Where are my Sleepy Vibes??

Always, always be careful what you wish for.

Ever since he was born, I have been the one who puts Noey to sleep every night. When I’m home, I put him down for naps too. When he was younger, this frequently involved nursing. Whipping out the boob was a sure fire way of getting him to sleep. When we stopped, this progressed to the elbow grabbing, leg stroking, etc. But it always had to be Mummy, and I’ll admit it — I resented it at times. Those times when I was wide awake but chained to the bed pretending to sleep while waiting for Noey to fall asleep. Those times when Noey just couldn’t fall asleep and would clamber all over me for more than an hour finding a good spot. It was worse when I was heavily pregnant. Lying down hurt, but still I had to do it. It didn’t help that DD would be off surfing the net while I was trapped in bed!

So when Naomi came along, I had hoped she would be — and needed her to be — more flexible.

Fast-forward to today.

I am not the one who puts Naomi to sleep. It wasn’t a conscious decision. While I very much wanted to be the one to put her to sleep, The fact that I have to bathe, feed and put Noey to sleep means that very often, I have to pass Naomi on to my helper, and sometimes DD, and they put her to sleep when necessary.

So she doesn’t need me to sleep. Which is great. Except that…

I now CAN’T put her to sleep!

I am successfully maybe 50% of the time. When a nursing period coincides with her sleepy period, or when she’s just so tired out she collapses in my arms, or when, magically, she manages to settle in a comfortable position and nod off without being disturbed by Noey.

Yesterday, I struggled for more than an hour trying to put her to sleep. She nodded off twice but roused herself both times when Noey squealed with laughter outside. I tried carrying her this way and that but she wriggled and squirmed. I put her in her cot and tried to pat her, but she wouldn’t settle, choosing instead to stand up and bite the rail. All the pick ups and put downs didn’t work. She also didn’t want to nurse after a while. I walked out in frustration a few times before I threw in the towel and got my helper to go put her to sleep. My helper — who’s been with us less than 3 weeks — managed to put Naomi to sleep eventually. Needless to say, my Mummy pride was severely injured.

Thankfully, Naomi took pity on me today and kindly drifted off contently in my arms come bedtime. If she didn’t cooperate, I must admit I would have been more than a little depressed.

Funny how what you wish for isn’t always, well, what you want!