BluE Scrubs

I was talking to a friend at her house yesterday when the topic of bedtime came up. She has two boys, one is 4 years old and the other is a toddler. She made it look so easy with putting them to bed just after orchestrating together, dare I say a complicated breaking fast feast. I would probably be left with burnt down kitchen and a screaming baby me.

This woman always amazes me. She was the one who gave us Gina Ford the book.

For Noah, bedtime has always been a little bit of a fight. Not exactly world war 3 but I wouldn't say it's a walk in the park either.

I used to bribe him with the titties, cajoling him with the rocking of the cot, humming the 'burung kakatua', waltzing to the newborn music bought at Mothercare for 6.99, the works, but he wasn't having any of it. I know some people advocate 'controlled crying' as in just leave the baby in the room, in the dark to just fall asleep on his own but how is that controlled and oh how mean!

I personally think it's unacceptable. How would you feel being left alone in the dark, divorced from so much love, attention and warmth of bountiful cuddles you have been getting all day? So much so that people keep cuddling you even when you've had enough? Come evening, there, abandoned, unwanted, well not exactly but the baby must be feeling exactly that.

No big studies have yet shown any association between 'abandoned-babies-at-bedtime' to 'difficult-to-deal-with-adults' but I can just imagine that it must somehow shortchange the baby's emotional development. What do I know?

Now at 3 months and a half Noah is capable of falling asleep by himself. Don't be fooled though, he's laid down some ground rules for this to happen.

1. I must be fed to the brim. Watch for signs like turning my face away from the boobie. Don't be fooled by me dozing off, just give me a nudge.
2. I must be bathed, oiled and massaged, my nappy crisp and I must smell nice.
3. I don't care what you do in the room but just be there until I drift off.

Demanding but worth it for No-Noah respite between 7 and 11.

Last night he slept through the night from 10 pm, waking up just in time to send off our cousin to the train station so she can catch the Eurostar back to Brussel. I put it down to tiredness after a whole day punting in Oxford. Nevertheless, attaboy!!