the Ultimate (Sleep) Solution

2005-06-28

The boat-based dinner thingy on Friday went well. Leo�s new firm is SO MUCH better than his old. Everyone we met was pretty darn normal. My personal highlight happened early on, making chitchat on the dock with another wife. She was worried that her heels were too high for the boat. I told her that the invitation said �wear soft soled shoes or those with a 1� heel or less�, so her 3� heeled soft-soled sandals conformed, as only one of the conditions needed to be satisfied (as signified by the use of the word �or�). She gave me a polite smile and then moved far, far away from me. You can take the girl away from programming and auditing�

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I registered for one of those sidecar co-sleepers before Owen was born, but never received one. And I�m just too much of a tightwad to spend $140 of my own money on one. I tried buying one on eBay, but they always seemed to end up going for $135, and I just don�t see spending that close to retail on something that�s used.

Owen spent the first month or so of his life sleeping in his car seat, next to our bed. After I learned how to nurse lying down (the most helpful advice I�ve ever received) we started co-sleeping. That worked pretty well until Owen got to be too big to swaddle, at about the three month mark. After that, it was like I was sleeping next too a miniature Tasmanian devil. No matter how far away from him I got, he�d still roll over until he was right next to me, arms swinging.

I�m a really light sleeper so, after a few sleepless nights, I decided that our co-sleeping days were over and the boy needed to move to the crib. I still feed him while lying down, but now its on a bed in his room. Once he falls asleep, I CAREFULLY move him to his crib. That�s usually where my whole plan falls apart. I just can�t seem to pick him up and set him down without waking him. And once he�s awake, no amount of singing or mobile watching can get him back to sleep.

So at 3 this morning, while trying for the third time in a row to feed and then move the boy, I set about trying to come up with a solution.

My first idea, which was really dumb, was to make some kind of a pizza peel for him to lay on so I could then transfer him. Clearly, there are some flaws in that plan. Then I remembered reading an article about how, in Japanese hospitals, mothers and babies sleep in a shared crib. That sounds perfect. If Owen had a crib that I could actually get into, I could feed him and then leave him sleeping. So, if you or anyone you know knows how I can get my hands on a Japanese hospital adult sized crib (that would comfortably fit a woman of 5�9�), let me know.

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