Sleep Study

It’s pretty clear that Baby T has not read any sleep books. If she had, she’d know that she’s supposed to wake up in the morning between 6AM and 7AM. That she’s supposed to take a nice long nap at 9AM and then another nice long one at 1PM and then go to sleep without protest between 6PM and 8PM. To be fair to Baby T, she’s only five months old and I’m pretty certain she can’t read yet. But still, if the sleep book says that’s what is supposed to happen, then who am I, a mother for only five months, to question it?

And yet, I question it. The sleep book says not to be distracted by crying - to let the baby cry for up to an hour in protest over a nap. Have you ever heard a baby cry for an hour? To be honest, I haven’t. I can’t let it happen. Baby T doesn't cry that often, but when she does, it makes me jump. Sometimes, I fear I’m ruining my child. After all, the book says that if good sleep habits aren’t established early, that bad sleep habits like insomnia could persist throughout the child’s life and into adulthood. Babies who don’t sleep well can’t learn. Toddlers who don’t sleep well won’t be as intelligent as those who do. And so on and so on and so on goes the guilt of motherhood.

The other day, I heard a story about a mother who climbs into her daughter’s crib to help her fall asleep. Every night, she hands her daughter a special pillow and a special blanket and then climbs into bed with her. Her daughter is more than a year older than Baby T. The hardest part, the mom says, is getting back out.

So, while I may occasionally feel like I’m not doing the right thing when it comes to Baby T’s sleep schedule (or anything else for that matter), I try to remind myself that there are worse things I could do. And, the simple truth is, although I haven’t tried climbing into her crib, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t fit.