Yahoo Lifestyle Bizarre ways to get your baby to sleep
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As most parents will agree, when it comes to getting your baby to sleep, you will try anything. And by that we mean anything.
For instance, have you ever wandered through a park and wondered why there is an apparently crazed woman marching along, pushing her pram over all the bumpy bits of grass when there’s a perfectly smooth pram-friendly path right there? Or have you ever been concerned at the sight of a haggard-looking man driving a tiny baby around in his car at 1am?
Don’t call the Social Services. These are not dangerous people who need to be locked up but more likely exhausted parents exercising desperate measures to get their babies to GO TO SLEEP!
The hairdryer method
Karen and Kenny: “We’d heard that ‘white noise’ can help babies to sleep because it mimics the sound of the womb so we decided to experiment with the hairdryer. Unfortunately, we became a little too reliant on this trick - our flat was beginning to sound like an airport flight path.
“One night Kenny came home from work and berated me for having the heating on all day. I had to confess I’d had the hairdryer blasting out for two hours and inadvertently heated the entire flat. We have since discovered there are ‘white noise’ apps you can download to create the same sounds but without the electricity costs.”
The bouncing ball
Helen & Simon: “We used to take turns all evening sitting and bouncing up and down on a fitness ball in front of the TV because the motion was the only thing that seemed to get the baby to sleep. We were so used to doing it – and so tired – we didn’t even realise how silly we looked until the couple from next door popped round one evening and Mark spent the entire visit bouncing up and down while chatting with a completely straight face. Eventually, they couldn’t contain themselves any longer and burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of it. ”
The rough terrain ride
Sarah: “Every morning I used to walk down my street pushing my son along in the pram, but instead of using the pavement I would struggle along the grass verge because the bumpy ground helps him to sleep. As a single mum it was a difficult time. “One morning, when I was so exhausted I was on the verge of tears, a woman walked over to me, put a hand on my arm and said very sympathetically, ‘Rough terrain? Don’t worry, it does get easier.’ After bursting into tears on her she went on to explain that she spent a tough year doing exactly the same thing. We’re now great friends.”
Night-time road trips
Lucy & Craig: “The sound and motion of the car engine was the only thing that would get our son to sleep. We would take turns to drive around the streets in the middle of the night. The only problem was, as soon as we got home he would wake up again so we’d end up back to square one. In the end we bought a motorised rocker chair. The best $90 we’ve ever spent.”
Related gallery: Five baby sleep myths busted
The rhythmic shusssshhhh
Lee & Mark: “The first time I ever went out after having a baby, I returned at 1.30am to find Mark in the kitchen with our eight-month-old daughter, in front of the cooker with just the cooker light on, doing squats and making a very a loud “shhhhh” noise on each dip. ‘What are you doing?’ I said. ‘I’ve tried every possible combination of noises, moves and lighting arrangements and this is the only thing that will get her to sleep. I’ve just got to keep going.’ Bless him.”
The shipping forecast
Amy & Rob: “We spent one very long evening trying to get our daughter to sleep but she was ‘lively’ to say the least. We decided to put the radio on quietly to see if the background noise would help and as soon as the shipping forecast came on she fell asleep. As an experiment we decided to record it. Now we play it to her every night and bar the occasional ‘bad night’ it works like a dream.”
The Rolling Stones
Jo and Dan: “When our son was a newborn we were told that singing to them can really help them to fall asleep as the sound of the parents’ voices is so familiar. Realising that we didn’t know the words to any nursery rhymes we started singing gentle, melodic versions of the songs we did know. The nursery rhyme version of The Stones’ ‘I Can’t Get No Satisfaction’ still calms him down on those bad nights, 18 months down the line.”
Rock-a-Bye Baby
Lucy & John: “We bought a rocker seat but it didn’t seem to make any difference so we progressed to a full-sized rocking chair which was better but still not great. Then one day while standing by the car, waiting for John, with a screaming baby in the car seat I started swinging it. As soon as I did the crying stopped and within a minute she was asleep. I wouldn’t recommend this though as I ended up having to go to the doctors with a shoulder strain. And on one occasion, I caught John just seconds away from swinging it without fastening the straps first.”
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Georgia James writes for Yahoo! UK & Ireland, Lifestyle
