A mommy issue

It took almost 8 months, but my son is sleeping in his crib. It’s not where we just purchased the crib, or that we were missing the mattress, or the bedding or something like that. No, no, no. Jackson has always had a beautiful crib…scratch that…a beautiful bedroom, waiting patiently to be used. The reason Jackson had never spent a night in his room is, well, me. I wasn’t ready. I couldn’t cut the cord. I absolutely loved waking up at any time during the night and seeing him right next to me in his bassinet. I loved hearing his coos and deep breathes. I loved waking up to giggles and seeing that little head pop up with a big old smile on his face. Yup, this growing pain was all mine.

So, flash back to about three weeks ago. When Jackson and I went to bed about 9:30 on a Sunday night (Chris stays up later to let the dogs out). Jack was incredibly fussy and would not stay asleep for more than 5-10 minutes. By the time Chris came up for bed, I was exhausted. We tried everything – putting him in our bed (which I hate), walking him, giving him a bottle, giving him a bath – nothing worked. Every time we put him in the bassinet, he would jump and shake and I was really worried that he would cave the thing in (mostly because he outgrew the weight limit about five pounds ago!). Finally, about 3AM, Chris said, “Amanda, we need sleep and he needs to be in a place where we can put him that he is safe. I am putting him in his crib. I’ll sleep in there with him on the floor.” Chris drug the futon mattress into the nursery, and I attempted to put the breathable bumper on the crib (a lot harder than it sounds at 3 in the morning!). We put the baby in the crib and he screamed and screamed. It was heartbreaking. We rubbed his back and sang to him and finally, about 3:30, he fell asleep. I went back to our bedroom and slept until 5:45. We decided at that point to keep the baby in his crib at night. We had a streak and didn’t want to break it! ;)

Over the past three weeks, we have fixed the breathable bumper, organized his bedroom a little more and opened our lovely video monitor. Do you know what I discovered? With that video monitor that I keep on my nightstand, I can still wake up at any time during the night and see him. I can still hear his coos and deep breathes. I still wake up to giggles and the most beautiful smile I have ever seen. I guess it’s true what they say…you have to grow up sometime.