Sleep. Sleep. SLEEP. Why is it so challenging and elusive? Anyone who is a parent, knows a parent, ever met a parent, has perhaps seen a parent walking down the street or in the grocery store knows that sleeping is an issue. It’s not something that just comes naturally to parents or our tiny screaming offspring.
I sit here at the computer trying to unravel this age old mystery, as my adorable little boy screams his head off in his room. While my husband and I are not officially “ferber-izing” our child, we have found that the only way to get him to sleep is to let him cry it out. Trust me when I say we’ve tried everything else (rocking for an hour, walking around for 45 minutes while bouncing or swaying, swings, vibrating bouncy chairs – you name it). It just prolongs his fussiness and ends with his crying it out in his crib. Amazingly, he then wakes up as happy as a clam.
So, you might be asking yourself “Why is she complaining?” I’ll tell you why. This method goes against EVERY mothering fiber in my body. Every instinct screams “Go to your baby. Comfort him. NOW!” So, this leads me to the other subject of this blog: food. The moment he starts crying I start craving anything (usually a glass of wine and something salty – but chocolate will also due). The problem with this is much like the freshman 15, the pregnancy 25 (or 50) is much easier to put on than to take off. Because of this crying technique we’ve adopted and breastfeeding, I’ve actually found that I am hungrier now then when I was pregnant.
So, in an attempt to regain some semblance of my former physical self, I am and will do my best at saying “No” to the cries of these sirens that beckon me to the kitchen every time my baby whimpers. Instead I will channel my anxieties into you.