Calgon, take me away!

[csberry]

JD went to teach a class at Babies R Us tonight. The sucker that I am, I told her that I'd do both of the boys by myself.


She left at 5pm, I gathered Calvin into the kitchen, and prepared some dinner for the two of us while Nigel was strapped to my belly in the Snuggli (don't worry, I didn't fry anything). The evening routine was nearly perfect. Calvin did well at dinner, we brushed his teeth, and he took a shower with no more difficulties than we have on a good day. Got him dressed in PJs and went to bed to read a book. We were about half way thru the book and Nigel gets cranky. I tell Calvin that I'm going to change Nigel's diaper and asked if he wanted to watch. The diaper gets changed, but Nigel is still fussy. He, too, is sleepy. So we quickly finish the book, I turn off the light, and we do the usual "What are you going to do tomorrow?" and "What do you want to dream about?" questions while Nigel is getting more and more upset.

If I haven't mentioned this before, JD and I are "attachment" parents. That means breastfeeding, slings to carry the babies, and we don't believe in "crying it out" for sleep. Usually JD or I lie in bed with Calvin until he falls asleep. The past few weeks we've started to segue to letting him go to sleep by himself. I'll lie in bed with him until he settles down and then tell him that I need to get something to eat or drink or do an errand...but I'll be right back when I finish. He always says okay and "Daddy do ______ and come RIGHT back." I run off for 10-15 minutes then head back to the room to check on him. Nine nights out of the ten he was asleep by the time I returned.

Tonight, I told Calvin that I would have to go and get Nigel asleep and then I'd come back. I went to the glider, turned on some static, and started rocking. Within a few minutes, he was passed out. I headed to the bedroom to lay him down. WHAAAAAAAAAA!!! Unfortunately, he's used to being nursed to sleep. Unfortunately, I don't lactate. Unfortunately, Nigel has lost complete interest in bottles. That meant that I spent the next hour getting him to sleep, only for him to wake up within a few minutes screaming his head off and rooting.

As soon as JD showed up, I passed off Nigel and went into Calvin's room. The lil guy was snoring louder than his mother does. I heard him call for me a couple of times while I was dealing with Nigel. He wasn't sad or angry, just called "Daddy" in a "Where the hell are you" kind of way.

Every physical stress symptom I get has manifested itself this evening thanks to this. I am not going to do this again until Nigel can go to sleep without a boob in his mouth. JD told me that she's been reading The No Cry Sleep Solution and would start some of the steps in the coming nights.

To the single parents out there (especially bluevinylangel with her three boys), I totally admire your ability to raise children and not kill them. Having kids has taught me that I don't have as much patience as I thought I did. Thankfully, JD has learned that she has more patience than she thought she did.

Comments

[csberry.livejournal.com]

JD and I still have some of those salts that you graciously sent down here last year. I often just pop open the container and sniff for a little while to catch my breath. Thanks for the offer, though.

[auronsgirl.livejournal.com]

My neighbors next door will often come over to raid my stash of "Sweet Dreams" salts for the abundance of kidlets under one year of age that invade their house on weekends. Hey, the mean old childfree lady has a heart buried in here somewhere.