Because Sleep Is The Antidote To Tired
Maggie is teething. Now, although Maggie is, and always has been, an exceptionally easy baby, I still don’t enjoy the constant whining and moaning that cutting teeth seems to bring about, even if it is on a lesser scale than most other babies. I feel badly that she is uncomfortable, but nothing I’m doing seems to be helping a whole lot. It is only really bad at night when she is tired.. One would think that since she is tired she would just drop off to sleep and put herself out of her misery, but Maggie has not yet learned that sleep is the antidote to tired.
Since no amount of cajoling and rocking and swaying and offering of the boob and sacrificing goats to the moon goddess is helping her to calm the heck down and sleep, I did a mean, thoughtless thing tonight. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for several nights now as I’ve grown more and more weary listening to the wailing while not having my presence make any noticeable difference. After an hour of trying to get her to stop yelling and fall asleep, I put her in her pillowy soft bed, tucked her in with her kitty cat quilt from Gramma, and left her alone to cry it out.
Twelve minutes later there was silence. It is now quiet here, people. QUIET. For the first night in over a week both children were asleep before midnight. Jonas dropped like a fly at eight and Maggie is out too. If I had any energy left I’d jump up and down or go do something fun, but I’m just going to wrap this post up and go to bed myself, to enjoy the extra three hours of sleep this is buying me.
When our children were teething my father always tried to convince us to rub whiskey on their gums. He claimed it worked every time. Nevertleless, we resisted the idea …
Comment by Chrysalis — October 7, 2005 @ 12:48 pm
I’ve gotta tell ya, I swore by whiskey (go with Jack- or even better - Jameson) for all three of my kids. It works! I used it as an adult when my wisdom teeth were cutting…and I wasn’t using it for it’s “spiritual” qualities, cuz I HATE whiskey, but it works! Try it!
Comment by MommyGuilt — October 7, 2005 @ 5:05 pm
Congratulations! I don’t endorse the whiskey idea, but I’m glad you figured out how to get Maggie to sleep. I really dread letting my babies cry it out, and will avoid it if possible, but for a couple of mine, that “alone” time is what finally got them to sleep. My presence was just too stimulating; they don’t want to miss ANYTHING even though they desperately need sleep (and so does Mom). Soon, she’ll be down to less than two minutes of crying if you keep it up for a few days (or nights)! Good Luck!
Comment by Mom2Five — October 7, 2005 @ 8:58 pm
Cold teething rings, Bonjela (not sure of the US equivalent, but maybe anbisol if allowed on babes) is good. I was soooo lucky with C - ONE night with her teeth. I was truly blessed with that. I hope the next one *gulp* is going to be a little angel too…
Comment by DenimRoseDesigns — October 8, 2005 @ 4:56 am