Sleepy Time

When you're a new mom, you quickly learn that everyone has advice on how to get a baby to sleep.

Rock them. Don't rock them. Hold them. Let them cry it out. Let them fall asleep in your arms and then move them to their bed. Make sure they fall asleep on their own or they'll never learn.

The one thing that I found to be true is that all babies are different. They have their own needs/wants, and as a mom, your approach is right. Whatever it is. You do what you need to do to be sure your baby is safe and healthy, and that you retain whatever bit of sanity you have left.

I have 2 beautiful kids, both of whom I feel I treated pretty much the same way at bedtime. And each has evolved into a very different sleeper.

John's bedtime routine consists of jammies, teeth brushing, face washing, 3 bedtime stories, potty time, 1 in original Goblin story created and told by mom in bed with the lights off, cuddling in bed, waiting for him to fall asleep, and then every night he wakes up and joins us in the "big bed." (I know several moms cringe at this.)

Annie's routine starts similarly with jammies, teeth brushing and face washing. Then we read books for about 10 minutes, turn on her music, get her blanket (which she sucks on), and put her in her bed. And she's down for the night. Don't bother her. And in the morning, she's roll around in bed until she's ready to admit it's time to get up.

There's something to be said about nature vs. nurture.

This past Saturday night, John's routine some how got interrupted. All of a sudden, he was downstairs, crying out for me. Tom was in the basement watching TV and I was upstairs sleeping, and there was John, half asleep and screaming. I brought him back to bed, and he calmed down. The next day he told me he had come into our bedroom but didn't see me, so he walked to the basement and the door was closed. So there he was, alone, scared, not sure where his parents had gone. We found him very quickly, but it still breaks my heart that he had a moment of feeling abandoned.

Of course, his sister slept happily through the whole episode. I'm sure if she had been the one who had woken up, she'd decide to deal with it in the morning, after a good night's rest.