Ok, we’ve had a bad day now! Maybe I’m not as settled to a new routine as I thought! The main problem seems to be sleep. She’s been ok with us for a while now in terms of going down at night and in the day, her first nap; she will take very easily in her cot. After that, we are normally out and she tends to catch her naps in the car between visits, so we’ve never really established a good routine.
Coupled with that she’s at a stage where she can roll and twist in all directions; getting trapped in uncomfortable positions rather than lying nicely on her back like she used to! I think that at nursery they have been struggling to get her to go down quietly for a nap which is disruptive to the other babies so they seem to still be swaddling her even though it’s been very hot and I had mentioned I would rather they didn’t.
The result is that she has stopped going to sleep so well at night and at the weekends it is a napping nightmare! This has been upsetting me so much that I was awake last night from 2-6am getting myself all worked up and stressing about what we could so about it. Also, this morning was the first time she cried when I left her, prompting more tears from me!
After a fruitless day at work where I couldn’t concentrate, I left early to ’surprise’ the nursery and see what was happening. Imogen was in a high chair with her dummy in her mouth (although I have said this is for naps only) and her nappy hanging half off. She hadn’t slept well so was very teary and cried for me as soon as she saw me, all of which did nothing to alleviate me worries!
The manager was on holiday so I asked to speak to some one else and tried to tell them my concerns without getting emotional, but have left feeling even worse!
I’ve discovered online grocery shopping – a mum’s saviour! I started to use it when I was on maternity leave – in theory just to make sure I was set up for the early weeks of having Imogen, but also because it was getting to be hard work taking myself round a supermarket, let alone actually putting things in and out of the trolley and car boot.
I have tried food shopping with Imogen, putting her in the trolley seats, but they keep her awake so I find myself nervously dashing around before boredom sets in and she starts playing up, to avoid using the dummy in public which inevitably draws tuts and looks of disgust from people who don’t have children (I probably used to be one, to be fair!) or are too old to remember how much they used one! (See earlier post!)Also, I used to leave my trolley at the end of aisles and nip up and down to grab groceries, as I was driven mad by the people aimlessly wandering the store with trolleys in tow, taking up the whole width of the aisles with no awareness of people trying to get by them. Now I can’t do that, so am just driven mad!
So it’s online shopping for me – although the mum brain means I always leave it too late so end up visiting for top up shops most days too! By the way, soft bags instead of baskets would be good for those trips so I can take Imogen in on her car seat on wheels. I try to balance the metal ones so I can steer with both hands, but the view for her is not that exciting!
We tackled the great dummy debate in about week 2, having always sworn never to use one as I don’t like seeing toddlers with them. However, we realised that it immediately calmed her when she was most irate which has got to be good for her (and us!). Having found as many positive endorsements as we could supporting the use of a dummy for the first 3 to 6 months, we started using one to sooth her at sleep times, ensuring it was the most orthodontically correct one we could find!
We came up with all the good reasons why it is good to use one, justifying it to ourselves as much as anything. It still amazes me how opinionated others can be though. Let them see the effect on Imogen when she is crying at her hardest when she needs to sleep and then, as if by magic, once she has the dummy it soothes her to instant deep sleep- then criticise!
Now the issue, as she starts to approach 3 months, is how to wean her off it! Especially in the middle of the night when you just want to do anything to snatch a few more minutes sleep! We are adamant though she will be free from it within the next few weeks (or months!) and luckily she seems to be using her hands to suckle more now she has better control of them which helps!
