hyperscheduling” and everything in between. It can be quite confusing.
I’ve read all about co-sleeping, crying it out, child-centered parenting, and parent-directed feeding.
One recent afternoon, I was flipping through three books at once trying to figure out the best approach. By the time she started fussing after a half-hour into her nap, I didn’t know whether to feed her, change her, pick her up or help her get back to dreamland.
This sleep stuff is exhausting, not to mention heartbreaking. I can’t bear to hear our little one crying at any time, but especially when she’s rubbing her eyes and fighting to stay awake.
Then I stumbled upon something exciting. The sound of the vacuum puts Emma to sleep! I was carrying her around in her Snugli earlier this week while giving the carpet a once-over. I couldn’t figure out why she was slumped over until I peeked in the mirror. I could hardly believe my eyes. Our little one was passed out!
I pulled her out of the carrier and lowered her into the crib. She whimpered and cleared her throat, preparing to let out a wail.
I plugged in the vacuum near her room and let it roar. She instantly grew quiet and slept for another half an hour.
Now, I know this isn’t a permanent solution. I can hardly have the vacuum running every three hours, can I? It sure would lead to a cleaner house and a happier baby.
No, alright I guess not.
I keep telling myself that this is temporary, just one of numerous phases in our daughter’s life.
I will buy plenty of books on other childhood issues like tantrums, schoolyard bullies, dating and other things I don’t even care to think about right now.
In the meantime, I hold tight to the knowledge that one day she will take a nap unassisted. She will enjoy her sleep.
And one day, she will even miss it, perhaps when she is trying to soothe her own daughter to sleep, and wish she had gotten more when she could’ve.
Then, I’m sure that she’ll have some definite opinions about it.
