Yesterday, the spud came back from the child-minder smelling... well... much more grown up than normal. I spent ages trying to work out what it was. BO? Someone’s perfume? Further advancement in the state of his poo? Nope, it turns out that the spud has garlic breath. Guess I went a little overboard with his pasta sauce...
It's been a busy couple of weeks and getting away from my little angel is proving to be quite an issue. This is largely due to having been under the weather recently (well, it's been raining a lot...) and er... um... feeling a bit Motherly all of a sudden, so I've been letting Charlie sleep in the bed with us more than is strictly necessary.
The truth is that I go to bed every night nice and toasty beside the frog but wake up most mornings a tad chilly next to the spud and with no memory at all as to how he got there. This poses a problem as it appears I am sneaking him in beneath my own radar, meaning that stopping myself is virtually impossible without a crack team of stealth bombers. The worst thing is that not only am I chilly due to Charlie having my share of the covers, I also have back-ache due to sleeping twisted so that my boobs are within snacking distance of his mouth - after all, do you really want to have to get out of bed and crawl to the refrigerator when you're that age? Besides, it's obvious that part of me is happy to be woken up by the sharp tug of tooth enamel. Why I am doing this to myself, I have no idea. Maybe I hated myself in a past life and this is my revenge.
It’s lovely (it must be... you'll have to ask my other self for more details), but let’s face it, it’s not good. He’s getting the idea that all he has to do is… well, whatever it is he does at 3am to get me out of bed without actually waking me up (I suspect Derren Brown is involved)… and I come running to dutifully implant him in the middle of our bed, whipping out my boobs in the process. And he’s right. So far. The main problem is that he is suddenly much more attached to us than he was a few weeks ago and he cannot be left alone for a minute without his entire world falling to pieces.
Unless, of course, there is something contraband in his general vicinity, like the cat's bowl, an electric cord, glassware or some vital piece of paper-based information which will later turn up as that soggy thing you tread on and go 'ugh!'
It's clear that all he wants is attention but it's less clear how to create a balance between him amusing himself, him being lonely and me going mad - although given the state of his breath, I'm surely most of the way there by now. Perhaps time to give up the midnight boobs - even they smelled of garlic this morning.
I'm sure this post was going somewhere but it's taken so many days to get this far that I think I should just stop now.
16 comments:
Bambi never slept in our bed - I guard my half of the duvet protectively - we are in Scotland after all. And she's always had pointy bits - ten elbows and eleven knees. In a way I envy those who cuddle gently with their babies in bed. But this I know: they all go through stages of being more clingy, and stages of greater independence. He'll suddnly look at you one day with a withering 'give me space, Mom' kinda look and you'll spend a few days getting used to the knew rules. I doubt it has much to do with the bed thing - if it works for you - keep cuddling! And get a bigger duvet!
Baby Garlic breath? Ew?
AHAHAHAHAHA you said your boobs smell like garlic, that's hilarious.
Sorry I've got zero experience so no advice but I can at least say that you still crack me up.
Hope you get to feeling better.
Shannon seems to have the same knack of arriving in our bed under all radars. This she does under her own steam being 3, but how she actually climbs over me to get in the middle I have yet to find out. Her favorite thing to cuddle is my head which means I suffocate and DH gets kicked in the face! Sleep is only an option if DH moves to Shannon's bed which also seems to happen when I am not watching!
I don't but rarely give advice, but I am very free with my opinion. I am totally at one with the good woman on this one. I am a solid believer that you can not love a baby too much, pick them up too much, answer their call too much.....it worked for me.
I especially like the part where he get you to do this little encore sans memory of the act. well done spud.
Mr. Sub-Radar showed up in the bed this morning too... sans garlic breath I am happy to report... he's taken to waking up and giving me a big smile and then rolling over to squeeze his Dad's nose really hard. The frog has a big nose, it's an easy target. He doesn't have 10 elbows yet but he does have a hundred hands.
Still really enjoy your stories. Reminds me of the days my kids found their way into our bed. I just wish I knew as much about the developing mind then as I have learned now. Anyway, Lady MacLeod is right, you cannot show too much love to a baby. What I have learned is that age 9 months is the most important time of brain development for a person to receive all the attention you can give them for optimum mental health the rest of their life. Keep up the good mum-work.
ha ha - the garlic boobs! it's a bit weird isn't it. i have found dried carrot on mine before now - yuk!
You ever think that if you honestly don't remember bringing him into bed that it might not be you? Froggie goes a hoppin in the night?
I just started reading your blog and think it's great!=)
Clay glad to se you back. Lindy... hmmm... maybe I can pass some blame! Weightless - welcome and thanks! Elsie - I found a blog post recently about all the things Mums have found in their nursing bras - one had her baby start chewing during nursing after finding a cheerio stuck in there!
I can tell you that you have to do everything you can to get spud out of your bed every night. I am a single mother who allowed her son to sleep in the bed with her cuz we were both a bit needy. Now LilBit is 4 and screams every night because he has to sleep in his own room. I realize I did this to myself.
Also, it will eventually come between you and the frog in a really bad way. =(
rayne - thanks for that, I know you're right. He's not even 10 months old yet though... but yes... it's just so lovely to wake up to his big smile in the morning!
Hey, I don't know how you handle the spud's oral hygiene, so I just had to mention this:
Several paediatricians have told me that while it's cool to feed your baby while lying down, try to be at least semi-awake until he nods off, because if he's started his teeth and goes to sleep with some milk left in his mouth, it's not very healthy. Now I really paid this attention because I notice a lot of kids around me with AWFUL teeth, blackened, half eaten away even.
My solution is to keep a bottle of water handy, and, when I sense the kid nodding off, to unlatch myself and stuff the bottle into his mouth. That way he still gets to suck that last one minute and his mouth gets some kind of a rinse.
Hope you don't mind the unsolicited advice.
I had all three of my babies in bed with me during the night. One, because I am Deaf and can't hear if they cry. Two, I value my sleep and can't be bothered getting up and sitting to nurse a baby while losing precious sleep. I figure it is safer for me to have baby sucking the boob in bed with me, than falling to the floor after I have fallen asleep sitting in a chair and letting go of baby.
When they started to sleep though the night, I started to put them in the crib and that was the end of that. At some point, Oldest and Middle tried to come into bed with us and we always put them back into their own beds, explaining they have THEIR bed and we have OUR bed.
Sue - unsolicited advice is ALWAYS welcome here! The only trouble is that spud won't take water from anything other than a glass. I do brush his teeth but not at 4am I have to confess...
Jenny - I have actually lurched awake on the nursery sofa as he was slipping out of my arms, both of us sound asleep and it's a darn good excuse for having him in bed. The real reason however is the sleep bit!
Well then I'm afraid you'll have to keep yourself awake best you can. See, I think it's ok if baby falls asleep with mouthful of milk now and then, but a regular occurence cannot be good for little teeth just coming up.
Perhaps that early in the morning, when he's also half asleep the spud can be slipped the water before he realises it? Mine wouldn't fall for that trick, but you may be luckier.
We Bengalis apprently feed our babies a lot of fish fr their brains so my son has fishy breath. Awful!
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