Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Do I Seem Like a Zombie to You?

The third feature of a high needs baby is that they are draining.

I'm sure any parent of any baby can say that they feel like their energy is just not like it used to be before the baby.  Parenting is a difficult, and energy sucking job.  Just when you think the baby is down for their nap and you settle in to take your own, or settle down with the fourth load of laundry to fold, the baby wakes up and you have to spend another 15 minutes getting them back to sleep.

However, with a high needs baby sleep is a luxury.

I, so naively, believed that my baby would be one of those babies that, when put down in the crib for nap time, would immediately fall asleep and sleep for two hours.  WRONG!!!!  My baby is the worst napper ever.  It used to stress me out to no end.  But I've just come to accept it.  Yet, his lack of long naps is very draining.  I haven't had a nap for myself since he was a newborn (except last week when I couldn't get out of bed I was so sick).  That little fact wouldn't be so bad if his awake time was less demanding.  He constantly needs attention and entertainment.  These last few weeks he has gotten much better about entertaining himself for more than 15 minutes.  But on really needy days I can't even walk away from him without a complete meltdown.  Some days this drains my resources more than others.  Some days I enjoy holding my baby all day, but others all I do is look around the house at all that needs to get done that won't get done today.

"You will need to muster up as much of a positive attitude as you can; try to think of these "draining" days as "giving" days."  The good news is that the energy that is being drained from me is not being wasted.  It is going into loving my son and giving him the best possible environment to grow and learn in.  So on the days when all he will let me do is sit with him no further than two feet away, I just remember that I am making big deposits in the life of my son.

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