I have been away from home for over 2 weeks. We have been staying with family in North Carolina for Thanksgiving. Let me tell you, it has been terrible. I didn’t realize how much different it is to have a mobile baby. We were here last time when my son was just sitting up. Now, he is crawling and cruising and getting into everything. We are staying in a non babyproofed home and I am running around pulling him away from crystal, vases, electronics, lamps, cabinets, and plants. Every second I have to have an eye on him. If I don’t, he will be dead or severely injured. Just 2 minutes ago my son almost ate a dead lady bug, then immediately went and stuck his hand in a coffee cup. His hand was a hair away from getting in the coffee. I am exhausted.
Then, there is the fact that we cosleep. The family we are staying with has been vocally against this. Frankly, I would rather not at this stage but my son has regressed to not even going to bed in the crib for the first 2-3 hours like he used to. This means we have to lay him in our bed and make sure he doesn’t wake up and fall off. Luckily he has never done that but this room is upstairs, unlike home. I am glued to the monitor waiting for the slightest sound. He wakes up a few times a night, and I am there for all of those times except maybe the first time around 11-12 at night. It is paranoia to think of your baby upstairs on a bed without you. I imagine how much trouble he can get into if he wakes up and crawls off the bed. It might sound crazy that we do this but he literally won’t sleep in the pack and play here. He could be dead asleep and be laid in the pack and play and wake right up. My son has sleeping issues.
I actually don’t have an issue cloth diapering while traveling. At least not when I stay with family. I packed plenty of diapers and have washed 3 times so far. No repelling this time either. I think using cloth diaper specific detergent makes all the difference!
I am so ready to get back to my home. But, as soon as we get home we are actually moving down the street so I dread the packing. Then we get a nice new place to live that I can look forward to. Wish us luck with the next month which is going to be busy busy!
Could someone please give me a full nights sleep for Christmas? That would be the best gift of all!
my nine month old has a similar problem. I can’t get him to nap in his crib. and so like you i nurse him to sleep in my bed and then carefully sneak out but strain my ears for the first peep that he is awake. I got so scared of him falling off the bed I did finally end up putting the mattress in the spare bedroom on the floor and we have done some naps in their. Luckily (so far) we can still get him to sleep in his crib throughout the night. I do bring him to my bed when he wakes up but I can usually get him back in his crib again. Hopefully he doesn’t regress like your son did. We just have to keep remembering that it won’t last forever!
.-= Jaime´s last blog ..Happy Halloween 2009 =-.
I soooo feel your pain. I actually successfully transitioned my 8 month old from co-sleeping to the crib (for BOTH of our sanity – he needs to move, I need to not get kicked in the face) a few weeks ago, but the holiday travels have totally, completely ruined our system. He HATES the pack’n’play with a passion and wakes up the second his head touches the mattress. Over Thanksgiving my husband and I actually took turns sleeping with him – one sharing the guest (full sized) bed with him while the other slept in the “kid’s room” with our nephew or an air mattress on the floor, depending on which one was empty. I think the most sleep either of us got in one night was 4 hours. I barely remember Thanksgiving.
If you can figure out how to get Santa to deliver that full night’s sleep, PLEASE ask him to bring me one as well!
.-= Suzanne´s last blog ..Attack of the Snot-Faced Monster =-.
I know what you mean about staying at a non baby proofed home – so not fun. My in laws always want us to come visit, but of course their home is far from babyproof. I am always so exhausted keeping the boys out of things that I need a vacation after our so called “vacation”. Kind of funny how everyone wants you to visit and then does nothing to help make that visit easier. As for your little non sleeper -hope he starts sleeping better for you soon so you both can get some rest.
Hi there Kim,
Wow, it sure does sound like you have a lil’ mover. My 8 month old is eager to crawl and can “backwards crawl her way around the living room. I can’t provide much advice, but when my now 5 year old was crawling I would have a semi-schedule. During this schedule it involved lots of down time, meaning, I would get down on the floor with her and keep her occupied. We would color, play with playdough, blocks and any other toys. This would be kinda hard to do in someone elses home. You can also just go outside, if it’s not too cold.
Good luck with everything and Good luck on the move!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
.-= Cinella´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday – First Post =-.
I hear you! We have a nine month old who is getting into everything. First, we did a long weekend with my parents in their “rustic” cabin. Rustic=wood stove and random nails laying about. The place scared him or something, because he spent that whole four days only sleeping on me or in the Ergo. The first night I got less than an hour of sleep. Then, the next weekend we did four days with my husbands family. They have a six year old who kept trying to feed our baby things. Things like, cat food, and rocks, and those tiny little lego things. “Oh, haha, isn’t that funny!” No, it’s not funny, its scary! Control your child!! And now we are home….oh wonderful home.
Traveling with a kid is tough. I think the first step is to figure out if the trip is really worth the trouble. Often times the first trip can be a BIG eye opener! Our first two trips- a 7 hour car ride to Va at 3 months and a plane trip to CA at 5 months- certainly were. We’ll be staying at home as much as possible from now on, and begging people to come to us!
My baby is almost 8 months so the timing of this post is perfect- traveling to nonbabyproofed homes is definitely a safety issue, and tiring for a parent! And actually, one time that babywearing can come in handy! When you need to get something and don’t trust the baby is safe, strap ’em on!
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