Operation: Move and Tuck

Every night, I read Hannah a story, give her a cuddle, lay her down, put her blankets on, turn on the sleepy music (thanks to the baby monitor), say good night, and turn out the light.  No problem.  At least it didn’t used to be.  Recently though, Hannah has been ditching her blankets and moving about her cot before going to sleep.  Sometimes her feet will be where her head usually is.   Other times, and apart from losing her blankets, this is the issue, she will fall asleep sideways.  I don’t mean on her side, I mean her head and her feet are both against opposite sides of the cot.  The problem is she is too big to fit that way without having to make like a sardine and bunch herself up in an awkward, uncomfortable position.  Then she wakes up in the middle of the night and instead of resettling herself like usual, she has to move to a more comfortable position, and then is quite awake, and has trouble going back to sleep.  Not to mention she is cold, since she ditched her blankets.

I got brave one night before I went to bed.  Holding my breath, heart beating a mile a minute (because if you wake a sleeping baby, it’s pretty much the end of the world), I slowly turned the knob on the door that leads to her bedroom.  The bedroom with the sleeping baby.  I could hear every spring compressing as I turned the handle.  I shut my eyes, paused, listened, scrunched up my face in anticipation.  No stirring, she was still asleep.  Phew….  I opened the door and crept in.  Operation tuck had begun.  I snuck in Hannah’s room every night for a week and put her blanket on.  She didn’t stir at all.  Then I got even braver, I decided it was time to move her.  Maybe she wouldn’t wake during the night if she didn’t have to remove herself from her sardine can.

How do you move a sleeping baby?  Easy, this is how I do it, step by step:

1) Open door.  Don’t just open it, open it quietly.  Turn handle, then push door open.  You don’t want to find out what happens if you don’t get the contraption all the way inside the door before pushing.  Sleeping babies probably don’t enjoy the loud clicking noise it makes.

2) Enter room.  Hold breath and stay still after not so gracefully colliding with the dresser on entry.

3) Somehow navigate the minefield of toys and clothes and make your way over to cot in the dark.

4) Determine where in the cot baby is laying.

5) Find out which end is head, which is feet, preferably without taking out an eye.

6) Once shoulders are located, place hands under baby’s armpits and slightly lift baby while dragging to desired position.  Hannah prefers her head to be right up to the end of the cot, belly down.

7) Put blanket on baby.  Don’t cover her head, she won’t like that and you don’t want to smother her.  If your feeling really adventurous, you could tuck the blanket in at the sides.

8) this should be an 8, but it seems WordPress thinks it should be a smug looking emoticon man.  Stifle giggles and try to exit quickly without running into anything as baby does a long, loud fart which rivals grown mens.

9) Close door in manner discussed in step 1 (because we know what happens if you don’t turn the knob first).

10) Enjoy not having to get up in the middle of the night to recover or reposition baby.  Sigh in relief.

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Waking your baby up by camera flash is not a good idea

The week of accomplishments

“WAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!” Aaron and I looked at each other. It was only 9pm, what was Hannah doing waking up screaming right now?
“You cheeky Bubba,” I heard Aaron say from her room. I went in to see what all the fuss was about. “You cheeky little monkey!” I said to her. She looked up at me from halfway down the cot, facing the wrong direction, with a puzzled expression. I’m not sure if she knew how she got on to her belly. Did she do it in her sleep, or did she do it on purpose. I could already tell this was going to become a problem. Aaron tried a number of times to put her back to sleep, but she just kept rolling as soon as he put her down. I gave her a feed which knocked her out, then I put her down. My success was short lived, she woke up on her tummy a number of times that night. If only she knew how to roll back over….

Hannah hasn’t had a proper nap since Saturday. Or was it Friday? I can’t remember. I think she’s out, then 5 minutes later, WAAA!! I find her on her tummy again. Yesterday I sat in her room and patted her belly for an hour an a half (the amount of time she is supposed to nap for). She slept for 20 minutes, and I had to prevent her from rolling over on a number of occasions. When she is in her light sleep, she moves around a lot, puts her legs straight in the air, and then brings them down to the side and bang, she’s on her tummy. She used to just move her head from side to side like a crazy person and rub all of her hair off. After a while, she would go still, in her deep sleep.

I’ve been hearing a lot about Baby sleeping bags recently. A lot of the girls bought them for their babies because they wiggle around in their cots and end up with no blankets. Hannah either kicks her blankets off, or puts her feet straight up in the air, making the blankets slip over her head. I think it’s time for a sleeping bag. Add the now rolling, and there is no way she can have blankets. She could get all tangled up in them. I saw some at the shops for 60 something dollars. Seemed a bit steep to me, so I did what any industrious girl would do. I made my own. Then the weather decided to be a gross 40 degrees (104f), and my wrap was made useless (too hot!). I plan to make another one with a better design this time, and a bit thinner for summer.

Even though it was extremely hot outside, I was freezing. It was bed time, and I was piling on the blankets. My muscles were all achy. Aaron came to bed asked me if I was crazy (for having blankets on). “You’re like a furnace!” I felt Aaron’s skin. It felt rather cold. Had he just been frolicking in a refrigerator. I felt mine. Next to Aaron’s, mine felt like the sand at the beach on a stinking hot day. You have to run on it because if you leave your foot down too long in one spot, it hurts. Yep, I had a fever. I didn’t sleep well at all, with all the coughing and feeling like I was trying to sleep in an ice chest even though my skin was burning up to touch. After I fed Hannah, I’d had enough and turned to the panadol (ok, cheap pharmacy brand imitation) for some relief. An hour later I woke up feeling like I was in the desert. I kicked off all the blankets and felt my skin. Phew, I was normal again. I didn’t feel well when I woke up, I was still achy and felt like I just wanted to lay down, so I asked Aaron to stay home from work so he could look after Hannah. Awesome husband that he is, he did, and I laid in bed all day long (except when Hannah wanted booby of course).

I went to the doctor the next day as my cough was worse and I still would have a fever if I wasn’t popping fake panadol (FYI, they are fine to take when breast feeding, no need to call CPS on me). Ew, I have bronchitis. The doc gave me some antibiotics (again, also ok to take while breastfeeding…), and I’m feeling much better now, but still have the obnoxious cough, and still feel like my windpipe is trying to escape through my mouth.

I always thought that chocolate, or ice cream was a good treat, but Hannah has found this week, that toes make a tasty treat. Last week she found her feet, but this week, she has been enjoying trying to eat them. I wonder what they taste like? I bet ice cream and chocolate taste better. Ok, I don’t need to wonder what they taste like, I lightly bite her toes all the time, she thinks it’s funny (they don’t taste like anything in case you are wondering).

She also thinks it’s hilarious to blow raspberries while I feed her. Not while she’s having booby, but while she is having her proper food. I put it in her mouth, and “ppppphhhhffff,” I’m showered in food. She grins cheekily. Cheeky little monkey. I probably shouldn’t have laughed the first time she did it, but it was pretty funny. I think I encouraged her. My bad.

Grandma has her bet on that Hannah will be crawling at Christmas time. Since she has all this new found tummy time (since she puts herself on her tummy every time you put her down), she has discovered that she can push herself up off her elbows, have her arms straight, with her hands still on the floor. She then kicks her little feet like she really wants to go somewhere, and tries to pull herself along the floor. Look out everyone, Hannah may soon be mobile. Our flat is so not ready for that! I think we will have to buy a play pen.