Why Batteries Should Grow On Trees In My Backyard

Kiki took her second try at sleeping in her new bed last night. All was going well, until about 3am. She cried out and was a bit confused, so I went in to comfort her. I turned on her ladybug night light. It glowed soothingly. Kiki said "Monkey."

Let me explain. Kiki has a Fisher Price Rain Forest crib soother that makes rain forest noises and gently glows with a swinging monkey, hopping frog and bubbling fish. She first had one in the NICU, and it always did the trick in calming her, so she was graciously given one for Christmas when she was home just a few days.

So I turned on her sound maker. It turned off again after about 3 seconds. "Monkey?" I turned it back on, and it promptly turned off again.

"How could this be," I thought. I had changed the batteries only 2 days ago. Come to think of it, the crickets HAD sounded a bit weak and that rendition of Frere Jacques DID sound a tad sick when I tested it. And since I had changed the batteries so recently, I knew that there were no more C batteries in the house.

So I spent the next hour or so trying to coax Kiki to sleep without her "monkey." Eventually,after putting her back in her crib, she dozed off and stayed asleep the rest of the night.

So the top item on my "To Do" list? Check that we have replacement batteries for all "essential" child rearing devices.