Co-sleeping? Not for us.

First I want to preface this post by saying that I in no means am bashing co-sleeping. I know many terrific moms that co-sleep with their babies and it works out fantastically. In fact at times I kind of envy that special bond, being able to listen to your baby's breath at night, see him/her first thing in the morning, snuggle etc., but The Chubs is anything but a snuggler. It makes me sad because I love holding her and rocking her, but it just doesn't do it for her. I think her sensory issues are to blame. Since she is sensation avoiding with sensory sensitivity, it means cuddling and holding are not her favorite things.

So, on to my story. Today was a rough day. The Chubs is finally cutting one of her top teeth. However, it is not completely through. It's like it's intentionally teasing me. One half of the tooth is out, the other side is covered still with a very thin layer of skin. COME ON!!! So because of this chubadevelopment, naps were non-existent today for the most part and when you combine lack of sleep with pain, it pretty much is the ugliest thing since Janet Jackson flashed her tatas at the super bowl.

Nothing was making her happy so I decided to lay a blanket on the floor in her room and lay next to her, to see if she would calm down. To try to demonstrate what she should be doing, I laid on my back completely still with my eyes closed. I was excited when her crying stopped and all I could hear was the suction of her paci ...

... that is until I felt a warm sweaty palm on my face, followed by a finger up my nose accompanied by a lot of giggling. Shortly after my eye was being clawed out and then my hair pulled. Still more giggling. I laid there quietly and tried to count to 60 without reacting. But between her little nails digging into my face and then high pitched squeals and giggles, it was hopeless. The positive thing is that she was happy and no longer crying. The negative thing was that I was convinced there was no way I was going to leave this floor without having scratches and drool all over my face.

It was pretty clear within 30 seconds that this wasn't going to work. She was rolling all over the floor pulling at her crib skirt, pulling at my ears, hair, nose, and anything else that was within reach and having a grand old time. I figured, hey, she's happy now, might as well place her in the crib again. How wrong I was. The moment I put her back in the crib again, my cranky child was back again. How quickly she can shut it on and off. I think she's going to have a very successful career in acting one day.

So, I think it's safe to say there will be no more co-sleeping for us in the future.

The Swing is Back in Town

An old partner in crime is back in the picture again. The Chubs' infant swing. The OT from Early Intervention recommended putting her in the swing for about 15-20 minutes a day to help with her sensory issues. I have to admit, I'm not completely sure what the point is, all I know is that the little muffin smiles each time I put her in that thing. It had been several months since she last used it, so I was thinking she may not totally dig being strapped in it since in her crib she's free to roll around and contort her body in all sorts of weird ways (including frequently getting her legs stuck in the rungs), but she took to it surprisingly well. But now we have a new issue. It's so secret that her naps have been HORRIFIC for months now. They are only getting worse by the day. It's not uncommon for her to throw herself around the crib for an hour before falling asleep. It's also not uncommon for her to never fall asleep at all. "Maybe she doesn't need the rest?" you may be thinking. But if you are thinking that, I invite you to come over to witness a very tired and cranky girl right before nap time that will not stop rubbing her eyes and whining about the smallest things. SHE IS TIRED! SHE NEEDS TO SLEEP!

I don't want to hear all of the "maybe you need to put her down earlier, she could be overtired", or "maybe she wants to drop that nap", trust me, TRUST me, when I say I have tried it all. We are going through a very rough stage here and her terrible napping is making everything worse. Her eating, her disposition, our overall quality of life. Last night she cried for an hour straight before bed which involved a huge projectile puke all over the carpet. Lovely. I knew it was because she was tired but why isn't there an "off" button on these things? I hate that I have no control over getting her to fall asleep.

So all of this rambling to say, I have let us regress in the napping arena. I now cave if she has been laying awake for an hour and is clearly tired and stick her in the swing which honestly works every time. I know it's not a good habit, trust me I have always been all about sleep training and getting your child to fall asleep in their crib and self soothe. But at this point, I'm doing whatever I can to survive. If The Chubs was a normal healthy baby, I would tackle this so much differently, but she's not, so we do what we have to do to get her sleep during the day so she will eat better, and her sensory issues will not suffer further.

I'm trying to not make this a habit, I really am. But check back with me in a month. We may run our swing into the ground.