Too soon?

Violet spent 30 minutes crying and rolling around the crib before she finally went down for her nap. Then, she slept for two hours. That’s an unusually long time for her. She was obviously tired, so why the battle? I know the theories – she doesn’t want to miss anything, she’s too excited, etc. I figure she’s nine months old now. Nearly a toddler. It’s time to treat her as such. So, this morning over breakfast, I fed her some oatmeal with sweet potatoes and cinnamon (I put the cinnamon in to soften her up), and I explained that it would make more sense if she just went to sleep when we put her down, instead of all that fussing. “You wouldn’t get so sweaty,” I said, “All that crying and yelling leaves you as slick as the day you were born. And that standing up and sitting down business you do before finally going to sleep. It’s unnecessary. I thought that by now, you’d be used to the routine. I take you into the bedroom. The curtains are closed so it’s nice and dark. I tell you I love you. Hey! It’s time to sleep!” I told her this and more. I thought I made a convincing case. The whole time, she was making a good show of looking at me, but I don’t think she was really listening.

277 days old