Hi, my name is Annemarie and I am the Client Services director for Night Nannies.
I use this blog as a way to give you tips and idea's in all areas of childcare and development.
Posted 04 March 11
Awake Training for Parents
Thanks to Rebecca from my Facebook Mothers group for the link to this hilarious article!
Dear Fellow Babies,
OK, here’s my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 5 months. The first few months were great – I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, around the clock. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night). At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse.
I’ve talked to other babies, and it seems like its pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 5-6 months. Here’s the thing: these Mommies don’t really need to sleep. It’s just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep – they just don’t need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle.
It goes like this:
Night 1 – cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it’s hard. It’s hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it’s for her own good.
Night 2 – cry every 2 hours until you get fed.
Night 3 – every hour.
Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don’t give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I know it’s hard! But she really does not need the sleep; she is just resisting the change.. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it.
The other night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with:
-My sleep sack tickled my foot. -I felt a wrinkle under the sheet. -My mobile made a shadow on the wall. -I burped, and it tasted like rice cereal. I hadn’t eaten rice cereal since breakfast, what’s up with that? -The dog said “ruff”. I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL. -Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room. -Too hot, too cold, just right – doesn’t matter! Keep crying!! -I had drooled so much my sheets were damp and I didn’t like it touching me. -I decided I was sick of all the pink in my room so I cried.
It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies’ internal clocks.
Sometimes my Mommy will call for reinforcements by sending in Daddy. Don’t worry Daddies are not set up for not needing sleep the way Mommies are. They can only handle a few pats and shhing before they declare defeat and send in the Mommy.
Also, be wary of the sleep sheep with rain noises. I like to give Mommy false hope that listening to the rain puts me to sleep sometimes I pretend to close my eyes and be asleep and then wait until I know Mommy is settling back to sleep to spring a surprise cry attack. If she doesn’t get to me fast enough I follow up with my fake cough and gag noise that always has her running to the crib. At some point I am positive she will start to realize that she really doesn’t really need sleep.
P.S. Don’t let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out.
Trust me.
Sincerely, Baby J
Posted 23 March 11
Sleep Guidance Course for Nannies and child care workers
Our next course will be run in Sydney and the Central Coast in Term 4 dates still to be confirmed. If you are interested please email us with your name expressing your interest and we will keep you on our mailing list to advise you of the confirmed dates.
E: info@nightnannies.com.au
Posted 23 March 11
Launching www.daynannies.com.au
Night Nannies is proud to announce our newest website Day Nannies www.daynannies.com.au
Day Nannies is an expansion of Night Nannies based on our clients requesting day services. Night Nannies has already been providing day Nanny services however we are now officially extending our services to ensure a more fine tuned and separate service offered in the day.