Sleeping Woes, What Else is New?

     David is about 16 months old now and very verbal about what he wants and doesn't want. Bedtime he doesn't want. So my daughter has been putting him to bed very late and still he cries and screams. She thinks it's cruel and harmful to him to cry and scream that hard and after a few minutes of it she gives in to him and takes him out of his bed. Sometimes he doesn't get to bed till 2 or 3 in the morning.

     She is tired and getting very upset with him. The other night I made her leave him to cry himself to sleep, she wanted to give in just to shut him up, but I told her he is manipulating her into letting him out and that it was a war she had to win. It took a while but he did eventually give up and quieted down. I proved this by telling her that as hard as he's crying, as soon as you take him out it stops and he is smiling.

     We have a little bedtime ritual and he's changed and given a bottle of milk. The tears are a scam.
Here's the problem though, he wakes crying in the middle of the night. Usually if we quickly give him a bottle of water and lay him back down with his blanket on him and his favorite stuffed animal next to him, he'll go right back to sleep, but we find ourselves tiptoeing around the house after that afraid he'll wake. How do we handle this middle of the night crying?

Dorel Asia Crib Recall

     There is also a crib recall from Dorel Asia and this involves the hardware that is used to drop the side of the crib. Several babies have gotten trapped and hurt using these cribs.
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WM1633 Drop side 3-1 Sleigh Crib – Cherry

WM1633-0 Drop side 3-1 Sleigh Crib - Cherry (no castors)

WM1676BC Fixed 4-1 Bethany James Crib – Walnut

WM1676BCR-DC Fixed 2-1 Crib – Walnut

WM2163 Fixed 4-1 Crib – Manhattan Walnut

WM2163DC Fixed 4-1 Crib – Manhattan Walnut

WM1633-0-DC Fixed 3-1 Sleigh Crib (no castors)

GP004B3EGR Drop side 3-1 Convertible – Espresso

GP004B3WGR Drop side 3-1 Convertible – White

GP006BCEGR Drop side Single – Espresso

GP006BCWGR Drop side Single – White

DA1615B3 Drop side 3-1 Convertible Crib – Natural

DAKM5132 Drop side 3-1 Convertible Crib – White

DASE5005 Drop side Cottage Hill Single Crib – White

DASE5009 Drop side Vintage Estate 3-1 Sleigh Crib – Cherry

DA0504KMC-1N Drop side 3-1 Heritage Crib – Natural

DA0504KMC-1W Drop side 3-1 Heritage Crib – White

DA1614B3 Drop side 3-1 Lexington Crib – Cherry

DAKM5152 Drop side Single Jenny Lind Crib - Walnut

DASE5015 Drop side 3-1 Convertible - Toffee

Sold at: K-Mart, Sears and Walmart stores nationwide from January 2005 through December 2009 for between $120 and $700.

Manufactured in: China and Vietnam

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled cribs, find an alternative safe sleeping environment for your child, and contact Dorel Asia to receive a free replacement kit. Consumers should order the free replacement kit to prevent child entrapment in these cribs. The repair kits will be provided to owners within the next several weeks.

Consumer Contact: Call Dorel Asia toll-free at (866) 762-2304 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s Web site."

For more information check out Barbara's Beat 

Important Product Recall by Graco

     There is a product recall by Graco, on it's strollers. The 3 styles affected are the Passage, Alano, and Spree, Travel systems. We have a Graco stroller that was given to David as a gift. My daughter and I were unable to determine which of these three we have.

     Graco has also put out model numbers which are affected. The model numbers are on a white sticker that you'll find on the leg of the frame of the stroller, they also insist on a manufacture date. Our model number is not on the list and there is no date on that sticker anywhere unless it's in a secret code which we do not understand.

     However, there are two pictures and ours looks exactly like the one that is being recalled. This is the photo of the dangerous one. Several babies have cut or amputated fingertips getting them caught in this canapy hinge.

     Then there is this photo below which shows one that is safe.

     Graco will send you a cover for the hinge in the first photo free of charge. They say it will take about a week and it's easy to put it on. They even have an instructional video to show you how.
You can go to the Graco site for additional details.

Music and David

     Music is very important in my family. I play the guitar a little and my son plays them like his fingers are made of lightening. We all love to listen to our favorites which include all types of music and we all love to sing along or alone. My wish is to pass that love of music to David. Music helps us to remember and relive happy and sad moments in our lives, and it gets us moving and dancing which sometimes is the only exercise I get.

     David just started dancing and singing a couple months ago, but now it's like he's the dancing fool. I hope it's something that we can continue to encourage in him. Maybe it will become a big part of who he is when he gets older.

Photo by Sarah and Iain

Crazy Baby

     David is making us laugh so much these days. He learned to spin in circles until he's dizzy and then try to walk. He falls over which makes him and us laugh. He's also taken to do funny walking. Sometimes he does a Sumo wrestler and sometimes a zombie monster. What a funny little man he is.

     He is so happy most of the time and so beautiful I love him to death!

Growing Up Too Fast

     David is now about 15 months old and is just incredible. Though I admit we are having some trouble with bedtime he is a joy to be around.

     Yesterday I noticed a new behavior. We gave him a pair of 3-d glasses to play with. He didn't want to wear them but seemed to get quite a kick out of seeing mom and grandma wear them.

     I was sitting in the living room with a tray table in front of me. It had several items that he was told not to touch when he reached for them. Anyway, he gave me the glasses and insisted I put them on and as before I pretended not to see when I wore them. When he saw me wearing them and doing my "where is David" act like I was blinded, I saw him staring intently at my eyes while he slowly attempted to reach for the "no items" on the tray table. When I took the glasses off he moved his hand away. Are they supposed to be so sneeky at this age?

Photo by Abbybatchelder