Before Bed

What is the most talked about thing when it comes to babies? Sleep. When you meet someone new, that’s almost always brought up. “How’s she sleeping for you?” Haha. Well, I want to talk about what happens BEFORE bedtime.

Gene and I spend almost every night chasing Emma back and forth on the couch, getting her to push her walker, or doll stroller around the house, practicing walking (to perfect the art), and much more. Why? Not because it’s fun (although it is), but because we want to wear her out!

On the days my parents watch Emma we are almost guaranteed to have a worn out baby by 7pm. But bedtime is at 8pm so we still have time to keep on wearing because she WILL get a second wind if given the chance. So regardless of her daily activities, we are go-go-go at night.

Every other night is bath night, so those nights are a little easier to get Emma to fall asleep since she gets all warm in the bath, and then with the lavender smell of her shampoo and all. :-) We also lotion her every night too which I think feels good for her unless she gets too hot from it – you ever notice that? How lotion can make you feel hot?

Everything is the same routine as it always has been. The one and only change getting in our way is Emma’s height.

See, Gene and I don’t put Emma down awake. It never works. She’s too old now. It’s my fault… I should have gotten into that routine when she was just an itty bitty babe. But, alas, it is what it is and she falls asleep in my arms every night. Hey, if that’s the worst thing then so be it.

But, now that Emma is getting taller, the issue at hand is that I can’t hold her snug and now while she’s trying to fall asleep she starts kicking her legs and then since that wakes her up more, she will start feeling around with her hands. It’s frustrating because after just a few minutes I’ve got a baby who is wide awake again.

What do I do then? I can’t put her in bed awake bc all she does is chew on her bed. She cries and cries if I continue to hold her. Ugh. Gene’s solution is to give her another 2oz of formula to fill her up more, and it works like a charm actually, but I feel like I’m doing something bad when we do that. I normally just hold her really tight and let her cry off and on for a few minutes before she gives in. But, as she gets even bigger, and stronger, I feel like I’m in dire need of a change-up.

What do you do?