“You put your right hand in, you put your right in and you shake it all about, you do the sleepy dance, and you turn yourself around, that’s what it’s all about,” is just part of our nightly routine. I’ve been thinking a lot about sleep time, and how I realized it’s only been up until recently that I was able to to get my baby girl to sleep through the night. Of course there are those occasional nights of growing pains or teething, but we handle those pretty well.
Sleep time used to be heartbreaking, and stressful for all of us. Mommy and daddy would be grouchy, and even caused us to fight a lot more than we ever have. Why? Why was it ever this way? I never realized up until a few months ago, the power of routine, even if it isn’t at exactly the same time. We never put LB to bed at the same time every night, but we try to keep it in the same time frame, just for everybody’s wellness. We also always used to try to make sleep time as quick as possible and always had the lights on after her bath, so we could see.
The biggest difference I ever saw was in preparing her to go to bed. A simple change in ambiance worked wonders. First we sing a made up song about putting away her toys, then I tell her it’s time to go take a bath, and she immediately grabs me by the hand and takes me there, or she runs to the bathroom door. Also, instead of having the full lights on, we tried just turning the closet light on, instead of the overhead light, and turning the fan off right after the bath, so she doesn’t get cold or any sort of discomfort. I think it puts her in the mindset that we’re serious about her going to sleep, or just puts her in the mood, who knows.
Next we do the diaper thing, rub lotion, and then it’s time for clothes. This has to be the best part. In whispering singing voices (so we don’t get her riled up,) we start singing the “hokey pokey” except we call it the sleepy dance. It’s actually worked really well considering that now when I ask my daughter to lift her right, left foot or hand, she does it. It makes putting on clothes so much easier, and also helps her feel involved in the process, but not only at night, at any time of the day.
Before we did any of that, it was kicking, crying, screaming, tears, and all around heartache for all of us. It was a point of dread, procrastination, sleepless nights, and stress for the entire family. Now that we’ve been doing or sleepy dance, we’ve all been able to get sleep, we’re much happier, there’s no more fighting, well at least not anything earth shattering, and we all have so much more fun doing the regular routine things that used to cause us all so much dread.
How about you? What have you integrated into your child’s routine that caused a dramatic difference in behavior? Or are there any parts of your routine that your child hates?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hmm, we have been lucky Ian has always been an easier sleeper.
that’s good! I wish my daughter had been an easy sleeper when she was first born. thank goodness it’s better now, otherwise I might get even battier than I already am. lol! thanks for stopping by!
At one time my little ones were afraid of the dark and nothing helped until I bought them a glow-in-the dark toy that they could hold on to while falling asleep. Another of my children would always wake up hungry in the night so I finally started putting a little sandwich and drink of milk by the side of his bed. I guess necessity is the mother of invention!
Becky Jane
awww, lol. that’s too funny. You’re right, seems pretty practical though! I can’t even begin to tell you the weird little inventions I’ve come up with that I thought would help me with my baby! Lol, i think a lot of inventions happen that way! Thanks for stopping by and sharing your story