Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Nighttime parenting

Most of the time it's not bad, really. He doesn't cry long, ever. I think his record is abot 15 minutes once in the car seat when he was hungry and needed to be changed.

It's just that in the evenings sometimes (like tonight) he is "fussy". This means he needs to be held and to have you move him into different positions often. He grunts and squirms and tenses his body, but doesn't seem to be in pain anywhere in particular. He doesn't cry with enough conviction to convince you that he's anything but tired and a little frustrated. His voice does that wa-ah-ah-ah sort of thing as his mouth quivers, but his eyes are closed and he's not really that loud.

Why is it that we call a baby who cries "difficult"? The kid has no control, no choice about how he'll react to the first months of life, or how long he'll feel like sleeping.

I want to reason with him and say, Hey, Toby! If you'd just enjoy the swaddling blanket and relax a bit instead of arching your entire being, you'll be asleep in no time. And while you're at it, how about skipping that awake time you had planned for 90 minutes from now and splurge on a whole 4 or 5 hours in a row?

Anyway, I know I can't complain in comparison with other moms who have tough kids. The scariest thought I have is that if he keeps doing this for months on end or if he gets worse and worse, THEN what will I feel?

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