As of late I have discovered that, in his unfortunately westerly facing room (that sunset is a beast), Theo will go to sleep almost instantly, and stay asleep, if I put a blanket over his face. This works both for naps and bedtime, including when naptime coincides with his being in his carseat or stroller. Then after a few minutes I can take it off, but he seems to sleep longer during naps if the entire nap involves the blanket over the face. Kind of like a cockatiel in a cage, is what I am thinking.
My brother had a cockatiel named Petoo...hence the title. Maybe he still has Petoo. I actually don't know.
Although T sleeps just as well with a crocheted afghan over his face, which doesn't block much
light and lets me, and him, breathe a little easier and I don't feel like I need to check on him every 5 seconds. Maybe he just likes the weight or something. I don't know.I know YOU'RE not judging...but this seems a teeny bit weird to me. It's even weirder/funnier when you walk into his room with what Matt calls "scary music" (Children's Songbook CD) playing and the blanket over the sleeping babe's face. I like playing the music though, because then I can do things like do laundry (washer & dryer are right outside of T's room) without bothering him. I always went to sleep with music playing as a child.
Actually maybe that's not such a good thing...by the time I hit my teen years I sometimes had trouble falling asleep without music playing, and hence the "Love Songs on the KOST"-on-the-clock-radio years. Finally I got over that in college. Then again, maybe it is a good thing because I can basically sleep through anything. Or maybe that's just my sleeping habits reflecting my obtuseness (obtusity?).
And yet it (blanket) is not weird enough to stop doing it because yesterday, for example, I had both a 2-hour and a 3-hour stretch during which I actually got tons done, despite the drone of "The Books of the Old Testament" or "I Believe in Being Honest" in the background, while the little hidden baby dreamed in his crib. And Theo seems to sleep better at night when he's had good naps during the day.
It is also good that for the first time in awhile last night, T spent no time sleeping in my bed. I've been trying to break him (us) of this but it's hard now that he's in his own room because when he wakes up to eat (3 or 4 a.m.-ish) I'm so groggy that I feed him in bed and we all fall back asleep until Matt gets up to go to work. On the surface this doesn't seem bad to me, in fact I think it's quite cozy and I don't have anything personally against The Family Bed or those who preach of its merits, but at the same time I'm thinking that in his little baby mind he thinks, "If I cry then I get to get in bed with Mom," because I already know his solid little body can go at least a 6-hour stretch without eating--it's just a matter of consistently timing that with continuous sleep.
You may or may not agree with any of this. You may think we're all weirdos.
I know I am taking a risk any time I open up about babies and sleep. Everyone has an opinion (sometimes a fierce one).
Yet, these are the things I think about, and so I am driven to blog about them.
Fear not--I have NO opinions about babies and sleep. Well, maybe some (my weekly babysitting trips to the Millers and trying to get Mandy to go to sleep [successfully! boo yah] make it impossible for me to have NO opinions about it).
ReplyDeleteBut I do have opinions on sleep in general. I too have no problem falling asleep under any circumstances, and I never thought to attribute it to Love Songs on the KOST and Ted Ziggenbush. Melanie even keeps a nightlight on, which I have no problem with thanks to Mom and her penchant for nightlights. And it makes it easier when I walk around our house at night (which is incredibly dark and would be very dangerous if I fell down the stairs).
And... I really just wanted to comment on the Matt "scary music" comment. It's things like this that make me wish we all lived closer again.
this is a funny post to me for a few reasons.
ReplyDeletenever fear the blanket over the face - my friend katie has a little boy wally who would zonk out as soon as your threw a blanket over his face - esme' also went through a brief blanket over the face moment.
and as far as music - we shared a room for a brief moment in time when you were one or so and used to listen to MY music to go to sleep - which, I am embarrassed to say, included, but was not limited to, Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Not only the War Song (uh! what is it good for? Absolutely nothing, uh!) but also Relax! Don't Do It - which i am also embarrassed to say, you knew the words to and would sing along in the dark.
ouch!
i think that's one reason (of many) why 14 year olds shouldn't be mothers - no judgement whatsoever!
"One wonders if War and Peace would have been as highly acclaimed as it was if it was published under its original name, War---What Is It Good For?"
ReplyDeleteAnyone...anyone...
I love this post and the comments.
ReplyDeleteI remember going to sleep listening to the KOST on the clock radio myself. I loved it.
Also that is too funny about the children's song book being "scary music."
One of my girlfriends had a baby who was a blanket over the face sleeper. I thought is was so cute. I thought it was the babies way of escaping this crazy world.
As far as sleep goes, do what works. And that just might change from one day to the next.
Bonny, I listen to the 80's on XM sometimes and I will hear an old song and sing along. I am often embarrased by the lyrics too and shocked that I still remember them after all these years. I am not sure if this is where I should thank KROQ or not. Good grief!
Bonny, I shared a room with you during your "listen to music while going to sleep phase" and, in my memory, it seemed to consistantly be Howard Jones.
ReplyDeleteAnd Eliza, Calvin always slept with a burp cloth over his face. It's just easier if they use a prop to go to seep, no matter what the Baby Whisperer says.
All the sleeping habits in the Terrill household evolved over the years, but many of them started with Bonny - whose colicky cries were routinely drowned out with music!! (she cried no matter what we did, so we played music - to soothe us probably!)
ReplyDeleteAnd Bonny always had her green and white afghan so I put every baby to sleep with something in their hands - but it was usually a diaper. I resorted to them after Bonny almost burned the house down draping her blanket over a space heater. And Phoebe lost her special blanket at someone's house where she was being tended while we packed up to move to CA - I guess they thought it was a rag and tossed it - or maybe polished the furniture with it!
Whatever works - ought to be the Mother's Motto!!
I agree: Whatever works. MOst of my children were great sleepers once they quit eating at 1 or 2 AM. Until then they always came in bed with me. I simply was too tired to put them back to bed. Axel, however, was another story. I had him in UTah while we lived in India and there was not a crib there so for that entire 6 weeks he slept with me in the big bed. Bad Idea. He never fully slept in his own bed until he was five. We tried but it was much too much work. I will have to tell you the funniest story about that next time I see you. IT would take too long to blog. Needless to say, he sleeps in his own bed now and sleep marvelously well. Never fear. They willnot be sleeping with you when they start school.
ReplyDeleteWhen Hannah was a baby she slept in the room with Harry - and he had a fish tank - with lights and whooshing pump - which put her to bed in a heartbeat - even when she was wearing her Dr.Brown splint to bed for a year.
ReplyDeleteI have often recommended them.