Sound Advice

There are 2 precautions I have read in several baby books that have surprised me. In both cases, at first I thought the advice was just insane and frankly a little over the top. I wondered why they even bothered to write it down. It seemed pretty obvious to me. I soon found out this precautions are not only right on the dot. They (thankfully) once in a while come to me in time of need.

1. Don’t shake the baby

2. Don’t tie or glue the pacifier to his/her mouth

I’ll go about this separately:

1. Don’t shake the baby: Duh, Right? That’s what I thought. I wouldn’t in my wildest dreams hurt Peter. So when I constantly kept reading this advice, it got me wondering, how bad does it have to get to reach this point?. In case you haven’t heard, if you shake your child strong enough they could develop Shaken Baby Syndrome (Which could cause long term disabilities or even lead to the death of your child). Thankfully I have never reached the point were I have felt like shaking or hurting Peter in any way. But I can see how a scared, sleep deprived, exhausted parent could loose it.

I can picture it in my head. One second in your life. Your baby cries for the 50th time, you pick them up. Look at them and ask (While shaking them): What is wrong? Boom. You hurt your child, your life will never be the same. It gives me chills. I finally understood why this advice is given in every book: If you feel like you are loosing it walk away. Better to let your child cry than to hurt them. If you are aware of this advice, when the moment comes it will ring in your head and you will know what to do.

I thankfully have never reached this point. But I remember when Peter was about 3 weeks old, he had been crying all day because of gas. I had done everything in my power to burp him. But the kid was not collaborating. It was about 1 in the morning after a difficult day. I had just fed Peter and was trying to burp him by gently patting his back, when he suddenly started crying. I knew it was because of the gas. I didn’t want him to cry anymore. I suddenly found myself patting a little too hard. I stopped immediately. Wow. I understood.

2. Don’t tie or glue the pacifier to his/her mouth

Peter got a pacifier when he was 3 weeks old. At first I didn’t want him to have one, but Peter had such a strong sucking reflex that we had no choice. He cried, cried, cried until the day we bought him his first at the advice of his Dr. As soon as he sucked on it, the crying stopped. I was in heaven. Then came the night: You see, up to this day, the baby won’t sleep unless the thing is inside his mouth. This means that if the pacifier falls 20 times, that’s 20 times Peter will wake up. If you remember from my last post, up until 4 months, every time Peter woke up I would have to walk him around in my arms. So I quickly cursed the day we gave him “The Thing”.Then came the realization of why this advice is also constantly repeated in books. I can clearly see it happening, and can completely relate to anyone who has been in this position.

Friends (who have no children) have actually suggested that we tie it around and/or glue it. It sounds so logical. But since it shouldn’t be done, we don’t. We keep walking in and placing it in it righteous place, until Peter knows when. I have tried weaning him off. I screamed of joy the day Peter found his thumb. The joy quickly went away went he pulled his thumb out and it was bloody red (Extremely strong sucking reflex and biting). So I have decided to let it be. If I have to keep getting up to replace it I will. I choose a healthy baby thumb over a nights sleep. I’m grateful I read this advice before the situation began. I think my “creativity” would have led me to glue it to Peter’s mouth with tape. And  would have probably have felt like a genius. So thank you books, for popping that balloon and keeping my baby safe.

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In other news…

I really believe that the person who figures this one out will make a fortune. Lets create a mothers think tank and solve this collectively. So far I have come up with the following (an idea quickly killed by my husband): A pacifier with milk inside a capsule so that after a certain amount of time the baby sucks a little milk and therefore will feel the need to keep on sucking. Hey this was my first! I’m still thinking. Ideas welcome, we’ll split the money (probably).

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