"It's time Nicole!", my husband said truly pleading with me. I told him one more week, just like I did the week before...and the week before that. My husband so politely reminded me that the doctor said we should have done this weeks ago. An accurate reminder, yes, but it didn't mean I wanted to listen to him. Now let's be honest, I listen to our pediatrician about EVERYTHING. I trust her implicitly. However, there was just something about being told our baby Grace needed to sleep in her own room that I wasn't quite ready to accept.
If I had it my way, she would stay in our room until she was ready to head off to college. At which point I would naturally move to whatever city she decided to attend college. That's normal... right?
So in talking about proximity to our child, our nursery is right next to our room. A whopping 20 feet away. So while my husband thought 20 feet was 20 feet (how silly of him), my interpretation of that 20 feet was closer to the distance between San Francisco and Australia. So, as is expected in any relationship, we needed to compromise. I did my due diligence, researched every baby monitoring technology there was, and was overwhelmed by all the options. But then, there was Mimo. Our perfect compromise. Grace could sleep in her own room, and I could monitor her visually and receive notifications on her throughout the night if anything was awry.
The first night Grace slept in her own room I was a nervous wreck (did you expect anything else?). In the weeks after she was born, the only sleep advice I seemed to receive was all about the deep dark dangerous world of your baby sleeping solo:
Make sure the room isn't too hot! Make sure to swaddle them! Make sure they only sleep on their back! Make sure you don't put anything else in the crib with them! Make sure you don't - (Fill in the blank here with everything they tell you NOT to do as a parent)!
It seemed like a world of "Don'ts" and it painted a picture of needing to be super cautious and making sure you don't do something wrong. And all that was helpful, but we wanted more positive tips and suggestions. We had our instincts, and the Mimo to tell us what was happening and to help us along the way, and Grace is wonderful, so here's our list of "Do's":
Do have a nightly routine. Ours consists of bath time, immediately followed by the naked baby run around dance, pajamas, cuddles, and finally story time. Grace likes to turn the pages all by herself, so we read whatever pages we can!
Do have an exit strategy. Ours is a slow backward walking exit, while singing her favorite song ("Good night Gracie"). Usually works!
It sure seemed like there was way more that we could do wrong than we could do right. However, the best thing that the Mimo taught me is you always do what's best for your child. So maybe she slept with a blanket sometimes. Maybe she rolled on her stomach in the middle of the night and slept just fine. Through all the worry, panic, and anxiety that a child can bring, it's the best type of worry, panic, and anxiety that this great big world can offer. All you want to do is protect this beautiful child, all while trying to keep your sanity. However, try to keep in mind that it's truly sane to feel a little insane about your baby's safety. So embrace it :)
Nicole lives in Pleasanton, CA with her husband Wade and 12 month-old daughter Grace. She enjoys spending time with her family, and cheering for the San Francisco Giants!
