Ivy Camille, 5 months
Tula Belle, 5 monthsWhen I was asking about the personalities of his children, a father of 4 told me.... "You look at all the differences between your first two babies and then your mind begins to wonder.... Will a third baby be like Baby 1 or Baby 2? And then they arrive and are completely different in their very own way. They all are really so uniquely them."
This has really gotten me thinking. I know that I am different so I thought that is maybe what was making Tula and Ivy seem so different but now I am having second thoughts. I have to start now to realize Ivy and Tula are each their own. I can't always be saying Ivy did this and Tula does that, because without a doubt one always seems to be a positive and the other a negative but in all honesty, they are just different.
This week I thought I would give the old Baby Ivy sleep routine a try with Tula since she has started to get restless in the evenings. Newsflash- I realized I never really had to let Ivy "cry it out" I just thought I was prepared for that. She may have whimpered for a total of 3 minutes at the longest, but really she just enjoyed going to bed at night (and staying asleep)! Tula loves taking some killer naps all over creation but at night she really doesn't want to be left alone. I saw what "cry it out" really looks like, for all of 10 minutes, and slammed the door in it's face! I can't do it. I guess I am a weenie since I know many babies who have survived it and slept great but Tula was no where near calming herself down. With every belly pat and visit to her crib side she got angrier. Once I picked her up, she was calmed by my touch and staring me in the face she fell right to sleep and slept for most of the night (7 hours).
This made me realize it's not all about my overall relaxed nature this time around, but more that babies are just different and really can't be compared. They are all comforted in different ways and every stage of every child is going to test us without a doubt. We are the parents trying to tweak this and change that in order to best suit this unique little gift from above- and that is what parenting is all about. There is not a one way formula that works and you have to find that groove that best fits your family. I am eating the same words I fed out to other Mama's when Ivy was little --sorry if you are one of those- :*( -- I would say try this and try that- only to see that it was what worked for Ivy but all babies are different and even my own second born can't function on an Ivy-like routine.
With that said...
Cheers to a second baby who can't be compared to anyone but her!
Cheers to all Mamas going with their mama-instinct and doing what works!
Two HUGE revelations this week!
