Friday, August 6, 2010

There is nothing in this world better than...

holding your baby boy or girl and rocking and singing them to sleep. I did this with my nephew almost 11 years ago, and now with my own children. No matter how upset my baby girl is, rocking her and singing to her works to get her to calm down and take a nap or go to bed at night. Sometimes she will go down for naps or at night without any issues, sometimes, like today, she was really upset when I put her down for her nap. So I changed her diaper, she wasn't too wet, and I held her close to me and I sang to her. I started with Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and then sang Silent Night. Silent Night seems to really soothe babies and to help them to calm down. I sang it to my nephew, my son, and now to our daughter. (I still sing it to my son sometimes, and he's almost 3 years old.) So next time your little one is really upset and needs to calm down or to get them to sleep, try holding them close, rocking them with your body, not a rocking chair, and sing them to sleep with your favorite slow songs or, with Silent Night!

Here's Matthew, his 1st Christmas 2 1/2 months old, sleeping in his Daddy's arms after I sang him to sleep. (I have one of me holding her somewhere, but I can't seem to find it.)


What are your favorite lullabys to sing to your babies and children?

1 comment:

  1. My favorite treat is to soak in a warm bath with relaxing bath salts. Specifically, I use coarse grain dead sea salt. Dead sea salt is known to have excellent rejuvenating and healing properties, and it works basically the same way as Epsom salts do. Here's a simple recipe you can throw together at home with no fuss at all for a quick bathtime pick-me-up.

    You'll need:
    1. Three cups or so of dead sea salt (if you can't get a hold of this, use Epsom salts, even though dead sea salt is preferred)

    2. A drop or two of your favorite essential oils (mine is peppermint or lavender).

    Add the salts into a bowl, and drizzle a tiny amount of the essential oils into them and stir them up. Voila! You have a quick and easy relaxing bathtime solution that didin't cost the farm, either. Be careful not to add too much essential oil! Essential oils are highly volatile and can cause irritation or reactions if used inappropriately. Don't use this for babies - of course - or pets. You could make enough for several baths and store it in an old Mason jar, too!

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