babee tales

I have just succeeded in getting baby sam to sleep after 2 hrs. Phew! After a week of caring for her without the confinement lady, I am still trying to get the hang of her habits, her likes and dislikes and her little quirks. Meanwhile, I thought I had better pen down some tips for getting a fussy baby to sleep, lest I forget.

1. There are a few positions she likes to be carried in. Preference is for the "Hang me over your shoulder" hold. Not sure why she likes this, but most times, this hold gets her to calm down quite fast. Next, is the "Superman" hold, somewhat like Superman flying in the sky. Interestingly, I just saw a baby documentary that mentioned that a lot of babies like this hold, and here I was thinking my daughter is weird for liking this seemingly uncomfortable position. The last is the conventional "cradling" position. This only works when she is generally calm and almost falling asleep.

2. Music is an important factor in getting baby sam to sleep. Lullabies are good, namely rock-a-bye-baby. I think I must have sung it like 100 times in the 2 hrs it took me to get her to sleep. When songs fail, saying "Shh, shh, shh" in a rhythmic fashion also helps. Just like nat, sam also falls asleep to the french boy choir "Le Choriste".The music should be accompanied by gentle tapping on the back.

3. Breast is best. This option may not always work.When she is in the mood, suckling at the breast calms her down and she falls asleep just seconds after suckling. When she is not in the mood, suckling at the breast just pisses her off and she ends up bawling after delatching from the breast for the umpteenth time. I guess it doesn't help that sometimes, when the breast is full of milk, it ends up spraying all over her face, making her even more upset.

4. Try not to let her fall asleep in the late evening, after 6pm. I find that if she has little naps after 6pm, it's really hard to get her to sleep at 8pm. If she is kept awake, she generally falls asleep quite easily by 8pm. But, of course, it's not easy to prevent a sleepy baby from falling asleep, especially one who has learnt to nod off amidst the screaming from her siblings at play.

5. Dance lessons are essential. Sometimes, as I dance around with baby sam in my arms, I feel like I have just taken up ballroom dancing, the waltz in particular. Again, this motion calms her down and her loud cries turn to soft whimpers, as I waltz from the living room to the bedroom and back again.