We likely overdid it with Emi today. First, my parents came by in the morning to say goodbye before they left, then we went to the first family gathering, and we followed that up with a second family gathering. It was a busy day for her, and for us.
Before today, the farthest we’d taken her was to the doctor’s office. The most we’d done with her was a long walk around the neighbourhood. Generally, she’s managed fairly well, but nothing took more than about an hour, maybe two, round trip. Today, after a few hours saying goodbye, she was out of the house for a good eight hours. That’s too much for me, and, if she’s got any of my blood in her, then that would’ve been far too much for her.
When we got home in the evening, she was nearly inconsolable for about an hour. We tried feeding her breast milk and formula, giving her a soother, and bouncing her in the BabyBjorn and in my arms. Any reprieve was short lived. Eventually, she burped a couple of times before falling dead asleep on my chest. When we went to put her in her bassinet, she started up again. We can only assume that she’s overtired.
This is good learning for us: we have to set some strict limits on how long we keep her out and how much we do with her during that time. It’s about what’s best for her now, not how much we don’t want to upset others. That’s a hard switch for us to make but a necessary one. Eventually, she may end up not liking social events as much as we don’t.
Leave a Reply