Sleeping In Motion By Kate

Followers of this blog may recall our daughter's reluctance to sleep during the daytime unless she is in motion in some way. Successful strategies have included being walked in the sling, chauffeured in the car and being pushed in the buggy. Apart from the middle option (which we rarely use), it's all good exercise for Mummy and Daddy, but it can be a bit tiring. Not to mention inconvenient if we want to get something done or really bloody inconvenient if the weather is being unhelpful.

I had started to fantasise about an invention which could be attached to the buggy and simulate the motion of us pushing it around the streets of Madrid. OK, perhaps without the dogs barking, the over-loud motorbikes and the passing tantrumming toddlers.

I had even gone as far as discussing the idea with Theo's dad, a highly practical man and an engineer by trade, he immediately took a keen interest in the idea of developing a prototype.

Then some kindly person pointed out that such an invention already existed, nay, had even featured on the popular TV show Dragons' Den and furthermore, was available via an Ebay seller for the discounted price of £35.

I didn't hesitate. My Paypal account was duly raided and a Baby Dream Machine (for such is its name) was put in the post.

We call it the Trusty Buggy Trundler and it works a treat, as you can see from the clip below (although beware motion sickness). Rosie nods off within about ten minutes of the thing being started up and generally stays asleep until we turn it off again. Genius!

She is the passenger - by Theo

Before we left for Cathy & Jean's, a 1000km journey, which, sticking to Spanish and French speed limits, is about 9 hours, Kate started a thread on Facebook which got a swift and speedy response. She asked how Rosie, on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being the infanta Jesusina (no crying she makes) and 10 being the sister of Satan, would cope with the trip.

Most respondents figured we'd get an hour of quiet reflection followed by 10 to 11 hours (allowing for stops) of the kind of hell on four wheels usually reserved for Chevy Chase movies.

But it turned out that Rosie is basically the world's best infant passenger (in our humble opinion). Sure, she whinged a bit, but no more than she would have done out of the car, and thanks to Kate's tireless entertainment efforts Rosie napped, ate, laughed and chortled most of the way there, and most of the way back. Hurrah!

Cats or Cars? - by Theo

What's a good analogy for having a young baby? Cats and Cars, is what I've come up with.

Babies sleep anywhere, any cradle, any chair, often in the most uncomfortable looking positions. Any stranger's lap will also do, apparently. In this sense, babies are just like cats, even to the extent of the sudden startles or strange mewlings they make while deeply asleep - extremely cute during the daytime, rather trying at night when you're trying to get some shut eye yourself. Sometimes they want to be cuddled, sometimes they don't - there's no second guessing them. They have this totally selfish, innocent integrity; they are out for no 1, and blow the rest of you. They make a mess in the house and feedings are unpredictable - after complaining about their hunger they occasionally turn their noses up at the proffered food. Like cats, they also scratch, which I hadn't realised - those little nails can wound! Biting soon to come, I imagine.

In another sense though, babies are just like cars. They need fuel, maintenance, cleaning and there's a seemingly never ending stream of paperwork to be completed. Plus there's the regular, nerve-wracking check-ups and mechanical examinations; you're pretty sure nothing is wrong, but even so you dread the worst, get seriously concerned when the senior mechanic... sorry doctor... starts pointing things out to a junior colleague and breath a huge sigh of relief when the words "all fine" are uttered. Like at Rosie's hip scan on Monday. Plus, as with car ownership, having a baby means you suddenly become fair game for everyone's two-pennies worth on how to care for it and what route to take. The amount of advice that comes the way of parents is astounding, confusing and contradictory - there is no consensus. Most of it we reject, some of it is clearly dangerous, a lot belongs to the rubbish-dump of bad medical thinking, but all of it taken together would be enough to make a less arrogant... sorry, confident, father doubt themselves and their instincts. Like the pediatrician yesterday telling us that carrying Rosie in a sling was bad for her. "How do you think parents carried babies before prams were invented?" was my riposte, to which she had no reply.

Of course, unlike cars, you can't choose your baby. Not that we'd change anything about our lovely little mini!