I’ve always known I’m a softy. It turns out that — at least where Lucy is concerned — Hubs is too.
Yesterday Lucy was extremely fussy. Not all day, but enough of the day and with enough intensity that it was unusual: arched back and wailing and crying real tears and going all red in the face. She didn’t have a fever or any other symptoms of being sick, so Hubs and I suspect she’s going through a growth spurt. She barely napped all day, and by the evening she was so tired that she fell asleep in my arms, which she rarely does these days (I admit I loved that part):
Sleepy baby
Then when we tried to transfer her to the Pack n’ Play napper so that I could make dinner, she woke up. Usually she doesn’t go to bed till after 9 pm, since she’s still sleeping in a bassinet in our room so we usually move her and then go to bed ourselves. But in my Mommy & Me class (which I had the second session of yesterday), we talked about setting a sleep routine and I decided we should start trying to move Lucy’s bedtime up to be earlier. (One thing that convinced me was the instructor commenting that it’s better to do it now before Lucy can speak and say things like “Don’t go, Mommy” and “You hurt my heart.” Yikes, point taken.) So last night I thought, since she was clearly tired but also in a relatively good mood, it might be a good time to try to put her to bed at 8 pm in our room while we listened to her on the baby monitor from the living room.
Hubs got her all swaddled and settled in the bassinet, but as soon as she figured out that we weren’t also going to bed, she started wailing. Hubs went back in, and I listened to him try to soothe her. The silence lasted until he returned to the living room. Then I went in and tried soothing her and also re-swaddling her since one arm had already escaped the swaddle (have I mentioned she’s a little Houdini?) She would not stop flailing around long enough for me to re-do the swaddle. I returned to the living room and there was some rustling and then silence other than Hubs’ footsteps.
Success? Not so much. Hubs returned to the living room carrying Lucy, who was raising her arms in a victory pose (ok, not really, but she was pretty darn happy after we brought her back out to be with us). Clearly, Hubs and I don’t yet have the stomach to listen to Lucy crying — it seriously breaks my heart when she’s upset! So she will continue to be a night owl for now (or we will start going to bed at 8 pm!)
On the plus side, Lucy slept from 9:30 pm to 6:30 am, ate, and then went back to sleep and is still sleeping now (at 9:30 am)! So we know she can sleep like a champ–we just need to work on shifting the sleep schedule back.
Our little Lucy burrito in her bassinet
Today I am going to try for the first time to put her for a nap in her crib instead of in the napping station in the living room. Wish me luck!
Loving Lucy 
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