The Lay Down

I mentioned in a past blog that I used to rock Maggie to sleep...every time she went down.  I have finally broken that habit and am so much happier...plus my arms are getting the rest they deserve.  It is tough work rocking a 17 pound baby and having to walk laps around the house (because she did not like it when I rocked sitting down).  Man, was I spoiling her rotten!  Well, Kaleb was not having this marathon rocking session and he would put her in her crib to sleep and would let her cry.  I did not like this...at first.  It made me anxious and I really just wanted to pick her up.  We tried it a few times and I said I would wait 10 minutes and if she hadn't stopped then I would pick her up.  It really has never even taken 10 minutes and now that she is used to laying down she doesn't really cry at all.  She gets situated and will almost always go to sleep without a cry.  I know Maggie's schedule and can tell when she is tired, so it is easy to lay her down for a nap.  I feel like she falls asleep much quicker (I think the rocking was actually keeping her awake longer) and it is less frustration for me.  I think it would have been one thing to have this calm rocking chair experience with your sleepy baby, but mine was a constant shaking/rocking and like I said I would have to do laps around the house.  So, here is what I do.  When I can tell Maggie is getting sleepy I will lay her down with her WubbaNub (see previous post) and close the door.  Sometimes she will cry for a few minutes and other times she will just kind coo herself to sleep.  I will let her cry for about 10 minutes (if I even need to) and then go in and soothe her by rubbing her back and putting the pacifier back in (the pacifier is slowly becoming a thing of the past.  I usually start with that when I lay her down to find that she has spit it out and gone for her fingers). I try not to wait until she is too tired because this seems to be more difficult and she tends to try and fight the sleep.  I've also put her down for a nap thinking she was tired only to go in and check on her 10/15 minutes later to see that she is sucking on her big toe.  Probably not tired...or that is her new pacifier!  Now that I have a routine and will just lay Maggie down for a nap - life has gotten much easier.  I finally think I have a handle on this whole motherhood thing...but I hear that can change real quick!