Ways To Get Your Baby To Sleep

There is nothing harder on a new mother then listen to the cries of a baby who can't get to sleep at night. Here are some tested and true ways to lull your child to sleep that you can try.

Try rocking your child in a rocking chair. Holding a child in your arms while rocking back and forth is one the most traditional and effective ways to get a child to sleep.

Consider taking your child for a ride in a car. Strap the child in his or her car seat and drive around the block. This automatically puts many babies immediately to sleep. Singing a little also seems to help, even if you are a bad singer. The lower the voice the better.

Relax your baby before it is time for bed by giving him or her a warm bath. This helps to naturally make the baby drowsy. Massage his or her muscles gently before laying the child in the cradle.

Breast feed or feed the baby warm milk just before it is time for the baby to go to bed. Warm milk contains tryptophan, which is a natural sedative. It's the same stuff that makes us feel drowsy after we eat a big turkey dinner at Thanksgiving.

5Try holding the baby and humming. Place baby in the neck nestle position (nestle baby’s head against the front of your neck with your chin against the top of baby’s head. The vibration of a deep voice lulls baby) and rock your baby to sleep.

Make sure the baby's bedroom is dark. Sometimes it is light from the windows or from an open door that is keeping the child fussy and awake.

Turn on a rhythmic sounding machine that makes a white noise of some kind. Machines like this include dehumidifiers, air conditioners or air cleaners.

Try perfuming your baby's room with lavender. Lavender can have a sedating effect on infants. Vanilla and orange are also soothing scents. Don't make the room smell like a brothel however as that could irritate the child even more. Use a light touch when using room sprays.

Make sure the baby's diapers are changed and that his or her skin is not irritated by diaper rash. If diaper rash is a problem try taking the baby's diaper off.

Make sure the room is neither too hot or too cold. Sometimes a baby is crying because he or she is too warm or shivering.

The key is to make the baby as comfortable as possible. If I find any more techniques I will be sure to print them in this blog. I am sure there are a lot of sleep-deprived parents out there who need all the help that they can get

Parenting Tips
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The Fun of Wind Chimes

I love wind chimes. My kids love them too. There is nothing like the sound of wind chimes tinkling on your front porch to make your home seem like a real home. 

The best place to hang wind chimes indoors is where you think there will be a bit of a breeze. This is the best way to enjoy them, as wind chimes that just hang there and never have the opportunity to jangle are half as much fun as though that do. If there is not any bit of breeze or air where you intend to hang these chimes then you can be sure to hang them just low enough so that people can touch them with their fingers every now and then to make them tinkle. 

I love to hold my babies up to the wind chimes so they can play with them with their fingers. Hanging them outside a baby's window can also help them fall asleep as it gives the infant something to focus on them. 

Although it is nice to hang the wind chimes in a way that makes them accessible to people (so they can brush their fingers across them and make them ring) it is also important not to hang them too low. You don't want the tops of people's heads hitting the wind chimes or obstructing their view in any way. A unique place to hang wind chimes is from the bottom of a light fixture or chandelier. This can add a new and musical dimension to your décor. 

Hanging wind chimes in the kitchen is a good idea especially if you get the cast iron kind that consists of many bells. This way you can also use them as a ringer for letting people know that dinner is ready. No matter what size or what material the wind chimes are made of you need to hang them in a way so that they have room to move. This means not hanging them in a corner or too close to a wall.

Wind chimes look very nice hanging from ceiling rafters and in front of windows. If you are planning to hang the wind chimes outside then one of the nicest places to hang them is from an eave or a beam on the front porch. They also look nice hanging in a tree as long as you don't mind scaring away squirrels or birds.

If your kids are old enough you can make nice wind chimes out of old bottles, shells or even paper origami. It is a good crafts project that teaches them about sound as well as balance. 

Where you hang your wind chimes might also depend on how valuable they are. It is probably not a good idea to hang and expensive set of wind chimes made of jade, crystal and copper outside where it can be stolen.

You can get them at the Wind Chimes Store

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