Breaking Baby Habits

Babies are habitual. Especially our Marlo. I remember the nurses telling us that we should do whatever she wants us to do for the first 3 months and it won't create any bad habits ("You can't spoil them too much!") - I never believed it. I've always felt that Marlo has adapted to things quickly and can be flexible but she has like consistency from the beginning (like most babies). She has been pretty good at naps and sleeping in general but lately we have been trying to break her of the naps in the swing and it's been HARD. I really want her to sleep in her crib for naps but she cannot handle it! Yesterday I put her in the crib for her first nap and it took an hour of battling and crying before she finally fell asleep and she only slept for 1 hour! Ugh! So for the next nap I just put her in the swing - and BOOM - 3 hours. In fact, I had to wake her up because it was 5:30 and I wanted her to go to bed at 8. It was one of those days where I felt like I was trying to get her to sleep allllll day. I hate that feeling - I want to focus on playtime with her but I get very anxious when it comes to her sleeping schedule. I've always been scared of her just up and deciding to stop taking naps. I hear it happens, no matter how consistent you are with them.

She's been a good sleeper for a few months now and we have been very spoiled. But for the past 3-4 weeks she has been a nightmare to put down! We usually get her in bed between 7:30-8:00 and she battles sometimes until 8:30. She's rolling around so much and gets on her tummy (which she knows how to roll back over on her back) but she stays there and cries so we will come in. UGH! And then she has woken up 1-3 times a night crying and we just go in and put the binky back in - which we almost cut that habit of her sleeping with it until this all started - and then she falls back to sleep instantly. Sometimes it seems like she is having a nightmare but the doctor said she won't have nightmares until between ages 1-2, so that's ruled out. Oh, and she has been waking up between 5:45-6:30 to eat. Gahhh, really?

It really could be any of the following: Cough (it's been around for the past 3 weeks), Running/Stuffy Nose (also been around for the past 3 weeks - doctor said she's fine), Thrush (she got it from the eye drop antibiotics for the pink eye), or teething (she has something on the bottom that looks like it's coming in, but she isn't chewing on everything but she is drooling a lot more). WHAT IS IT!? I'm going crazy. What happened to my easy sleeping baby!? I guess I had my bliss and it's time to have the torture.

She is such a sweetie though and I appreciate her nature so much. She is kind and curious, social and sweet. She seems to have a lot of us in her, but I can't tell all too much yet. Nephi was telling me about a study that was done that explains personalities in children. They are something like 20% Mom, 20% Dad, and 60% their own self that came from heaven! And I believe that with Marlo. It makes sense because if we were all made up of exactly what our parents personalities are, then how would we be each be individuals like Heavenly Father claims? I am grateful and anxious to get to know Marlo's 60%!