Insomnia at Six Months

I wrote in my last post about forgetting my laptop when I went to visit my granddaughter. Readers recommended I just play with the baby, and that’s what I did for the week I was with her.

Peekaboo. Reading crinkle books and board books. Singing. Walks in the stroller. Practicing sitting. We had lots of things to keep us busy. Her parents even took us to a soccer game, where she lasted until half-time.

We had many, many hours of playtime every day, because my granddaughter is not a big fan of sleep. Her naps were unpredictable, both in time of day and in length. And during the night, she woke up at least once, usually twice, and sometimes three or more times. I didn’t hear most of the nighttime sessions, but I kept the baby monitor near me during naps, at the ready to rescue her from her crib when she awoke.

About a month ago, she had an excuse for her wakefulness—she sprouted her first two teeth. But failure to sleep has been her pattern throughout her brief life. Insomnia at six months—or rather, from birth to six months, as she has never slept through the night.

While I was there, we had three adults tag-teaming to put her to sleep—her two parents and me. I suppose we each had a different way of doing things, and maybe that confused her. My daughter is now back at work, and her husband is on parental leave. Then he got injured and couldn’t lift the baby much, so that left me to handle the daytime sessions for a few days.

“I gave you a baby who napped,” my daughter told her husband and me after her child gave us one wakeful afternoon. “I don’t know what you did to her.”

Obviously, I didn’t mind the time spent with my granddaughter, but perhaps she objected to the rotation of caregivers. When I was on duty, it often took me 45 minutes to get her to sleep. I changed her and put her in her Baby Merlin Magic Sleepsuit (which has outlived its magic). I rocked her and fed her a bottle. I sang to her. She relaxed with eyes closed . . . until I actually placed her in her crib.

The process had to be repeated two or three times to reach success, and sometimes I never was successful.

After I tried my best, her father stepped in. He struggled on occasion as well, but sometimes baby fell quickly to sleep when dad took over.

“What’s your secret?” I asked him.

He grinned. “Right place, right time.”

Though even for her father, she often only napped for twenty minutes.

Despite her failure to sleep, the child is happy when awake. She plays well by herself and with caregivers. She eats well and has grown to almost 20 pounds. She is generally cheerful, though she can make her needs known loudly. Clearly, she is thriving.

If she would only sleep, she would be a perfect baby. As it is, like Mary Poppins, she is practically perfect in every way.

I don’t sleep well either. Perhaps she takes after her grandmother.

Today is her sixth month birthday. Happy half-birthday to my granddaughter!