I'm under the mindset that babies need to learn to sleep through anything. If I'm watching the t.v. in the living room, she should be able to sleep through it. If she's taking a nap in her room and I run the vacuum in the living room, she should be able to sleep through it. I don't believe that everyone should be as quiet as a mouse while the baby is sleeping. I'm not saying yell all you want, but I am saying do your regular routine. A very good friend pointed out to me early on that this baby is going to be PART of our family, NOT the center of our family. What are your opinions and experiences with getting your little ones to nap regularly and with or without noise?
6 comments:
I think this is a great idea (I know I've never had babies.) Some of my kids at school go right to sleep during nap time, and never wake up, but there are a few that we have to 'baby' to get to sleep. A couple have good reasons, but the rest are used to sleeping in a completely silent, totally dark room, and we have to go to all kinds of effort to get them to sleep. (Hopefully as the school year progresses that will change.) But I think it's great that you're not going to "spoil" her as a napper.
I think this kind of fits into the same category as Becca feeding her baby whatever they eat, through the blender, so he's not a picky eater. (We also have kids who won't eat anything, and that's kind of scary.)
Anyway, once again, I think you and Geron are going to be awesome parents.
First of all, forget REGULAR. This baby is a person, and she may not be interested in following your schedule, especially at the beginning. That's why they tell you, sleep when the baby's sleeping.
At the very beginning, YOU won't be on a schedule either. You will be tired and sleepy, cross, teary, all sorts of things, and being on a regular schedule isn't going to happen.
BUT (and it's a big butt, just like mine), eventually things will settle down. You will know what BG wants when she cries, she will know that you or her daddy are going to take care of her and will learn to be patient while she waits. Once those first three or four weeks are over, you can start thinking about schedules.
Your brother got so good at sleeping on a schedule that I could count on being able to watch my soaps every afternoon at 2:00. Then daylight savings time rolled around, and I was afraid I would be missing that 2:00 soap. Don't you know, he started going to sleep an hour earlier, just like the clock!
Love you.
we just kept doing normal things while molly would take a nap. and sometimes, she'd be napping in her swing while in the living room, while i vacuumed the living room. actually, for some newborns, the sound of a vacuum cleaner or hair dryer is very comforting. the white noise is similar to what your baby hears while in the womb.
what i learned most is not to even TRY to have a schedule...scheduled feedings, scheduled naps...it didn't work for us. we fed molly when she was hungry, we changed her when she was wet/dirty, and we put her down for a nap if she needed it. none of this "well, but....it's not time for her to eat yet...."
you guys are going to be great parents...and you know what? a lot of this stuff just comes naturally. i promise..it does.
I think that schedules are good. We had one for Bryan. Now that is not to say that we wouldn't go off of it because we did when necessary. BUt kids do well with routine, and it helped Bryan's body to adjust. He slept through the night in just a few weeks, and he was able to go to bed awake and get to sleep on his own. I realize this sounds crazy here, but the book "Babywise" was a wonderful thing for our family. It is all about raising a child in a God-centered home, not a baby-centered home. And a lot of this does come natural. She will just fit into your family perfectly. It does take some adjustment and a lot of patience, but it is well worth it. I used to vacuum Bryan's room while he slept. He didn't care. on the other hand, we have friends that have put signs on their front door asking that people not use the doorbell because it might wake their baby. I can't see me ever doing that. It doesn't seem practical, but that's only my experience. I am not knocking those who do it, becuase they may need it, but it wasn't for us.
I think I have rambled on enough for now .
I agree with you. Babies can and will sleep through anything. I even had mine sleep while eating (that would be Michael, Tooz).
Something that worked for me was to gently encourage them to be awake during times you are. After the first few exausting weeks, I would carry Alex around in the carrier or on my shoulder and talk to him while I was going about my daily routine. That way, he slept more during my break time.
Jamie never had a schedule until he went into daycare. But I never did tiptoe around him. Vacuum, TV, radio, mommy singing, etc were no problem for him.
Love you! And listen to what your momma said, sleep when BG sleeps!
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