This week I’m trying to take a break from ‘google-ing’ parenting things. Well, actually I’ve been ordered to by the husband. To dream feed or not to dream feed, swaddling, breastfeeding, pacifiers, sleep windows, crying…I’ve driven myself mad trying to find the answers from a million and one www.possibilities.com. If you looked at my search history you would be forgiven for thinking I’d gone a little gaa gaa.
“THEY say you shouldn’t…” I begin before being quickly interrupted by the husband.
“Ah the infamous “THEY” again. Who the hell are “THEY” anyway?” he says.
He’s right. I worry that I worry too much, but this parenting caper is the hardest thing I’ve ever done! And don’t get me started on the books. Been there, read that…and ready to throw them out the window.
Classic quote number 1: “Wake your baby at 7am to feed.”
Actual scenario: Baby already awake from 5am after a nice feed at 3am.
Classic quote number 2: “Swaddle your baby and put down for a 2 hour nap.”
Actual scenario: Baby broken out of swaddle and awake after 30 minutes, legs and arms akimbo. Big smile says: “A two hour nap? No chance!”
Yes, I’m guilty of taking parenting tips from a thousand different viewpoints. However, a few good friends of mine did say just watch your baby, they will determine the routine. Three months on and I am really starting to see they are right. Feed Molly at roughly the same time every day and she will respond by showing tired signs at approximately the same time. I swear she even knows what is coming before I do it, whether it is feeding, bathing or sleeping. Clever little things, these babies. Clever and very cute.
All that does not help when you are lying awake at night pondering the ins and outs of parenthood. While the husband snores, I’m already debating the joys of weaning and toddlerhood. The only thing that gets me back to sleep is my trusty ipod, armed with my Yoga Nidra meditation track. In yoga, ‘nidra’ means sleep. Stick this on and guaranteed no matter how busy your head is, you will be lulled back into zzz-land. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the middle of that track, as I am usually out for the count around 10 minutes in. It is a powerful tool I use whenever I feel the need for an extra bit of shut eye. (These days, that is quite often!)
So, surely knowledge is power? But when is too much knowledge a bad thing? I stumbled across this quote that puts it in a nutshell…
“Knowledge is power only if man knows what facts not to bother with.”
So for now, I’m closing the books. I’m upholding the googling ban. I’m going with the flow of my baby. I’ll leave you with these words from Indian guru, Osho, that just about sums it up…
“This word ‘intuition’ is beautiful. You know the other word, ‘tuition’; tuition means somebody else is giving it to you. Intuition means nobody is giving it to you; it is growing within yourself. And because it is not given to you by somebody else, it cannot be put into words.”
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