My Mom often tells the story of how Grandma (Dad's Mom) loves to rock babies using the full motion of the rocker, to the point that she was rocking one of us and tipped the chair right over. I've always got a good chuckle out of this story but never really understood it... until now!
I have a much greater apprecation for Grandma's rocking techniques now that I've had Mr. S. Here is his going to sleep ritual:
1. Tie him up in a blanket, some people use the word swaddle, but that does not do justice to how tight he has to be. When one little limb gets out (and he is practically Houdini) he'll be awake in mere minutes. So, this wrap job MUST be tight.
2. Place him up on our right shoulder (he doesn't like the left) and turn his head so he is nuzzled right in your neck.
3. "SSHHH" in his ear and this isn't a real quite gentle "sshhh" it's more the "I am in control and you ARE going to sleep" sound.
4. Now sit in a rocking chair and go for it -- with FULL gusto. This motion junkie requires the full range of motion the rocking chair is capable of PLUS some. You need to lean forward when the chair can't go forward any more to extend the motion. After he has started to settle into sleep you can gradually decrease the motion and WAH-LA... sleeping Baby!!
So now I only wish that I lived closer to my Grandma and that she was a bit more healthy because I know that she and Mr. S would make a great rocking duo!
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3 comments:
That's hilarious. I would love to see that.
So do you think Dad was like S? Maybe that's why Grandma's such a vigorous rocker....
We did the "shhhh" technique too, and it worked wonders for our little guy. The rocking chair is still his favorite, so we do that after our routine, but it doesn't last as long now that he's turning 2.
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