Homemade Soothing Contraptions
As probably all new parents do in the midst of the Weeks-Four-Through-Eight-Fussy-Period (i.e. Really Frustrating Time), we have come to develop a few homemade techniques/inventions for soothing our little bundle of joy. Presenting...
The Bassinet Rocker
We admittedly don't use this set up anymore, but it's worth posting because it's just pretty darn funny to watch. Yes, it is a baby swing outfitted with a wooden pole (attached using rubber bands) that automatically rocks the bassinet holding the sleeping baby. Tom invented this one, and it was quite useful in its time.
The Shush-Shush mp3
Liana generally responds well to lots of loud shushing, but we have found that endless sh-sh-sh can be really exhausting! One day after practically hyperventilating from using my lungs so much, I decided to record myself shushing and save it as an mp3 onto my iPod Shuffle. I set the thing to loop, connected it to a portable speaker and voila! - infinite shush. I'll bet you can already buy something like this online, but this was quicker, cheaper and already in my own voice!
The Stove Fan
We discovered that the best "white noise" maker in the house by far is the stove fan. Before Liana joined us, we hated the thing because it was so loud and annoying. Tom even tried disassembling the mechanism, in an attempt to make it softer (to no avail). Nowadays, if it soothes the crying baby, bring it on! Bonus: In a similar vain as the Shush-Shush mp3, Tom recorded the noise onto an old mini tape-recorder (old-school!) and now we can actually soothe Lia in other areas of the house besides in front of the stove. :-)
Liana is just over two months old and now that we may be past the peak of the Really Frustrating Time, life maybe seems a little easier. I am now officially home full-time with Liana (having given my notice at work) and am savoring each and every moment with her. She seems to have less of the all-out wail sessions that last for hours on end, is going down slightly better for naps, and will actually stay in her swing for longer stretches - which is a big help to us. (Yes, we are fully aware that just when she gets all that figured out, she'll change again, but oh well, we'll take what we can get). Here is a video clip taken while on the changing table (her favorite place). Our little barefoot hippie was given the tie-dye onesie from a neighbor, and if you notice carefully at around 32 seconds, you'll see her sporting a peace sign with her right hand. :-)
The Bassinet Rocker
We admittedly don't use this set up anymore, but it's worth posting because it's just pretty darn funny to watch. Yes, it is a baby swing outfitted with a wooden pole (attached using rubber bands) that automatically rocks the bassinet holding the sleeping baby. Tom invented this one, and it was quite useful in its time.
The Shush-Shush mp3
Liana generally responds well to lots of loud shushing, but we have found that endless sh-sh-sh can be really exhausting! One day after practically hyperventilating from using my lungs so much, I decided to record myself shushing and save it as an mp3 onto my iPod Shuffle. I set the thing to loop, connected it to a portable speaker and voila! - infinite shush. I'll bet you can already buy something like this online, but this was quicker, cheaper and already in my own voice!
The Stove Fan
We discovered that the best "white noise" maker in the house by far is the stove fan. Before Liana joined us, we hated the thing because it was so loud and annoying. Tom even tried disassembling the mechanism, in an attempt to make it softer (to no avail). Nowadays, if it soothes the crying baby, bring it on! Bonus: In a similar vain as the Shush-Shush mp3, Tom recorded the noise onto an old mini tape-recorder (old-school!) and now we can actually soothe Lia in other areas of the house besides in front of the stove. :-)
Liana is just over two months old and now that we may be past the peak of the Really Frustrating Time, life maybe seems a little easier. I am now officially home full-time with Liana (having given my notice at work) and am savoring each and every moment with her. She seems to have less of the all-out wail sessions that last for hours on end, is going down slightly better for naps, and will actually stay in her swing for longer stretches - which is a big help to us. (Yes, we are fully aware that just when she gets all that figured out, she'll change again, but oh well, we'll take what we can get). Here is a video clip taken while on the changing table (her favorite place). Our little barefoot hippie was given the tie-dye onesie from a neighbor, and if you notice carefully at around 32 seconds, you'll see her sporting a peace sign with her right hand. :-)
posted by Natalie at
8:42 PM
3 Comments:
we used the stove exhaust fan method at our house when E Ben and Jude would come over to hang out and E Ben needed to put Jude down for a nap. Somehow it worked even with Jude in our bedroom and the exhaust fan running in the kitchen - either those things are just really loud, or our house is really small... or both... :)
What is it about those early 1940s kitchen exhaust fans?
I love these videos and inventions! Quite clever! Hope to see you at FF this week!
Love the creativity, especially that first video, well done. I used to put Lily in front of the running dishwasher or hold her next to running water full blast (didn't help the environment much) just to get a mini break. The things we'll do.
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