high intensity baby. got one?

The sleep experiment was a complete and utter failure. T-Bop asserted herself in a way beyond even her usual high intensity self. I was amazed to find out that she can fall asleep standing up, crying at the rail of her crib. She would cry cry cry and then nod off, head popping back up to cry cry cry. Repeat for 40 minutes. 40 MINUTES! Now that is a strong will my friends, especially since she was fast asleep in my arm when I put her in said crib. I decided that perhaps I was distracting her from sleeping so I left. More crying ensued. And then she pooped her pants.

I actually did this twice in one day with the same end result coming to 2 hours of trying-to-get-down-to-nap. She never actually fell asleep on her own. Mama was ruined, babe was ruined. Two diapers were pretty gross. Scout developed a very quick aversion to the room where we sleep and for the next 4 days would cry and squirm any time we got near there. Awesome.

All that to say, we won’t be doing that again. Truth is, while we have a good reason to try and make a crib a viable sleep option for T, we feel a lot of pressure from family and friends to get baby out of the bed. We don’t live in a supportive sleep sharing community anymore so it’s been tough to feel affirmed in our decision. I keep hearing that T NEEDS to be able to self-soothe. But after seeing her run around the room exhausted for half an hour when rocking her for about one minute seems to do the trick, I wonder if all babies are really able to put themselves to sleep (at least at 9 months). Here are some of the things that I see in Scout that make me question this. Separately these things are fairly normal. Together? eh.

- You could put a hat on this child a hundred times and it would be ripped off and thrown on the floor a hundred times.

- Never, ever cuddles. Has never fallen asleep on my shoulder or in my arms without serious intervention.

- Fights sleep in the places where babies usually like to sleep: her tree swing, the stroller, car rides, being rocked in a chair, being held by mom.

- Wants to do it on her own. Won’t sit in the stroller, instead she wants to crawl her way there. Won’t let a spoon near her mouth, she would like to use her own hands. Doesn’t like a sippy cup, if mama drinks from a big glass, so will she.

-Forget lullabies. We’ve figured out that T goes to sleep best with the Slumdog Millionaire songtrack playing at the highest volume.

- Curious, always wants to know what’s going on. Wants to see what you’re making, what you’re doing, what is on the other side of whatever.

- No comfort objects and no serious attention to any particular toy/s.

If she were a little older, I would guess we we’re looking at an ADD diagnosis. Now, someone out there may be reading this and thinking, “her crazy lady, my kid is just as wild and she still manages to get to sleep by herself.” Hit me up with a comment if you are this parent and give me some advice.