I slowly opened my eyes and reached for my phone to check the time. It showed 11:25 am. I still felt very tired. I could feel that my neck pain has grown worse than the previous day. My shoulder was hurting too. Why wouldn’t it? I had walked for almost 40 minutes carrying my toddler to put her to sleep.
My baby was still sleeping quietly. I slowly got up from bed to start my routine and guess what she woke up immediately and started following me to the bathroom. I screamed, ‘give me a break’ inside my head.
As the evening approached, I knew she would be really sleepy and would go to bed early as our previous night’s sleep was not great. I bathed her and fed her dinner and put on her new PJ that I had ordered from carters and she was all set to go to bed.
I breast fed her and she slept within minutes. I was super happy and slowly walked to the bed room to place her on the bed.
She woke up with a loud cry and demanded to feed her more. I fed her and fed her and fed her for more than 30 minutes. She did not sleep yet. I decided to try the previous night’s trick. I walked. No luck.
She loves listening to music. In fact, she loves falling asleep while listening to music. That’s how she slept in her first few months. I played her favorite Indian classical songs and waited for her to fall asleep. She seemed to enjoy listening to those songs but didn’t show a sign of going back to bed. My energy levels were too low to walk again.
I saw the clock and it said 1:10 am. I wanted to sleep so badly but I was more worried about my baby’s weird behaviour. She asked for more mommy’s milk and I suddenly realized that she has been feeling insecure. Then came the ‘aha’ moment.
Her dad has been out of town for the last two days and this little munchkin has been missing him so much and hence the insecurity!! wow!! It didn’t occur to me and I scolded myself for not understanding her emotions.
I immediately called my husband and she grabbed the phone from me as if she was waiting for the moment. As she was responding to her dad, I sensed the relaxation in her cute little face. I was so amazed by the way she is emotionally connected with us and the love she has for her dad.
After few minutes, she even handed the phone over to me and said, ‘video’ !!I am so impressed, my little girl!We did video calling for sometime and as dad was running late for his flight and mom was super sleepy already, we decided to disconnect.
My baby felt more peaceful, calm and secured after the call. I walked for few minutes with her on my shoulder and then she slept.
You know what, I am kind of moved and overwhelmed. Babies are far more emotionally attached than we think and the way they express is so touching. I nearly cried as I saw the serene expression on her face while she was still sleeping.
Love you,my little miracle!!
Mommy Me 
This brought me to tears! First of all, I’m super impressed that you only screamed “give me a break” in your head and not out loud! Ha! Second of all, you have no idea how many times I have thought something was physically wrong with my toddler only to find out that something was bothering her emotions, and not her physical needs. It’s so important to treat emotional/social needs on the same level as physical needs like food, water, and sleep! Thank you for reminding me of that today!
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Thank you for taking time to read my post. Yes, the incident was real eye opener for me and I am glad I was able to figure the way to calm her down. We have so much to learn from our kids!
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