Rock-A-Bye Baby

Adi is sick.  She has had some sort of stomach virus that's caused diarrhea the past couple days and it has led to a yeast infection.  Every diaper change is filled with screaming and crying.  I'm not allowed to use wipes, I'm supposed to rinse her in the sink and then air dry.  Then I have to put on 3 different ointments.

During the day this isn't too much of a hassle.  But diarrhea is uncontrollable which means there have been night time diaper changes, something we haven't done in a very long time.  And as the stay-at-home mom, night shifts are my responsibility.  Daddy needs to rest up for work.

Now typically I don't mind night shift.  It usually means once a night I get up and comfort Adi back to sleep.  ONCE a night.  With the sickness it's been 2 or 3 times a night, and at least one of those is a diaper change followed by 30 minutes of calming Adi back down and rocking her back to sleep.

This is the first time I've hated having to put her back to sleep.  It's even rougher than it was in the beginning.  At least then we were using a co-sleeper and she was right next to me.  Now tending to my daughter means I actually have to GET UP.

But I do it.  People say that I'm crazy, that I should let her cry herself back to sleep and learn to self-soothe but as a Dr. Sears following momma I just can't do that.  I am 100% against the idea of convenience parenting and a firm believer in attachment parenting.  That's part of the reason this experiement even exists.

My child shouldn't be something else I schedule into my day.  Adi is my world, my life revolves around her not the other way around.  You see as an attachment parent, I believe in catering to my daughters needs.  If that means she has to be rocked to sleep instead of being put down awake I'm okay with that.  Part of parenting is sacrifice and I don't mind sacrificing a few minutes of sleep to make sure my daughter is comfortable and loved.

But with her being sick, the sacrifice has gone from a few minutes to a few hours.  Anyone who knows me knows I'm not very lovable when I'm tired.  So being a loving support for my daughter is really difficult when she's screaming at me at 3 in the morning.  So how do I solve this dilemma?

Well hopefully Adi will be feeling better soon.  But thankfully, I have an understanding husband who had been helping out in the mornings.  When he and Adi wake up at 7 he changes her diaper, and takes her into the bathroom with him (she plays in the exersaucer while he gets ready) that way I can get an extra hour or so of sleep.  It may not be the most efficient method, but right now it makes everyone feel loved.

And really isn't that all that matters when it comes to family?