Babysitting and Babies in Bumbos

So we babysat our friends Matt and Lisa's daughter, Nuala, this week, which was a bit of an adventure. It's amazing how different babies can be, in their expressions, movements and cries. You'd think that because we have a baby, we'd be good at calming another baby. We didn't do too badly but about halfway through, I think she realized we weren't her parents and got pissed.

We pulled out all the Amelia-soothing-methods but none of them worked. Maybe nothing could have worked simply because we weren't Mom and Dad but it's still interesting that babies can be so different. Actually Chris did get her to calm down in the end with the patented forward-facing bounce (a favourite in our house) but we did learn that not all baby crying is created equal (Nuala starts hers with a pitch that isn't even audible to the human ear).

And seeing Caren's daughter this week reinforced the same thing. Cayla and Amelia are only three weeks apart but seem like different species sometimes. That doesn't stop Caren and me from comparing notes incessantly but it shows why most baby books don't really work that well because there are such huge differences from child to child.

Having said that, I'm reading an awesome book right now ("Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child"). It was recommended by a friend who had read several and liked this one the best. It's great because it's VERY evidence/research based and instead of saying, "this is the approach you should take" the author identifies many different types of babies and says, "if this is your type of baby, this is the approach that will probably work best." It's great so far.

So far with parenting, I've found it's been a bit of a challenge to reconcile the things you read (and agree with while you're reading them) with what your parents recommend (and did with you), what friends suggest, and what your heart tells you. So far, this really only applies to sleeping but I can just imagine that it gets more and more complicated (I'm dreading discipline) as time goes on.

On one hand, you don't want to spoil your child or create bad habits but on the other hand, if your heart had its way, you'd never put your child down or be separated from her for a second.

I think that each couple just needs to find their own way and do what they think is best (after taking in information from a variety of sources) and hopefully they have loving, supportive families (like we do!) that respect their choices. And know that these decisions probably don't make that big of a deal in the long run. I keep thinking of Amelia as a little nut that's sprouted and growing: as long as we give her ample nourishment (food, sleep, love), she'll be fine. It's great if we can also enrich the soil but either way, she's going to grow into the tree that she's destined to become.


Cayla:
Amelia:
Nuala (she was happy right before I took this pic, I swear!):