Maintenance

Maintaining your car means changing the oil every 2000 miles, or oiling your leather shoes every winter, or using a coaster keeps water rings from staining your coffee table. Objects require maintenance and yet this word has been rolling around in my head about Charlie every day. If he falls asleep while you are bouncing you have to maintain the sleep with bouncing. If he is being patted or swayed, this too must be continued in order to maintain his sleep. If he doesn't get enough sleep during the day, then he won't sleep at night. So even his overall sleep must be maintained.
This is, of course, not a phenomena that is unique to Charlie. All babies like rhythmic movement and/or soothing noise while they fall asleep. When I told Jonathan some people think this is because babies remember being bounced and swayed in their mother's womb, he suggested I go on bed rest for the entirety of my next pregnancy. Since we didn't have the foresight to try this during my pregnancy with Charlie, we have been experimenting with what exactly will maintain our little cherub's sleep. Here is what we have discovered:

Holding Bounce and Sway--
Pros include snuggling with sleepy baby.
Cons are aching arms, tired back, and it's unpredictable success rate.
Produces 20-45 min of sleep...if you can transfer baby to bed without waking.

Sling--
Pros are having hands free and
Cons your front sticks out as much as when I was pregnant

Bouncy Seat--

Pros screaming baby is soon reduced to sleeping baby and it only takes a toe to keep it bouncing.
Cons are that you must stay next to the bouncy seat at all times and all the songs in your head, as well as any other task you are attempting end up being done in the same rhythm as the bounce. (For example, I do not recommend brushing your teeth and bouncing a bouncy seat...gums get gouged that way. I've had limited success with chopping veggies, but only if I cut every time my right foot goes down, which makes very slow work of it. )
Produces 45 min nap maximum.

Glider Car Seat Combo is today's experiment and is winning points for both it's hands-free application and for the longevity--2 hours and 15 min so far!