Things

[ShellySara]

Hello, can anyone help me with a couple of things.

My DD is 8 months old.

1. Overtiredness. She always refuses to sleep! At first she would always boob to sleep, but she is no longer doing that. She has recently learned to crawl and sit up and is now constantly trying to stand. Even in her sleep she assumes the crawling position. Anyway, when trying to get her to sleep, I first try to boob her off, on my bed, as this is the most peaceful way, but now she will just roll over and sit up, crawl over, have a slurp, doze off, roll over, situp, etc, etc. IF I get her to sleep like this, I cannot get her into the cot. Well, I can get her in the cot, but as soon as she hits the mattress her eyes ping open and she is away again. If I dont put her in the cot, I can pick her up and cuddle her, put her on the floor, put her anywhere, but not in her cot (obviously as soon as she wakes she moves so nowhere is safe any more!) The other alternative is gettng her to sleep in her buggy. She will cry (not cry, but sort of whimper/sing) for a little while but will eventually go to sleep. Anyway, I am sure she is overtired. How can I get her to sleep and when will she learn to just go to sleep when she is tired???

1. Discipline. I dont think I have a problem with this as she is only 8 months old, but when I was washing the dishes yesterday I overheard my mum saying to DD that if she had some discipline everyday blah blah blah. I try not to say NO to my daughter unless it is something dangerous (playing with cables, going near plug sockets, etc etc), and if it is not dangerous (smacking things (inc people), dropping food on floor) I try and redirect her attentions elsewhere, or I give her the rule of 3 (drop food once, it is put back in front of her, drop food twice, it is put back in front of her, drop it a third time and it is taken away). I think this is positive parenting (not sure what, but I dont know any different), as I think it is going to be rather demoralising to hear NO all the time. Am I doing this all wrong???

By the way, my mum is my step-mum and hasnt any children of her own, so I am not sure how or where she learnt her parenting skills (She joined our family when my brother and I were 14 and 16). Also, when my litlun has a little grumble she classes it as a tantrum and tells her to SHUT UP (which I think is a little bit mean).

That said I still do love my mum, but she has made me wonder whether I am bringing up my daughter correctly. She is only a little baby after all.

Any advice would be very much appreciated, just dont shout at me please.

Thanks
Shelly
xxx

Ohhhhh, bless her! If I'd just learned to crawl and sit up, I think I'd be too excited to drop off easily to sleep too! It's such a big deal for a baby to begin to get mobile. I'd have thought the phase will pass as she gets used to her new skills - I mean, really, probably only a week or two.

When she drops off how about

1. leave her on the bed sleeping while you potter around doing stuff in the near vicinity

1. Go to sleep with her!

1. Pop her to sleep on a fleecy blanket on the floor of the room you're planning to be in

1. Pop her to sleep on a fleecy blanket inside a play pen and then shut the door of it, so you know that when she wakes you'll get there before she rearranges the entire room, and so she's safe from dogs/older children/whatever

Just a few ideas. Or put her in a sling so you can get on with things (but really, option 2 is the best one IMO!)

And then discipline. For an 8 month old? That's just crazy. Redirect is good. "structural discipline", where you make the house so the baby can roam free and safely, that's good (you can get safety plugs for sockets for a start). But telling an 8 month old off? That's just bananas (wonderful as I'm sure your Mum is!)