Look who turned 6 months!! Yeah, this little schmoopsie-poo.
I’m generally a fan of 6 months – you still get the overall babyness but 6 months also comes with juicy baby cheeks and juicy baby thighs, both of which are my kryptonite.
6 months is great for fun developmental milestones. Baby Hayley has learnt to flip, which she does often and with much delight. She’s able to sit up unaided for 3-5 seconds; just enough time to look pleased with herself before falling over on her side. The big kids think its hilarious so they prop her up and cheer for her as she sways precariously before falling over, which sends them into giggling fits. She can also bat things and hold things and put them in her mouth. And thanks to Theo, she can say “mmm…mmmm…mamamama” when she’s upset.
Typically, 6 months is when babies adjust to sleeping on their own but not this baby. She knows I’ve been all like “This is my last baby and I’ll really miss having a baby to hold” so she’s been making sure that I get to hold her ALL THE TIME. Awake or asleep, all day, everyday. So thoughtful and considerate, this baby.
Speaking of sleeping, in the past 6 months, these are some of the methods I’ve tried to get her to sleep on her own.
1. Blitz attack (Success rate: 0%)
This used to work splendidly on Theo – once he was fully asleep, I would lower him down into the cot in one swift and decisive move without hesitation, then walk away. He’d continue sleeping like it never happened. With Hayley, it has worked exactly zero percent of the time. Every single time I do this, she wakes up and looks at me like “Nice try, mom. Amateur move.”
2. Pat and shush (Success rate: 0%)
Let’s just say that this baby is not a pat and shush kind of girl, that would be far too easy. I personally find this to be very calming and relaxing (as do all my other kids) but baby Hayley will not stand for it.
3. Slow-mo side roll (Success rate: 25%)
Okay, we’re getting warmer. This is a very complicated move that requires absolute precision. Once the baby has reached a state of deep slumber on my chest, I will very gradually roll her onto the bed while using a bolster to kiap her head and back.
Fairly effective but it’s extremely difficult to hold the position without twitching because any sudden twitch or quick movements = wake up and reset.
4. Ninja nursing (Success rate: 50%)
Unlike Theo who will take the boob every single time even when he’s full, baby Hayley gets upset if I try to nurse her back to sleep when she’s not hungry so this has to be done selectively. If she is in a nursing mood, she will doze off next to me on the bed and once she’s asleep, I just need to extract my boob like a ninja and done!
Except that about half the time, she will wake up during the boob extraction process and we’ll have to start over. So it’s about 50-50 here.
5. Play dead (Success rate: 20%)
This is a bonus move where I lie next to her and pretend to be asleep when she twitches and wakes herself up (which happens A LOT, basically every 10-15 minutes after she’s successfully asleep on the bed).
Her eyes will suddenly pop open like one of those creepy doll movies and if I try to pat and shush her, it just sends her into a fully awake frenzy. Instead, if I stay really still and close my eyes, there’s a chance that she will look around, get bored and then decide to go back to sleep.
//
Few nights ago, she was exceptionally fussy during bedtime and it took about 90 minutes to get her to settle on the bed. As she finally fell asleep, I could feel a sneeze coming on, which I tried very hard to suppress. I ran through the available options in my head.
I could hustle out of the room quickly to sneeze, but she has a strict no sudden movements rule and the chances of waking her up is very high. I could ninja my way out slowly but risk sneezing before getting out, which would also definitely wake her up. I could suppress the sneeze some more but I’m not very good at it and also, I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO LIVE LIKE THIS I WILL SNEEZE WHEN I WANT TO!!
So I did it. I sneezed. It was a muffled, very unsatisfying half sneeze but that was enough to make the baby open her eyes.
I try not to have many regrets in life but that moment for me was one of profound regret.
It was already almost midnight and I knew it would be another hour of walking and bouncing at least. So I froze and waited for her to cry but she just looked at me like she was trying to process the information and instead of her usual annoyed cry, she broke out into an enormous grin, like “It’s ok mom. You woke me up but I’m glad to see you.”
We partied on the bed a little and it still took a full hour before she went back to sleep but I’ll take it.
6 months is pretty rad. :)
