Snoozers

And when the world is quiet
and the evening moon is bright
We put on our pajamas
and hug all our Mammas
and never fall asleep all night.

-Sandra Boynton ("Snoozers")

This is a bedtime story Alice hears every night but she really took it to heart this evening. It was our fault letting her fall asleep in the car after 5pm and then expecting her to be tired again at bedtime.

FYI: For most of her life we have been walking Alice to sleep in a carrier strapped to our chests and placing her in the crib when she drops off. Our pediatrician thinks that toddlers shouldn't be put to sleep this way. She wants us to put Alice in the crib and let her fall asleep on her own. So Alice has been put in the crib and stroked and sung to and loved on for hours. She has also been left to her own devices while Mommy counts to ten in the other room. We have used a million tools and tricks but never once has she fallen asleep on her own in the crib. Here is what I used tonight:

1) The transitional object:

The point of a transitional object is to give the kid a cuddly toy that can be snuggled in place of a parent when the kid is ready to learn how to fall asleep without constant attention.

Alice has chosen the stuffed lamb that I (and my sister) also loved as a toddler. Alice routinely snuggles Mr. Lamb while falling asleep...with her father. With me Alice just throws the lamb to the floor. Tonight I picked the discarded lamb up off the floor and put it in the crib.

Alice screamed like I had gently placed the lamb in an abattoir. She flung herself onto the lamb and clutched it to her chest. How could I have put this defenseless creature in the torture chamber?

To make sure this wasn't a fluke I walked Alice out of the bedroom and watched, as we passed out of sight of the crib Alice's grip on the lamb faded until he was hanging by a hoof. I inched closer to the crib and Mr. Lamb was pulled back into her desperate protective embrace. No lamb was ever going to suffer like she has suffered.

I have decided, at least for the near future to jettison the "fall asleep alone in the crib" training like an unwanted lamb.

2) Singing

An hour into the huge failure that was tonight's bedtime routine I started the first bars of "You are my Sunshine" which I have sung since Alice was a zygote. My daughter looked deep in my eyes and slowly shook her head, "No."
I burst out laughing at that unexpected critique. Alice squinted, wrinkled her nose, and gave me a wide grin. All this while still slowly shaking her head. "No Mommy."

3) Giving Up

At the two hour mark I just flopped down on our bed with a deeply overtired Alice. She proceeded to climb drunkenly all over me and fling herself into all sorts of contorted positions only to bounce up to standing again in a parody of a person covered in balloons trying to lie down for sleep. At one point she draped herself over my legs. From my perspective I could only see her chubby baby legs and rear end stuck up in the air. I thought, "This is good enough. Just fall asleep now and I promise not to move until morning."

4) Really Giving Up

At one point Alice went from a supine position to standing up and walking around crying in desperation. So I just caved and called for Tony to halt his cooking of our dinner (a lovely chicken pot pie) and to come tag me out. When Tony took Alice in his arms she started wailing and reaching for me. It broke my heart to see her so upset but Tony told me to go get a beer and take a knee.

3 minuets later. Guess what happened.

So Alice has been asleep for about three hours now and I have an early appointment. Tony suggested that since he is on vacation this week I should sleep downstairs just in case she is fussy again in the middle of the night.

It should be noted that I have not slept away from Alice since she came into being. Which is why I am up typing instead of trying to fall asleep.

Where is Mr. Lamb?