I am sure that this particular topic will be regressed many times over the years but I find in funny how we have become quite 'creative' when it comes to entertaining our son. First things first, we must admit that he was quite the fussy guy the first few weeks of life so most of the time we were at wits end for calming measures. After reading "The Happiest Baby on the Block" book, we felt that we were armed with a wealth of knowledge to soothe at even the most cranky of times. The book focuses on measures of calming a baby by swaddling, swinging, shushing, side laying, and sucking. 2 of 5 measures works for us, as it took many failed attempts of swinging, dangling the poor child over our arm, and stuffing a pacifier in his mouth to learn that he loves to be wrapped as tight as you can get him and that white noise at loud volumes can be instant shutter-uppers. Where does one find white noise? The book mentions making a loud shhhhhh sound in their ear that is louder than their crying to calm them down. Well noted, but we found ourselves on the verge of passing out from lack of breath as well as covering his ear in spittle. Effectiveness points but ease of use not so much. Out of frustration one night I cut on the bathroom fan and dragged my husband into the bathroom. Instant silence. How blissful!! This trick worked for a couple of weeks, one could hear the distinct rattle of the fan and know that our son is 'acting up'. We quickly learned that hanging out in a dark bathroom for an hour at a time was not quite convenient and was obtrusive to real life. Then I discovered that there IS an app for that. My itouch (best gift ever!) could download an app that plays several kinds of white noise; from airplanes to trains to static from the radio. At last! A portable shushing option! Now I do not go anywhere with Noah without bringing a fully charged ipod with me. It totally comes in handy when you can hook it up to the car speakers for a full surround effect when I am driving with a screaming baby.
Our child has never taken to the nice rocking chair or swing that we have for him to enjoy. He likes to be jiggled just enough for his head to bounce around just a bit, enough to put him right to sleep. We were walking miles jiggling our arms to get him to sleep, and let me tell you, ones shoulders take quite the beating for such activities. Hence we discovered another creative trick; the white exercise ball. We first purchased the ball several weeks ago to aid in the discomfort of pregnancy as well as to deal with the stages of labor. Best 9 bucks for pregnancy as well as putting the baby to sleep. In a way its better than the rocking chair because I can kick in anywhere in the house and sit and bounce away. The first time we tried it, he instantly melted in our arms and we knew this was going to be the new way to get him calm and to sleep. We have mastered this skill by using the boppy pillow to support his weight (yay for the shoulders) and tucking the white noise ipod in the crook of our arm by his ear. Apparently hours spent on the exercise ball should reap benefits of a rowdy six pack of abs. We will see about that....
And the final latest creative venture...the swing....
Dinner around here is a sprint event, as our son is typically awake during the dinner hour, we generally shovel food in our faces like a fat kid at a buffet amid the ear piercing cries of our boy who has been shamelessly PUT DOWN (horror!) so that they can eat dinner with both hands. He can hang in his playpen for a mere 2 minutes before he realizes that he is not being held and the screaming ensues. We do understand that this is a newborn baby and that we cannot possibly spoil him at this point in his life, but as we end up holding this little guy about 15 hours a day, there comes a point in the day that you want a little break and to be a tiny bit selfish and enjoy your meal. We tried the swing and for the past week have just eaten dinner with the soothing background vocals of our son. Sunday, we visited a friend whose son is a couple weeks older and they had a neat swing contraption with a nest and a vibrating chair. We were sure that he would love this other type of swing as it was like a huge papasan chair that swings side to side. We eagerly placed him in it, cranked it up...and scream-city. What the hell we thought, lets try the vibrating chair as he probably will hate that too. Placed him in it, turned it on, gave him the pacifier....and no shit, he was asleep in 3 minutes! One of the only times I have ever seen him fall asleep with out a boob or someone holding him. We were on a mission. I had one lined up from a friend, but the night before, its dinner time and we are setting him up for the usual vocal-slam your dinner fest. A couple minutes into dinner over the deafning sounds, my husband runs off exclaiming that he had an idea. He comes back downstairs yielding his hair trimmer, with the safety on, and places it in a plastic bag. Upon sticking in the swinging chair near my son's leg....you can almost see him sigh in relief. His little body relaxes, his eyes begin the slow blink, and moments later we are all enjoying a quiet dinner. Who knew?
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