Regret

So all you moms have heard of the "Moro Reflex", right? If not let me tell you what it is..in short it's that falling sensation you get sometimes when you're on your back. If you'd like a more detailed explanation then go here.

When I had just had Sophia and we were in the hospital the nurses were helping me learn how to breastfeed. Soph, like most babies, kept falling asleep on the boob so I asked the nurses what I could do to keep her awake. All of them told me to either undress her so she wasn't too warm and/or to raise her up in the air because it would startle her. Well, being a new mom I didn't think it was bad..how was I supposed to know? So I did what the educated people told me to do and it worked!

Fast forward about two weeks after bringing Sophia home from the hospital. None of us are getting any sleep. She wakes nearly every 30 minutes because of this moro reflex kicking in. So my mom comes to visit and tells me that Sophia isn't getting good rest. Leave it to mom to know. She puts Sophia to sleep on her tummy and we all sleep peacefully.

Fast forward again to today. She's 9 months old. Every Friday we have gymnastics from 12:15 to 1:00. It's just across the bridge from where we live. Today just happens to be sunny and gorgeous..not too cold..perfect day to walk to and from Soph's class. So I pack her up with some bottles and diapers and extra change of clothes and off we go. On the way she's bopping around with her little hat with the pom poms and wearing her blue shades. Happy as can be. Coming home was a totally different story. She was exhausted. It was going on 2 pm and she'd been awake since 10:20. She cried and screamed all the way across the bridge and I was walking as fast as I could to get her home for a nap. I stop at the light and look at her and poor baby girl is leaning forward in her stroller with her head dropping down banging on the front bar. I tried to get her to lean back but that moro reflex must have kicked in because she would have none of it.

I wish I could find those nurses again and tell them they are horrible for telling new parents to do what they told me. I wonder how many other new moms are paying the price now? And I wonder if Sophia will ever be able to sleep on her back?!