A 4 a.m. stroll saves the day, er, uh, night

You know those people who choose career fields because they love a challenge? People like engineers and doctors who constantly seek new situations that require problem-solving and creativity? I have the solution for those people: take care of a baby! After running through the list of usual suspects as he cries - is he hungry? does he need a diaper change? etc. - it becomes increasingly difficult to figure out what's wrong. Last night particularly required extra patience and creativity.

Soon after Darrell III came home from work, Darrell IV was getting fussy. After he had eaten, been changed, burped and farted, I still couldn't calm him down, so my husband took over. It eventually turned out that he was cold! Something so simple that I just didn't think of and wrapping him in a warmer blanket did the trick... for a little while.

He became fussy again, and I just couldn't handle it anymore after being with him all day. So I set him in the bouncer and turned on the vibrator, and suddenly he quieted down. Maybe he just didn't want to be held? That lasted... for a little while. Then the crying turned on again and thank God Darrell III took over. We never figured out what was bothering him - was he in pain? was he overstimulated? was he bored? - but he eventually cried it out as Darrell rocked him and sang to him and gave him the pacifier (after repeated attempts).

At bedtime, he was truly sleeping and nursed only briefly before falling back asleep, so it looked as though it wouldn't be a rough night. Wrong. At quarter to 4 a.m., after nursing (and spitting up a bunch all over mom, himself and the bed as usual), he was still alert and getting increasingly fussier. I tried rocking him in the glider. I tried swaddling. He refused my breasts and the pacifier. He didn't seem cold or hot. His diaper was clean, and he'd burped and farted. What was the problem?!

Darrell loves the Sleepy Wrap!

In desperation, I put on some sweatpants and the Sleepy Wrap and slid him into the kangaroo-pouch-like carrier and then headed out the door. I walked around the courtyard and then in front of our building and then around the courtyard again... he calmed a bit, then a bit more... After about the fifth circuit, he was nearly asleep. I had been super tired, but the walk was actually nice. The loud white noise of the whirring air conditioning fans outside each unit probably helped lull him to sleep, and the temperature was perfect: balmy and breezy with a fresh summertime scent in the air. I made one more loop for good measure and then came inside, slid him out of the pouch and beside me in the bed, and finally laid down to sleep. (For two hours :)