Thursday, January 19, 2012

14. Sleeping Beauty


Our daughter is a sweetheart. She was born at noon, and was supposed to keep us awake through the night. Only in the first week she fed every three hours, which increased to 4 to 5 hrs of sleep at night by second week. By the time she was three months old she slept 8 hours through the night. Moment she keeps turning her head from one side to another, it means it’s time to sleep. She never gave us sleepless nights, lots of love and hugs to her for that.



People keep saying us that we are lucky, well yes we are, so far. A little credit for her sound sleep does go to us as well, especially her mom. We taught her to sleep well from the very first day. Sleeping is not as easy task for the child, they have to learn to sleep. Every child is different, different methods works for different baby. We can only share the secret that worked for us; the good news is that it worked so far.

 

She sleeps with us in our bed, and we made a fixed place in the bed for her. That place is only for her sleeping, and not for playing. For playing she has the rest of the house. A known comfortable place for her to sleep makes it easy. We play with her, rock her, hug her and cuddle her a lot throughout the day. No, it does not spoil the baby. It creates a happy environment and builds trust with the baby. But none of that have been used as a method to help her fall asleep. It is very important that the child learns to sleep by herself. If you keep her in her bed she might cry for few minutes, even half an hour, but soon she will fall asleep. It might sound harsh, but sometimes you have to be a bit harsh for the good of your child. Once she learns to fall asleep by herself in the first few weeks, she will never wake up and start crying in the middle of the night. Most children cry in the night because they get up and find it hard to fall asleep at will again. It is neither good for the health of the child nor for the parents.



Another important thing to remember is that the child should be comfortable sleeping under normal condition. Though you don’t want to play hard rock while she is sleeping, you should not create a totally sound proof environment for her either. The calling bell, the phone ring, a barking dog, the honking cars in the street, etc, is OK. If you let her, she will fall asleep within all these noises. Remember you won’t be there with your child throughout his or her life to protect her from noise pollution. If you are in India it is better if she is comfortable with noises. She will thank you for the practice of good and easy sleep, which will help her for the rest of her life.



Like I said before, every kid is different. different methods work with different baby, and different parents, you have to find the one that suites you. For some a strict schedule might work, but since we don't bound us to schedules and rules we never maintained it. At the end of the day all sleepless nights will turn into sweet memories, important part is to enjoy this wonderful journey. 


P.S: ‘She’ used for simplicity. No sex biasness implied :p!

38 comments:

  1. Cute girl :)

    Lucky you :) Nights without sleep is sooooo hard. I can still remember ;)

    Hope you all are doing well :)

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  2. Cutie pie!
    Great to hear she's letting you sleep too.....


    :)

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  3. :) That was a great tip...I think that babies and sleepless nights go hand in hand..but this is good information. I can share it with my frens :) Kudos to the lil one too :) Cutie:)

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  4. Lucky you and I do agree with your method. You have teach from very beginning. Good for you and her...
    Pass my love to her ~ Saru Auntie:) :) :)

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  5. awww..Hridhima so cute..:):) Hope she sleeps well tonight and every nights :)

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  6. reading your page takes me to seven years back:)
    make memories ,lots n lots.. they grow too fast!
    cute baby.. God Bless

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    Replies
    1. oh yea....she has something new to show us almost everyday :)

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  7. yes, i totally agree with the concluding lines "all these sleepless nights turn into sweet memories".....God bless her...:))

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  8. Hello.
    It's all about finding what works for you & sticking to a routine. I believe teaching should start from as early as possible.
    Happy baby = happy parents.
    She is adorable & has the cutest smile.
    Wonderful photos.
    Wishing you all well.
    Thanks for sharing.

    Lyrics Of Fire

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  9. Hmmm, a very nice suggestion. Now, when you mention it, I realize that perhaps I'm missing this part for my baby. We usually rock him to sleep. But, with me, I never force him to sleep. I let him play and when he gets tired and wishes to sleep, he comes to me and puts his face on my lap. And, I know he wants to sleep. Sweet, na!? :) Well, but I would definitely try n implement your method. Good post!

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  10. my god-i wish you were there Sub telling me all this when i spent sleepless nights for months with my daughter and still do sometimes even though she's turned two:(

    i looooooooooooooove this post-sharing it now:-)

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  11. I am sure this blog of yours is going to be haven for us in a few years time. :P
    Cute descriptions with cuter pictures. Lots of love to the princess. :)

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  12. I'm glad she's a sleeper. Mica was our sleeper. Isaak not as much. I do have to say that he was not bad at all. I've heard horrible stories about kids not sleeping. My kids have never been that bad.

    I totally agree about how a baby should be rocked, held and so on.

    The noises are healthy to. My sister had a real problem with that one and her two that are my kids' ages. She had to make sure all was silent. It turned into, that we couldn't have a normal conversation without her saying, "SHHHH." When my older niece came over to babysit, she couldn't believe how easily my kids went to sleep compared to my sister's kids.

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    1. i know...people kept telling me how hard the first few months will be....it has been such a smooth 4 months for us... :)

      thanks Alissa

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  13. :) You are such a sweetheart Sub :)

    You are such a story teller father, I am sure when she grows up and reads this, she would love you all the more. I did not know all these facts about children. You are one evolving daddy for sure.

    Cheers
    ~ Chintan

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  14. Good girl...she learnt very fast to sleep for 8 hrs and not disturb! All the very best to her. You have lot info for handling babies.

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  15. that's so sweet of her. I alz wait for her sweet sweet pics. I wish i cud play with her.. but she wud love u so much for all these when she would read these verses. so cute

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    1. any plans of coming to Delhi? then you can play with her :)
      thanks so much Anu :)

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  16. Really nice tips. We followed the same with our daughter, she slept in her cot without any rocking and would self soothe herself if she woke up at night. It takes patience but develops good sleeping habits. Even now my daughter sleeps with noises, lights etc in background without any trouble. :)

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  17. She looks so innocent and content in that picture. The smile is priceless :). My kids have never kept me up as babies or teens...but my mom says I was a terrible baby and kept even our neighbors awake at times.

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