It's Only Bed Time! These Tears Aren't Needed!!!

Bedtime routines are extremely important for babies. It gives them idea of what to expect is going to happen at the end of everyday. This helps them settle down in the evening, develop a sleep pattern, and eventually they will sleep through the night. Unless they are my kid.

As always I am very lucky my kid is actually VERY content, but the things that make her unhappy, she gets super unhappy about.

Our bed time routine is pretty simple but is spread out over three hours. At the start she wakes up and eats, we jack around and watch tv for an hour, she then lays on the floor and we play then she does a little tummy time, by then another hour has passed so I get her ready for a bath, then jammies, we read a book, I rock her for maybe 5 minutes, then she's out shortly after I put her in her crib.

Simple. Same time every night. Same thing every night. After almost two months of the same thing she should be cool with this. Nope. The first half is fine. But after the bath it's all down hill until she's asleep.

She likes bath time. No problem. She knows exactly what I'm going to do next. She even lifts her head so I can has under all her chins, but once the water is turned off and you're taking her out of the tub, the crying starts. 

It's more like a scream than a cry. Almost like you broke her leg, but all you're doing is wrapping this wiggly, screaming child in a towel. It's HORRIBLE. I'm sure the neighbors hear her and think I'm the worst mom ever. "Hey guys! Don't mind me. Just took the baby out of the bath, I swear. She's totally fine!" Insert a face similar to this one =|.

The screaming continues until she realizes that "hey, Mom put lotion, a diaper, and jammies on me while I wiggled so much you thought I was dancing to a Jason Derulo song." and then cue the "I'M NOT GOING TO BED YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!" Cry/whimper flailing mosh pit.

This girl can throw some bows man.

I'll get her all propped up in my lap with her boppy pillow, start reading whatever book it is I picked out and she goes ham sammich. (I'm not entirely sure what going ham sammich is. I just thought it sounded cool, and I like the word sammich.)

Flailing, kicking, the whimper/cry, if she could talk she'd probably tell how she's never sleeping again, and I'm so mean. This goes on for a solid 15 minutes. I just keep rocking and reading to her, and try to address any needs she might have, and then BAM! She gets all limp and I think "GOOD LORD SHE'S DEAD! BED TIME REALLY DID KILL HER!!!" And she sighs and then it sets in that oh she's just sleepy.

All of that to just go to bed. You would think I was pulling teeth because it can be so difficult. And I'm surprised I don't have any black eyes or a missing jugular vein from all the baby violence. I'm sure one day she won't be so against bed time, but that will probably be when she's a teenager, and all she does is sleep....I think I have my work cut out for me. =|.