Mar 19

the child, and the method by which he sleeps

Posted by on Mar 19 2011 at 09:02 pm

First of all, the obligatory “sorry we haven’t posted in like a month” statement. As it turns out this parenting thing keeps us busy from time to time. So, um, sorry.

So we’re rounding the corner on month two for Eli now, and his sleeping patterns have developed. Developed into wildly unpredictable. I figured you’d be interested to know the way by which we convince the boy that he ought to sleep at night.

Eli's CribThis here is Eli’s crib. It’s a nice crib. If I were a foot and half tall I think I would like this crib. You’d probably be really proud of us if we told you that he sleeps in his crib at night, and he does sleep in his crib at night. But don’t be proud of us. Because it’s not that simple.

Around 9:00 or so Eli begins his hour long ritual of trying to convince himself that he’s not really tired. In truth he’s quite tired – beyond tired. So tired that he’s forgotten how nice it would be to just go to sleep. So to coax him along he gets a final feeding of the night.

Next we turn off all the lights, turn on the space heater to warm it up to a balmy southern Florida beach temperature, and turn on the humidifier. Then we turn on the rain.

White Noise AppWe found a spectacular little app for our iPod call White Noise. It’s got a bunch of different noise effects, like crashing waves and ticking clocks and such. Eli seems to like the one called “Downpour” which sounds just like what it’s called.

Turtle Night LightSo now it’s raining. Next we turn on the turtle. This little guy to the right is a nightlight that casts star constellations in a soothing blue hue all across the ceiling. Awesome, right? So while Steph is feeding him in the dark, the turtle sits on her foot rocker and shines tiny little blue stars on the walls and ceiling that move with the gentle motion of the rocker. This kid is so spoiled.

Next there’s the Moses basket. Borrowed from our friends, the Moses basket is a small white “bassinet” type bed, about two and a half feet long that we set inside the crib. It looks about like something that Moses was sent down the river in, hence the name I guess. He likes sleeping in this because it’s small, enclosed and comfy. But we had to modify it a bit. Eli likes having his head higher than his feet, so we put a towel under one end of the mattress giving it about a two inch lift from foot to head. Plus we’ve lined the mattress with a fuzzy fleece blanket that keeps his head nice and warm.

LambyEarly on one of the only ways we could get Eli to sleep was  by putting him in his “lamby”. The “lamby” is on the left here – it’s a little fuzzy white seat, complete with lamb ears, that vibrates as he sits in it. The vibrating gets him to sleep fast. So to aid in the night sleeping we prop up the “lamby” inside the crib, set it against one end and press the vibrate button, which sufficiently shakes the entire bed.

So, for those keeping track at home: the lights go off, we begin the feeding, we make it rain, we shine stars on the ceiling, we rock the child to sleep, we place the child in the Moses basket and prop up his head at a 7 degree angle, we place the Moses basket in the crib, and then we shake the entire foundation with a fuzzy white lamb.

If this entire 45 minute process is successful, we creep out of the room and try to get two hours of sleep until it’s time to eat again. And that is the method by which the child sleeps.

4 Responses to “the child, and the method by which he sleeps”

  1. Abby says:

    I would love to tease you, poke fun of you, say wow has he got you wrapped around his finger. Truth be told, that’s exactly what it is like for us with our first, second, and third. (thankfully Jaz came pre-trained to sleep thru the night)

    At 5 years, Ryan, our oldest will now go to sleep after saying prayers, hugs, kisses, another kiss, ice water and then the fish light. He stays in his bed all night 99% of the time. Got it easy with him.

    4 year old Jake needs kisses, hugs, prayers, ice water, fish light and music (A Joyful Noise by Bryan Nash is his favorite.) Then we have to say “Good night, I love you, I’ll see you in the morning”, and wait for him to say it too. He will then go to sleep until roughly 5 am when he will come in and sleep on my bedroom floor. This happens every night.

    22 month old Cecilia has to be snuggled to sleep. This can happen in a chair or in my bed. Either location is fine as long as she has a NUK, and MOMMY so she can put her hand down my shirt. (Never took a bottle this one…)Then when she falls asleep she can be ever so gently moved into her crib. Once she’s there, it’s anyone’s guess how long it will last. We’ve completely given up trying to keep her in her bed. She wakes up and cries for mom or dad till we come get her. The SECOND she’s in our bed she’s out like a light. Meanwhile Daddy spends the rest of the night getting kicked and I get strangled when she rolls over with her hand still down my shirt. This also happens every night.

    We are happy with our night time routine. “Why” you ask? Because it’s so much better than it was, and at least this way we all get sleep. It may not be perfect, and we’d love it if everyone slept in there beds all night. But you have to do what works for your family, and with 5 kids (we have a foster kiddo right now too) this works and that’s all that really matters. So if it takes shaking foundations, rain, and 7 degree angles, I think really that’s not so bad. Besides he’s gotta be the cutest kid I’ve seen in a LONG time, so he deserves every minute of it!

  2. David says:

    Um, I don’t get it. How can he see the stars if it’s raining?

  3. […] true that we go through some hurdles to get Eli to sleep at night. What new parent doesn’t? But the result is this cuteness going […]

  4. Jeremy Pinnix says:

    I love White Noise! Super helpful when there is noise and you are trying to rest.

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