Jiggle, Jiggle.

My post-baby belly ain't the only thing jiggling 'round here.

I asked my husband the other night how on earth he manages to put Boogie to sleep so quickly and he confessed that he jiggled him to sleep.  He demonstrated in the air and I thought he was nuts-O.  But after trying to walk Boogie for an hour the following afternoon by myself, I decided to try it out. 

I was a little nervous about the whole Jiggle thing because of two things.  While I was pregnant, my semi-psychotic mother shouted out of the blue one day while I was cleaning her apartment, "Don't shake the baby!!!"
Um.  Ok.  I'll try not to, Ma.  It's not like they didn't show me the Purple Crying DVD in the hospital, doncha know.
Also!  After actually having a newborn, I became paranoid that I was gonna totally lose my cookies in an unforeseeable fit of parental psychosis brought upon by sleep dep and stress and, that's right, Ma, shake the baby!

So.  I was.  Wary.  And Skeptical.

But whatta ya know.  I put one hand on his shoulder and one hand on his hip while he was on his side in his crib and I started to bounce him.  Just a little bit.  Shallow bounce, rapid succession.  And BAM.  He was out like a light.  And I walked out of his room and he napped for almost 4 hours (He has had a cold and got his 6 mo. vaccs. the week prior).  I am curious about the physiological response this seems to trigger and will he progress to learn to self-sooth better as he grows?  Or will this somehow inhibit some important learning process...

I wonder how he will put himself to sleep when he's older?  I am NOT jiggling a teenager to sleep.  That's just plain weird.  And if he has future problems falling asleep, I'm gonna blame it on his Daddy and hope that he finds a new method.  Until then, we will finally be gettin' some sleep 'round these here parts agin.