A lesson learned and a baby settled.

I feel that God has been so faithful to me this week and he used my friend, Maya to call me back to Him. I have been having so much trouble settling Grace. I was getting quite desperate as day after day, night after night, it was taking over an hour to get her to sleep for naps / bed. I wanted to give up, but the thought of more hours of an awake (and grizzly overtired) baby was motivation to keep trying.
 
I knew Grace’s routine had been shot to pieces – what with the house move and staying at other people’s places over Christmas, not to mention the new environment of the van. I was doing my absolute best to reintroduce some kind of routine eg. Nap times, feed times, and bath times. She was still proving difficult to settle. I was using Tizzie’s techniques (www.saveoursleep.com.au) but they weren’t working. It was Maya’s advice that did. She explained how she has to get herself in the right frame of mind when she puts her boys to sleep. She has to decide to be calm and relaxed.
 
Later, as she was leaving, Maya gave Grace a sleep blessing. Why didn’t I think to stop and pray and ask God to help put Grace to sleep? I’ve been so absorbed in all my hassles (and there are thousands of them) that I didn’t think to rely on my faith. I feel like a fool. It was that faith that brought Grace to life in the first place!!!
 
So, duly chastised, I decided to pray for her each time I put her into the cot for a sleep. I asked God to give her sleep quickly. I asked that He would be her security and there it was, spelled out in the Bible verses book we read each night at bedtime, a promise for safety and rest. So we went to bed with a prayer and a decision that I would sing a song of praise as I put her to sleep
 
I also decided, rather than Tizzie’s approach (which would work in a safer environment like home) I needed to just hold Grace until she fell asleep. More than anything right now, she needed to know she was safe. She needed to know that although the world was changing all around her, I was still there holding her as she went to sleep. And more than that, I needed to know that the Lord was still here holding me as my world changes. This is not like a holiday where you go home and everything returns to normal. We have no home to go to at the end of this trip. We travel from this trip into a new life and we have no idea what that life will look like or even if we’ll be able to afford it.
 
After three or four days of praying and singing and cuddling, Grace is beginning to settle more quickly. I’m relieved and grateful – both to Maya for her wise advice and to God for his faithfulness.