Magic Swing

This is Emily's newest nap spot!  Her swing!  Believe me, I thought I had tried everything to get Emily to nap somewhere other than in my arms.  Her bassinet, her crib--both in a darkened room with and without white noise.  In her swing, bouncer, car seat, etc.  Tried 'em all.  Or so I thought.  I had tried the swing, but I hadn't tried putting her in the swing once she was already asleep.  I'd always put her in it awake.  The trick is apparently to wait until she's asleep and then put her in the swing.

She had her first day at Ms. Ruth's last week.  I had seriously been concerned that Ruth might tell us she couldn't take care of Emily--I mean, she takes care of multiple other children too so if Emily was going to need to be held all day I was ready for her to tell us she was too much to handle.  Lo and behold, when I picked Emily up after her first day, Ruth said she took a 2 hour nap that afternoon.  I immediately assumed that meant Ruth held her all afternoon, but no she said Emily slept in the swing.  WHAT--for TWO HOURS!?!?  I quickly asked exaclty what she had done so we could repeat it at home and sure enough, it worked!  I've since had several days in a row where Emily has napped anywhere from 30 minutes up to an hour and a half in her swing at home.  Hallelujah (trumpets sounding in the background)!!  It's like I'm a new woman!  We've all benefited from this--not only can I get caught up on (or at least stay on top of) chores at home, but more importantly it means Noah gets some one-on-one attention now too.  And I think Emily probably sleeps better this way too.  And everyone knows a well rested baby is a much happier baby.

Thank you Ruth for discovering the magic swing!!  I'm not sure we can give you enough praise for that!!