About a week ago our little one started to really notice the world around her. She clued in that there’s a big ol’ world around her, and she’s ready to take it all in. This new curiosity has made it more of a challenge to settle her down for naps, which leads to overstimulation, which leads to lack of sleep, which leads to grumpy baby :(. That, and/ or you can chalk it up to the infamous ‘fussy’ period babies experience at around 5/ 6 weeks. Yay.
To paraphrase a Barbara Streisand song, send in the screams. You know it if you’ve been there. The inconsolable baby. Enough said. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I worked up until 10 days before I gave birth, in a job where I was on my feet all day and surrounded by noise. My baby seemed to have grown accustomed to lots of movement and the noises of the world before she even made her debut, so I expected a child that would probably want this replicated once she arrived.
Now, I know it’s a common suggestion that rocking, etc and music can help calm a baby, but when you’re pooped out and all you want to do is sit down- never mind lie down- and you have a baby that needs soothing, it can take every last ounce of strength to pull yourself up and bounce that lil bundle.
Here’s where the fun comes in. No really, I mean it. I’m a lover of jazz, Broadway musicals, Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble, etc. While I enjoy other genres, I was raised on this kind of music and I love belting out ‘New York New York’ at the top of my out of tune lungs. Luckily, babies don’t care if a) you’re a good singer, or b) if you’re a good dancer. Hence, my prescription for inconsolable babies: crank that iPod and sashay, swing, bounce, and sway that lil munchkin to your heart’s content. You may not be able to cure the crying, but you can at least have fun trying. Plus, babies love the sound of their parent’s voices, so if you make a playlist of songs you know, you can add that to your repertoire.
I’ve had to do this a couple of times, with varying success (I think that’s going to be my catch phrase for this whole parenting thing), but can honestly say that the music not only calms the babe, but helps calm me (or at the very least, take the edge off my nerves) and turns what can be a very unpleasant time into a fun one. Laugh it out and give it a try. I’m not saying you won’t be exhausted and/ or grumpy and/ or ready to scream yourself, but why not try and channel that crazy energy into something that may give you back a teenie tiny piece of your sanity?
I hope this helps. Or at least gives you a way to laugh through the crying.
oxox
