Thursday, March 17, 2011
Appliance's Lullaby
Linda was talking to a friend today and mentioned how we use the dustbuster to help Violet go to sleep. Her friend responded, "Oh, she's a white noise baby. Well, as long as you're not using it every night." But we are. Nearly every night we put Violet down and she cries. We wait 5-10 minutes, and if she's still crying, we turn on the dustbuster and within 5 minutes, she's out. We turn it off, and she stays asleep. It works like a charm, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't bothering me a bit, our dependency on this aural crutch. I've looked through books and online, but there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer out there. Some say white noise at bedtime won't hurt a baby at all - that it's a beneficial sleep aid, others say that they'll become dependent on it, and still others say they may become dependent on it and so what if they do? (Violet must know this is on my mind because tonight she went down sans dustbuster.) What's your take on it? Are we warping Violet or is it no big deal?
117 days old
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If you member from Dr. Carp's book. The white noise represents the blood flow in the mother's womb. We used for both kids. Sean just stopped using the noisemaker only recently. I would suggest getting a noise maker or recording it so you don't blowout your motor. This way you can control the volume. Molly and I used to use the vacuum with TJ. I just found one of the tapes the other day;)
ReplyDeleteI vote for rocking Violet in the rocking chair and singing to her until she falls asleep. It won't take long, and if it does, it's always time well spent.
ReplyDeleteMy kids still have the white noise to this day... they are 15 and 11. I don't think it's going to hurt them. It'll also help when Violet gets a little older and you have company over past her bedtime. Haven't you ever run the fan in a hotel room just to drown out the hotel noises? :)
ReplyDeleteI vote with Anne- rock her to sleep.
ReplyDeleteI was afraid of doing this b/c all the sleep books tell you not to. And then Dr. Sears' website described attachment parenting as "how you would parent if you were on a desert island." That resonated with me and made the most sense to me.
It took me a little while to not resent having to lay down with the boys at bedtime when they were the age that all the books say they should be indpendent, but it really is one of my favorite parts of my day, especially now that I am working.
Tom - we have recorded the dustbuster on Linda's ipod - it gives us a good way to control the volume.
ReplyDeleteAnne - I do love doing that, but believe it or not, on many nights, when it's bedtime, she doesn't want to be rocked! It's a great option when Violet's up for it!
Maxine - Wait...when do we get to have company over?
Amy - I like the "desert island" notion...