I’ve read quite a few sites on baby care, parenting, etc and in many of these sites, one of the main topics would be about the sleep patterns of babies. Oh trust me, there are so many damn articles about how to get baby to sleep, how to train baby to sleep on her own, how to establish a sleep pattern for baby to sleep through the night, everything about getting the small baby to sleep…it would definitely make new parents think that babies don’t sleep at all.
Well, I don’t really care about all those advice on how to train baby to sleep on her own. I mean, what the heck. How long do you think the baby is going to stay a baby? Forever? So what if my baby wants me to cuddle her and hold her close so she can feel secure before falling asleep? Is that a crime? There are so many stupid dos and don’ts about taking care of babies that the part about not carrying them too much and not lulling them to sleep too much that I totally do not agree with.
There’s this advice that we should not carry our babies too much. It will make them want to be carried all the time. Yeah, well, how long do you think the baby will remain a baby? What, you mean, she will still demand to be carried when she turns 21 years old? So, even if the baby wants to be carried all the time, at most, it was only in the first few years. Two or three years max. After that, she’d prefer to walk, run, hop around and destroying stuffs than being carried! And do you know that children grow up so fast that before you know it, you probably wished the sullen teenage creature hiding in her room can be your cute, chubby baby again who wants to be close to you all the time. By then, she probably don’t want to be seen near you, much less ask for cuddles and hugs!
So, what is a few years of having a manja, pampered baby who loves cuddling with you all the time? Is that SO bad? I really don’t understand the need for all those kaypohs/ busybodies who keep telling me not to carry the baby too much. Ceh. I don’t carry my baby anyway, I wear her using a ring sling and I love to have her close to me whenever I am home with her.
Then, there is this whole sleep pattern crap. I’ve read some that advice letting the baby cry it out and soothe herself to sleep. Well, over my cold dead body, I say. Again, my argument is how long do you think the baby will remain a baby? 10 years? 20 years? Puh-lez. So, the baby likes to be lulled to sleep in your arms. How long do you think you get to do that? Not long, I can tell you! I held my firstborn and lulled him to sleep every night for almost 2 years and I do not regret one single bit of it because now, he goes to sleep on his own and don’t need mummy to hold him anymore.
Now, I will do the same thing with my second one if that’s what she likes. She’s probably my last one so if I don’t enjoy the time I get with her when she’s a baby, I won’t get to enjoy it ever again. I would say lulling her to sleep in my arms is as comforting to me as it is to her. The very act of holding her close, breathing in her sweet baby smell and gently patting her is just so relaxing that all the stresses of my day job melts away like magic.
So there. Sleep patterns my arse. If I want to hold my baby and lull her to sleep, I shall very well do that because she will grow up one day and I do not want to wake up one day and realised that I missed my chance of cuddling my cute li’l baby when she’s still so small, so vulnerable, so cuddly and so adorable.
We should never do things just because we want it to be easy and convenient especially when it comes to babies. I know some parents thinks its a hassle to have to carry their babies all the time or to lull them to sleep all the time. If it is such a hassle, then don’t blardy well have babies. Having babies meant there is no such thing as convenience, easy, free time or peace. But it meant loads of wonderful, challenging times filled with frustrations and laughter, joy and hardships, ups and downs.
Nobody is perfect so don’t expect your babies to be perfect too. Accept them as they are, shower them with love, cuddle them all you want, hold them close now because one day, they will have grown up and do not want to be close to you anymore.
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