The past few nights with Dax my patience is done after about 30 seconds of screaming and flailing. I've quickly called in backup (aka Derek), and within 15-20 minutes Derek has our monster snoozing. We approach getting Dax to sleep from 2 very different ways.
His way: He puts a blanket over his shoulder, holds Dax against him and helps put Dax's head on his shoulder. Then while humming or quietly singing, he bounces up and down, often he'll say "heyheyheyheyhey" sounds weird, but it works. Roo falls asleep on daddy's shoulder.
My way: Pop Dax on the boob to let him nurse, then once he's done, keep him sideways in my arms and rock him to sleep while singing "the wheels on the bus" and our beloved Michigan State fight song (his daddy is so proud haha!).
My discovery today: Derek was gone all day and including bedtime tonight. I decided today to try his approach if and when Dax fought me for naps and bedtime. The naps took a little longer to get him to sleep doing the upright bouncing because I had tried to rock him for about 5 minutes or so before switching to Derek's approach. So, I decided tonight, as soon as little D was done nursing, I'd just put him on my shoulder and rock him upright. I kid you not, he was out within 3 minutes of doing that. Was the answer to our bedtime fights really that simple?!
I hope the answer was that simple! Will he not go to sleep if you put him down awake? If I put L to bed while she is asleep she will wake up and cry for days. It's crazy how the tiniest thing can work for one baby and not the other. I really hope this is all Dax needed!
ReplyDelete