Finding my moment of Zen...

I've had quite a few frazzled moments lately, thanks to separation anxiety, teething, and working on a nap schedule.

1) About a month ago, Lil Bee's separation anxiety kicked into high gear. At first, I couldn't even leave the room to grab something to eat let alone take a shower without him screaming his head off. Luckily I got a tip from another mommy friend to play Peek a Boo. This seriously worked! I would say boo and peek around the corner, then progressively get farther and farther away from Lil Bee. Now I can proudly say I just have to do this occasionally (and his little yelps now signal either boredom with his latest set of toys or that he's due for a nap).

2) He's still working on those stubborn first two teeth. I've tried everything from refrigerated teethers, to teething pacifiers, to frozen washcloths, to celery sticks, to baby Tylenol, to teething tablets (both the Hyland's and Orajel Natural tablets). His solution has been to mouth his favorite set of Melissa + Doug blocks, a blanket, or the teething bead necklace that we were gifted for Christmas. At this point, it keeps him happy so I roll with it (especially since I know now that this cruel process will last until he's about 25-33 mos of age... siiiiiggggghhhh...)

3) We've successfully established a nap schedule which is HUGE since sleep has been an ongoing battle with Lil Bee. At the very beginning, Lil Bee had his days and nights mixed up which took about 9 weeks to resolve. We read the Happiest Baby on the Block before he was born so every time we put him down, we made sure he was changed, fed, then rocked him to sleep in the recliner/swing/Rock and Play sleeper and kept him asleep with the Sleep Sheep (for the white noise). As he got bigger, he slept in his crib mostly through the night by 3 mos (with some hiccups here and there thanks to growth spurts). But with the recent teething fussiness, some days the old tricks wouldn't work as well (or even at all). I ended up following the Baby Whisperer method (a very simplified version is here). He now naps at 9, 2, and 5 (this can vary depending on what we do during the day) but always goes to sleep by 9 PM. He whines at first when I put him down but as long as he has his Peter Rabbit stuffed toy and Sleep Sheep going, I can wait it out and know he'll be out within 10 minutes. Some days teething can still throw him off but for the most part, I have a little bit of my sanity back haha.


Throughout all of this very stressful time, I've been very fortunate to have great friends I could chat with, regular playdates that give me & Lil Bee a reason to get out of the house (because a change of perspective can be all it takes to lift my mood), and a supportive husband who would watch him and give me the occasional night off.