Thursday, March 13, 2014
How to Put a Baby to Sleep When You Have a Toddler
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| Photo credit: Serhiy Kobyakov via www.123rf.com Copyright: <a href='http://www.123rf.com/profile_kobyakov'>kobyakov / 123RF Stock Photo</a> |
1-Think of all the parenting and sleep training books you read while pregnant with baby #1. Throw them out; they are useless.
2-Disregard any type of schedule or routine in the morning and keep Baby awake until she is overtired and screaming. This step is very important and will strengthen your stress management skills.
3-After Baby has irritated Toddler (or maybe it was Toddler who irritated Baby? Who can say?) to the point of acting out for attention by screaming and throwing toys, attempt to sooth Baby by holding her, changing her diaper, and then feeding her. This will sharpen your ability to follow procedure and multi-task.
4-While sitting down and feeding Baby, protect Baby from Toddler continuously slapping Baby's little head while simultaneously helping Toddler put on her socks and shoes. Do not skip this step! It helps one adapt to getting ready in emergency situations and strengthens your ability to use one hand to do the tasks you used to need two hands to complete.
5-After feeding, sing lullabies and rock Baby to sleep. Walk to Baby's crib while Toddler has attached herself to your leg like a koala (this is a bonus because you also complete your strength training workout for the day during this step). Try not to confuse Rockabye Baby with Toddler's very passionate version of the ABC song. This helps strengthen both the left and right sides of your brain and combats the loss of brain cells accumulated during the mass sleep deprivation that began when baby #1 was born.
6-After Baby has fallen asleep, remove Toddler from the room in the point 5 seconds before she lets out an ear splitting scream, waking Baby and thus reinitiating the entire process.
7-Should Baby refuse to fall asleep or Toddler awaken Baby during Step 6, throw in the towel, turn on Elmo and give Toddler a cookie. This should help her fall asleep quickly during nap time following the initial sugar rush and following meltdown. At which point you may eat the rest of the bag of cookies.
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