It has been more than a year since I had AC. More than a year of having two kids.
I had been a mom of one for six years before my girl came. I think I have raised a well-mannered, healthy, smart boy.
But nothing prepares you 100% for another new child.
The drills I have concocted on JG when he was a baby did not all work with AC. I had to find other ways to make her stop from doing something short of a disaster, make her sit on the car seat without any fuss and, yes, make her sleep.
It has been a year of theories, experiments, success and failures.
While I am no expert mom (again I only have two), I hope to share some of the ways I found to be effective in making my babies, actually toddlers, sleep... so the Mom can sleep well, too.
The Science of Pattern. This other moms swear by. And it has been effective on my two kids. Babies need to understand that there is a time for everything and having a pattern signals when the next activity is coming up. If you give him/her a bath or read a book before s/he sleeps, repeat that every night at about the same time leading to that quiet hour when they need to close their eyes.
Now, the tricky part is to deal with how your kid reacts to the signal for sleeping. My JG took it as it was - a segue to sleeping time. AC dreaded it.
The Art of Isolation. It is indeed challenging to have their playmate be in the same room while it is sleeping time. By playmate, I refer to their Dad. The sight of Mr. Mascot/Clown/Magician does excite these little creatures so the dad really needs to get into the program.
Again, JG with one stern look managed to simmer himself down. AC, on the other hand, does not back down while her father is within reach.
I have managed to be in control by putting the daddy (and AC's bro) to sleep first - which he, of course, welcomed wholeheartedly. Further to that and even if I love the feel of our bed, I have moved to the sofa bed with AC so she has no distractions but me. I missed my bed but I love my sleep more.
The Science of the Expensive Diaper. This worked for both kids. I am a cheapskate so I stock on cheap diapers used for the day and then stock on the expensive 12-hour dry feeling ones for the nighttime sleep.
Weighing the pros and cons of the expensive diaper was an easy one since as you may have realized by now, I value my sleep more than a pair of diamond earrings. So netting it all off, I think I have gained.
The Art of Suggestive Selling. This goes hand in hand with setting a pattern. And has worked with my little girl. She, as with other tots, always wants to have a bottle before sleeping. A few hours before bedtime, I bombard her with our codename for bottle - "didi". She laughs, I say "Didi?". She shouts, I say "Didi?". She dances, I say "Didi?". And then finally, she gives in and says, "Didi?". Sold.
The Art of Pretending. Worked well on both of them. I wanted my kids to sleep, my kids wanted me to play with them. It's all mind games - whoever is stronger in mind, wins. Of course, there were days when I was tired from office work and I just wanted to be still. These are the best times to pretend - pretend that I am asleep. Eyes should be super shut because of the serious eye poking attempts.
And because I have the stronger mind (and eyelids), the little critters just give up. And sleep.
The Art and Science of Letting Go. If all else fails - where my cognitive and physiological strength cannot handle things anymore (we have our days), either I go ahead and sleep, or I do a bit of drama. With both kids, it has never failed, the Daddy wakes up and intervenes.
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| Peace and quiet. |
This is how I am surviving two kids of different sleeping personalities.
