As I was saying, nighttime is regularly still rough in the Hyland, Pratt, Niemeijer household. Last night was a reminder in what not to do--to not forget the basic checklists when trying to figure out why your child is upset/won't sleep.

These days, or should I say nights, when Ruby is fussy we generally put it down to teething. At the end of the day, or should I say night, it's just a guess though; how many babes do you know who will patiently let you study their gums? I'm lucky if I get a peek while she's hanging upside down during some rough and tumble play (that deals with the top teeth only alas).

So anyways, even though Ruby went to bed at a reasonable time and was out like a light, come 9pm she was not to be settled. Would snooze, wake up, nurse forever, snooze, wake up, nurse. It's like a button was stuck on repeat. At 11pm I gave up. Gave up being regretful about not having gotten any shut eye since 9pm (yes, so much for an early bedtime to catch on sleep!). Gave up trying to settle babe. We get up, give her some teething stuff, let her suck on a chamomile icecube and David takes her for a long long walk. Back from walk, she's fast asleep, but wakes up as soon as we transfer to the bed. Up I get this time and decide to let her putz around. And then the moment of truth came to me--checklists.

A long long time ago we went to a class on newborn care. There they go over a checklist of things to evaluate when your babe is upset. Is babe hungry? Is babe sleepy? Does babe need to be burped? Is babe too hot or too cold? Does babe's diaper need to be changed? What, say that again, diaper might need to be changed? Hmm. Smell diaper. Oops, stinks. Hey, our babe doesn't poop at night. Well she did now. Quick change--yikes, that must have been there a long time, because babe's butt is bright flaming red. Poor babe. Silly parents.

Diaper changed, some more nursing and Ruby was again, finally, out like a light for the night. At 2am. It just took us five hours to figure out how to help her sleep. Maybe a little more sleep in our household would make us remember those checklists.