Matt and I have many silly songs for Simon. Some, like “Surf Champ”, are based on his clothing. Others, like “My Very Own Amazing Baby”, come from lines in books. But a few are from daily life, including “Simon Is a Baby Who Likes to Swing”. It goes like this:
Who is a baby that likes to swing?
Who is a baby that likes to swing?
Who is a baby that likes to swing?
Simon is a baby that likes to swing.He likes to swing in his room. Cha, Cha, Cha.
He likes to swing on the porch. Cha, Cha, Cha.
He likes to swing in the park. Cha, Cha, Cha.
And anywhere else there’s a swing, he’ll swing‘Cause Simon is a baby who likes to swing
Simon is a baby who likes to swing
Simon is a baby who likes to swing
Simon is a baby and he loves to swing
Simon is a baby
Simon is a baby
Simon is a baby and he loves…to swing.
It’s catchy as all get-out. Trust us.
The thing is, Simon is no longer a baby who swings in his room. While the official weight limit for the Graco Bounce ‘n’ Swing is 25 pounds, Simon has clearly outgrown it. He’s too active to hang out in the swing during the day now, and he no longer uses it to nap, either.
We got into the habit of having Simon nap in the swing when he was reflux-y and fussy in his younger days. Then, once we unswaddled him, the swing was our primary means of calming. It was our crutch. Long after Simon began falling asleep in bed-well, in our bed to be honest-he still napped in the swing.
About two weeks ago, Matt and I decided that it was time to begin proper sleep training before we had a baby who would only fall asleep in a swing or in our bed. At the same time, we noticed that Simon wasn’t sleeping as well in the swing as he used to. It took him longer to doze off, and he frequently woke up the minute a CD stopped playing or once he hit an active part of sleep and stirred a bit. Was it the music ending that disturbed him? Or was he simply too cramped?
There was only one way to find out. We decided to do two things right away. One was to put Simon down on our bed for naps. The other was to try putting him down in his crib at night. (Previously he’d fall asleep in our bed and we’d move him later on.) We figured the next phase would be putting him in his crib for all sleeping.
Night one, Simon cried for about ten minutes. He started out sounding pretty mad, but then settled into a weak, unconvincing whine. Then he passed out. When we put him down night two, he simply rolled over onto his side and went to sleep. Ditto night three.
Emboldened by our unlikely success, we decided to put him down in his crib for naps, too. We’d play with him until he seemed tired. Go into our room for some quiet play time. And once he rubbed an eye or was happy to lie down, off he’d go to the crib. And each time, he rolled over onto his side and passed out.
So that was easy! And cute. Simon consistently lets us know when he’s ready to sleep by flipping over on his side-usually facing away from us-while clutching dirty duck, dirty dog, or (poignantly) a water bottle. Within minutes of this flip, he’s off in dreamland.
It’s a lovely development all round, but I’m really going to miss our song!