Baby, didn't you get the interuterine memo? Your mama *likes* to hold you !

Do some kids simply *need* to cry themselves to sleep? My 2 month old has been a crier since birth. After spending the last 8 weeks trying to "figure him out" and also meet his needs as best as possible, I have realized two things. One, he cries whether I am holding him or not. Two, much of the time that he is crying now, is because he is exhausted. I have been holding him as he slept, thinking that would be the best way to keep him happy, but any time I dared move, heaven forbid actually get up he would wake up, and the crying would start again. Slinging did not work much better...he seems quite sensitive to movement so if I did anything other than pace around (like lean over to do dishes or laundry) he would get unsettled or wake up completely. Kind of negates one of the main benefits of slinging in my estimation - getting something done! Nevermind the fact that my children and I are all going batty with the constant crying...homeschooling is only very marginally getting done (like a page or two of math every few days, that's it!) and my dear 2 and 4 year olds are getting completely lost in the shuffle. And all for what, the baby wasn't even HAPPY the way things were.

So anyway, I just did something I haven't done for several kids now...I swaddled him up tight, rocked and sang to him, put him down crying in another room, and walked away. :( He cried under 5 minutes (probably 3) and is now asleep with some white noise. We'll see if he sleeps well or is just a poor sleeper in general - something I doubt because he sleeps well at night on the bed with no one bothering him.

It's funny, this mothering business. Just when you think you have things figured out, and are towing the whole Attachment Parenting party line (or whichever method you are espousing), life throws you a curve ball. A little, 11 pound, screaming curveball. And I have to look at my child, really observe him as an individual, and try to discern what he is telling me, because he didn't read the AP manual before he was born. He just cried *less* overall by being put down for a good nap than by being held - which I was doing only to keep him happy, attached, loving me...

I may shed a few tears, but I think we both just grew up a little.