um, hello.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Paige's sleeping has been so bad that I had a thought. All she does all night long is bash herself into the one corner of the crib. I thought what if we put the bumper pads in just to see! You may recall that I thought about doing this, oh, about 6 months ago??!

All we have ever been told at prenatal class, the hospital, from the public health nurse, and in every Canadian book, and SIDS article is that bumper pads should not be used. I have been looking just now and it even says that if you do choose to put bumper pads in the crib that they must be removed once the child can sit up. They make them sound so dangerous and scary and unsafe that no one in their right mind would endanger their child that way.

Well, I did. AND IT WORKED!! OMG, I put the bumper pads in last night just to see what happened. Trust me, I was nervous and went into her room twice to check on her. She only woke up ONCE...not 5, 6, 7 times, but once. When I went in there last night she was still in the center of the crib, ok fine. Went in there at 6:30, and no joke she was up against the usual corner, but WITH HER BLANKETS COMPLETELY OVER HER HEAD!!! Woops! Hmm, that could be a bit dangerous. I moved the blankets away and was happy to see that her nose or mouth wasn't squashed up against the side as they warn about. She woke up about 5 minutes after that probably because i woke her up, but she is sound asleep now.

I am a bit worried though about what she will do when she wakes up for the day. Normally she wakes up slowly then crawls around the crib or stands up. Last night when we showed her the bumpers it was obvious she thought it was something she could climb on. I am sort of worried that she will try to climb on it and slip--she won't fall out of the crib, there is no way..the mattress is down too low--but she could slip her legs through the bars or something, I don't know.

Anyway, in researching this, I talked to a couple of people and posted my dilemma on a message board. Right away about 3 people wrote back saying they had the same exact problem and that they had put the bumper pads "back" in. I assume from this that they are from the US and had the bumpers in to begin with but took them out at the suggested time, and they reinstalled them later when this problem started. I suppose last night could be an isolated night, and tonight she could wake up a million times. I somehow doubt it though when I actually saw the top of her head squished up against the side and she was sound asleep (and breathing). Hmm, I wish I didn't have to worry about this because I definitely don't like doing things that are not recommended. What would you do?? On all counts the bumper pads are supposed to be out no matter what at this age and stage.

Unrelated note: I waited till yesterday to try to feed Paige the "8 month +" food (still pureed but with slight chunks of vegetables or fruits in them). I was trying to feed her some beef somethingorother when she started choking! Anyway, long story short, she projectile vomited all over herself and the kitchen. I felt AWFUL! So she is going to stick to the 6 month food. Her little body has been concentrating on crawling and climbing, and is not ready for these foods yet, thank you very much.

After this post I'll probably be arrested.