Gage was the sixth child to sleep in the big 22-year old, oak crib, owned by the Bragg's. I was able to put him down, awake, as early as three weeks old and he would go to sleep with no dispute. In fact, he loved that crib so much, he wouldn't sleep anywhere else but during a car trip here and there. As a first time mom, I thought we must be the smartest parents out there when it came to sleeping. The only problem with using it again for Leila was that its larger size would make it more difficult to leave our 'guest bed' (or, in most cases, 'Grandma's bed') in Leila's room.
For various reasons, I got the idea that the initial crib we set up for Leila was tainted (separate sleep-deprived, crazy mother theory of its own), and I made Austin completely remove it from our house. Luckily for me, he is loving enough to just go along with my theories, leave his own thoughts to himself, and help me with whatever is 'next on the list.' As a second-time mom, I realized that it doesn't matter what you think you do for your kids; they really are all different and pretty much rule the house as infants, as our magic tricks for sleeping didn't work a bit. I just started doing whatever worked for either of us to get some sleep. For Leila, that meant I got into the habit of nursing her while lying with her and then creeping out of bed after she'd fallen asleep. And, it was totally working like a charm. However, recently Leila has discovered that by using her feet, she can shove herself around on her back, making the big girl bed no longer an option. I knew it was time to get the girl back into a crib, even if that meant putting Grandma's bed into storage.
I had a heavy heart about this decision because I just wasn't ready to spend more hours awake trying to train her through those piercing cries, you know, the ones that make you want to sob right along beside her. On top of that fact is that Gage is having his own sleeping issues, and I didn't want to cause even more problems for him. My vision of rest occurring once school was out for Austin has turned into a laughing matter at our house, it's a delirious laugh, but we do still laugh together. The time I spend thinking, theorizing, wondering, trial-ing and error-ing over doing right by these little guys is a full-time job in itself. In this sleeping case, we were at the end of our rope and I finally had to adopt the 'we'll just swing where the wind blows us' policy-- at least thankful that Austin was home from school....
The big first night in her new crib came: clean-smelling sheets, soft cuddlies around, a pillow so she could still bury her nose and my breath held. She was bathed, nursed and burped, and it was just a matter of putting her down. On the way to her new bed, I sent her my pleadings for cooperation. I gave her my nicest momma kiss and pat pat and wished her a good night. I turned the corner out of her room waiting for that cry... already trying to come up with a plan to get Gage through the night... I waited and I waited. Austin and I started watching television together, still waiting, discussing the best way to handle her once she started crying. And for the first time, she went to sleep on her own.
Leila is the seventh child to sleep in the big oak crib owned by the Bragg's. Tom Bragg and Auntie Mel (as Gage calls them) have put the bounce back to our days. Definitely good karma.
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