Transitioning to the Crib
Aaah, the many illusions I had before I became a mother. One of them was that the baby would arrive, and would seamlessly transition her from bassinet, to crib, to toddler bed. Hubby and I would preserve the sanctity of our bedroom, and teach her independence by having her sleep in her own room. I had never heard of attachment parenting or “Ferberizing” one’s baby. This was just my own preference. The preference of a clueless mother.
As soon as baby arrived, all previous convictions flew out the window. Mina didn’t like her bassinet or being alone in her room? Well then, move over hubby, she’s coming right between us! Eventually her Daddy went from sleeping on the edge of the bed, to sleeping on the floor, to taking over the room that was supposed to be hers.
Fast forward five months later and she’s still in bed with me. Whaa? What happened to the sanctity of the bedroom? Bewildered, coming out of our new-parents daze, we agreed it was time to transition her to the crib.
So last weekend, we did just that. We bought a crib, and we began to assemble it in her room. Until hubby turns to me halfway and remarks that we should really ease her into the crib by having her in our room first. I agreed.
Crib assembled in the Master bedroom, we settle in for the night. Woody and I giddily cozy up next to each other while Mina slumbers peacefully in her new bed. We drift off too until Daddy starts to snore. What?! He’s never snored before! Mina cries, rudely awakened by the snore. I try to pat her to sleep, then bring her to bed as she looks like she needs to nurse. I nurse her, nudge her Dad and tell him to stop snoring. Mina starts falling asleep, in my arms as I fall asleep as well and…Daddy starts to snore again! The irritated look Mina gives him will forever be embedded in my memory.
By the end of the night, Mina is in bed with me, Daddy finally relents and moves to the spare room again. The crib we bought? It sits at the foot of our bed, empty.
Sigh. I guess we get to keep trying.
Read More
