Now, isn't that a cute picture? A nice, content, sleeping baby. And wouldn't you think that, at 5 weeks old, sleeping is what we would be doing most of the time? Oh, no - not us.
For instance, yesterday we only took one nap during the day. Did you read that right? Yes, you did. ONE nap from approximately 11:30 am to 1 pm. Not even two hours worth of downtime.
So, I was home by myself, and you may ask what I did to keep my sanity for the other 10.5 hours until Shaan finally went down for the evening around 7:30 last night - I can sum it up in one word...I "jiggled." I literally jiggled all day long - I am going to have arms that any female bodybuilder would envy if Shaan keeps this routine up.
For those of you unfamiliar with the "jiggle", let me illustrate the various options that we have used....
The vibrating "Boppy Bouncer"
The vibrating "Bassinet"
The battery-powered Swing
Holding and using your biceps
Going for a stroll (this is a pic of our carseat that pops into our BOB stroller)
And there are several other options I've used that we don't even have pics of like...placing Shaan on the bed and pummeling the mattress around him with my fists (which creates a "vibration" around him), rocking and patting him in our glider in the nursery, and "dancing" with him on my shoulder...just to name a few...I've been very creative.
For those of you who are familiar with the "jiggle", you probably already have kids and are aware of Harvey Karp's book "The Happiest Baby on the Block." Harvey talks about the "jiggle" in his book, except I think he refers to it as "swinging" since it fits into one of his five "S's" for calming a crying baby - swaddling, side/stomach position, shushing sounds, swinging, and sucking. While we're talking about swinging, let's see how Shaan has fared with the other "S's"....
"Swaddling"...this works "ok." It's the only way that we can get him to actually fall asleep most of the time, but once he's down, it doesn't seem to keep him down for long b/c one of two things will happen. He either breaks free of the swaddle (yes, I know what you're thinking, "you probably didn't swaddle him tight enough", etc....let me just tell you that this kid has SUPERPOWER strength and nobody can swaddle him strong enough). We've used the "Miracle Blanket", blankets that velcro, etc., and a few minutes after we get him down we will hear loud grunting and snorting noises and we'll look over and he'll have a hand and a leg out. The other thing he does once he breaks free is put part of the swaddle over his face. I have no idea why he does this, but we have to be careful b/c this kid likes he face covered....
Case in point...
"Side/stomach position" - this is a "no go." Shaan hates this.
"Shushing sounds" - this works pretty well
"Swinging" - works great
"Sucking" - works great when Shaan is on the breast or bottle, but he refuses the pacifier right now...he spits it out with a look on his face like, "are you kidding me, there is nothing coming out of this when I suck"
So, for now, I guess we'll stick to "jiggling" until he "grows into" the other four "S's" or until he grows out of this stage in babyhood. :)
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