Sunday, December 24, 2006
Get your baby to sleep with ... an electric toothbrush
Yup, you've read that title right. We have a lot of trouble to get our 4 month-old girl to sleep. She just doesn't want to go to sleep and tries to resist the temptation to sleep. And what's more: just before she gets to sleep, she's even angry about the fact that she's drowsy. This 'fight' against her sleep can take any time from 15 minutes (at best!) to an hour or more.
But her exposition of character doesn't stop there. She hates to be put in bed because she knows that that should be her cue to go to sleep. That results in even harder protests. This makes it hard for us to see if she's really tired or not. To make it more confusing: she can get so angry that she keeps herself awake. And finally my wife imposed a no-crying policy, so she always has to deal with this protesting little girl.
Since she can keep herself up at night until it's our turn to go to bed, the three of us go to bed at the same time. We lay our little girl in bed, with no success of course. Last night I let her fuss in her little bed, while I brushed my teeth. It then occured to me that she stopped crying right at the moment I switched on the electric toothbrush. The white noise keeps her mind of of her fight with her sleep
When were all in bed and ready to go to sleep, our little girl was still loudly protesting. We tried all kinds of things, but nothing seemed to do the job. I already jokingly offered my wife my electric toothbrush to keep her quiet. At first she laughed and refused my offer, but after about 40 minutes she was ready for any proposal. And yes, as soon as she switched on the brush, it caught the attention of our baby girl. Well that's at least something!
We put the toothbrush under her bed and tried to go to sleep. And it worked! Well, more or less. Our baby finally went to sleep after some time, but the noise kept my wife awake. But we at least had some tool to keep our baby quiet! So I went to sleep with the comforting thought that I maybe had the solution to our problem. As strange as the solution may be, nothing is strange anymore at 1:00 in the night. Everything that works is welcomed then.
The next night our baby was fighting with her sleep again. But now we had our secret weapon: the electric toothbrush. Though my wife was reluctant to use it, since the harsh noise kept her up, I insisted on using it again. But no, my hope was brutally smashed. Our little girl was quiet at first but after 5 minutes she cried again. So much for alternative solutions. I guess we have to look for another solution or accept this phase of hers for now...
But her exposition of character doesn't stop there. She hates to be put in bed because she knows that that should be her cue to go to sleep. That results in even harder protests. This makes it hard for us to see if she's really tired or not. To make it more confusing: she can get so angry that she keeps herself awake. And finally my wife imposed a no-crying policy, so she always has to deal with this protesting little girl.
Since she can keep herself up at night until it's our turn to go to bed, the three of us go to bed at the same time. We lay our little girl in bed, with no success of course. Last night I let her fuss in her little bed, while I brushed my teeth. It then occured to me that she stopped crying right at the moment I switched on the electric toothbrush. The white noise keeps her mind of of her fight with her sleep
When were all in bed and ready to go to sleep, our little girl was still loudly protesting. We tried all kinds of things, but nothing seemed to do the job. I already jokingly offered my wife my electric toothbrush to keep her quiet. At first she laughed and refused my offer, but after about 40 minutes she was ready for any proposal. And yes, as soon as she switched on the brush, it caught the attention of our baby girl. Well that's at least something!
We put the toothbrush under her bed and tried to go to sleep. And it worked! Well, more or less. Our baby finally went to sleep after some time, but the noise kept my wife awake. But we at least had some tool to keep our baby quiet! So I went to sleep with the comforting thought that I maybe had the solution to our problem. As strange as the solution may be, nothing is strange anymore at 1:00 in the night. Everything that works is welcomed then.
The next night our baby was fighting with her sleep again. But now we had our secret weapon: the electric toothbrush. Though my wife was reluctant to use it, since the harsh noise kept her up, I insisted on using it again. But no, my hope was brutally smashed. Our little girl was quiet at first but after 5 minutes she cried again. So much for alternative solutions. I guess we have to look for another solution or accept this phase of hers for now...
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