All I want is for my baby to fall asleep. If only it were as simple as removing a stray food item from under her mattress! Chloë is now eight and a half months old and we - her naïve first time parents - have until now been rocking her to sleep in our arms. We are finding ourselves disenchanted with this method but the poor girl's sleep associations (and stubborness) are so strong that she will scream for hours if we try to put her down in her crib while she is still awake. We have officially been trying for 10 days now. We dance, we sing, we sit beside her, we rub her back, we blatantly ignore her... all to no avail. I know that each stage of trials in parenting will pass with time, the question is will I still be around to talk about it. The score as it stands is Chloë=10 Mama= 0.

Baby Chloë afloat in her yacht in her heated baby pool (our hottub lowered to 80).