Every baby is different and every mom learns the quick tricks to make her baby happy. And every mother will give you advice on what worked for their baby, but the truth is every mother has to do a lot of trial and error to see what works and what does not.
While Calan is a pretty easy baby to please, he does let you know things that work and things that don't. For example while some babies love their swings, Calan hated it with a passion, but he loved and could not live without his bouncy chair. He actually slept in his bouncy chair for the first month next to my bed. As his parents, we swore by that thing. We took it everywhere with us. It was our savior in so many ways. It was kind of a sad day when it was put away in our basement because he had out grown it.
Another toy that has now been put away was his play mat. He would lay on that thing forever if I had let him. It was fun as his mother to watch him grow with it; from just staring at the toys, to kicking and batting the toys, to reaching for the toys, to rolling and moving around to each toy. I used the mat a lot to get things done around the house. I knew he would be content and happy while I did the dishes or made the bed. It was great.
We also love our video monitor. It is the only way we would be able to watch our son sleep. While he is becoming a heavier sleeper, he still sleeps pretty lightly. Sometimes all it takes is the turn of his door knob and his head is up waiting to see what is going on. Our house is not large, so I can basically hear him no matter where I am at, but the monitor let's me visually check on him whenever I want without disturbing him.
Calan has a favorite blanket. It is just a simple green and white knit blanket that stays in his crib, but he loves it. I know that giving your baby a blanket in his crib is a no, no, but he has become pretty attached. We lay him down and he reaches his arms up till we place his blanket down on him. He then grabs the blanket and pulls it tight to his chin. It is pretty adorable. Some babies sleep with a pacifier or suck their thumb, ours doesn't do either. He loves his blanket instead.
Calan loves books, but even in his selection of books there are a few that top the rest. He loves "I'll See You in the Morning," "Where is Babies Belly Button," "The Going to Bed Book," and "Pat the Bunny." I seriously have these books memorized. Basically before he goes to sleep at each nap and bedtime I read him at least two books if not more. I will try to read other books, and he is good for a little bit, but then starts reaching for his side table where the regulars are stacked. When I read to Calan, it is usually my only time of day where he is a little bit snuggly toward me. He just lays back and relaxes. I could not live without books.
I think like a lot of mothers whose babies are on the go, I can't live without his pack 'n play. In preparation for our baby girl, Calan spends at least a half hour in this pack 'n play away from me so he can't see me. He plays independently while I get some things done. The parenting classes that we attend through Growing Kids God's Way (known also has the Babywise book series) really suggest independent play for development. For me, I see it as away for Calan to spend some time each day not seeing me, so when we have a new little one, it won't be a shock to him when I have to step away from him. I need to work in nursing times somehow. We also take our pack 'n play to most family gatherings. Since we usually get together at night, the pack 'n play allows us to keep Calan's bedtime at 7 p.m. and still enjoy ourselves. He goes to bed very well in his pack 'n play. Most of our family is amazed that all we do is lay him down and he is quiet and goes to sleep. We have just been doing that on basically a weekly basis with family dinners that he is just so use to his pack 'n play at this point.
I would say those are my few favorite things. There are of course others and as he is getting older new toys are becoming favorites, but these items, to me, gave me sanity during some of the rough times.
It is going to be interesting to see what tricks that were sure fire baby pleasers for Calan that won't even come close to working for our baby girl. I am sure that I will have a whole new list of items for her. I can't wait to see her personality.
What were some of your mommy tricks to make it through the cranky times?
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