Rock-a-Bye Baby by Penny Warner Read Free Book Online

Today we know that breast milk is best for Baby. It’s easier to digest and therefore causes fewer spit-ups and tummy aches and less gas. The act of sucking on a breast as opposed to a bottle nipple aids in Baby’s digestion, by creating waves than push the milk down and reduce the intake of air. Avoid bottle-feeding if you want your baby to sleep well at night.

Diaper-Rash Cure
    A diaper rash will keep your baby from sleeping well. Luckily, there are several products on the market that will help prevent diaper rash or clear it up, such as Desitin, Burt’s Baby Bee Diaper Ointment, and Boudreaux’s Butt Paste. But to clear up the irritation fast, Grandma often used to crush Tums tablets and mix them with diaper-rash cream, then rub the mixture on baby’s bottom after each diaper change.

Spritz to Sleep
    In the past, parents thought certain smells helped Baby sleep, such as the scent of roses or lavender. Today you can buy products with scents, such as Fussy Mussy Spritzer, (which smells like roses), then spray it on Baby’s face, avoiding the eyes. Or try an aromatherapy candle (just make sure it’s placed in a safe area).

Gripe Water
    Gripe water is a homeopathic remedy that contains chamomile, fennel, caraway, ginger, peppermint, lemon balm, aloe, and vegetable carbon. Give it to your baby, following the directions on the bottle, to calm him and help him sleep.

Turn Around
    Some say that if you turn your baby upside-down, with her feet at the head and her head at the foot of the bed, she’ll fall asleep thanks to the new environment.

Pumpkin for Pun’kin
    Parents would once offer their babies strained pumpkin, slightly sweetened, to get baby to sleep. It probably worked because pumpkin is high in carbohydrates, which release serotonins, a natural sleep enhancer.

Add a Plant
    In the old days, parents thought babies breathed better if there was a plant in the room to help provide extra oxygen. Although it isn’t likely that there will be a lack of oxygen in your baby’s room, putting a nontoxic plant in her room can’t hurt.

A Whiff of Onion
    In the past, some mothers would take a yellow onion, chop it up, and place it in container with a lid near Baby’s bed, then let out a whiff of the onion to get baby to sleep. I would think the strong smell would wake the baby, but other cultures sometimes use this method, so it may be worth a try.

Bedtime Banana
    I found an old baby book that suggested you serve your baby mashed banana at bedtime to cause drowsiness. We now know that bananas contain L-triptophan, which aids in sleep, so they may have been onto something.

Avoid Moonlight
    A common old wives’ tale claims that bright moonlight shining into your baby’s face can keep him from sleeping, much like a night-light that’s too bright. While it may not be the moonlight that’s keeping Baby awake, it makes sense that anything shining in Baby’s face or too bright in the room can prevent sleep. Draw the curtains and check the strength of the night-light to make sure this isn’t what’s keeping your baby from sleep.

Toe Wiggling
    Some old wives’ tales recommend wiggling your baby’s toes to help her relax and get her to sleep, but the reason has been lost over time. Still, there may be something to this. Today, many use reflexology for the same thing, with the belief that toe wiggling helps channel energy that causes relaxation.

Tummy Rub
    Many believe that gently massaging baby’s stomach in clockwise circles will help with digestion, which leads to sleep. The clockwise direction is thought to relieve blockage in the colon, but back then it was probably discovered through trial and error, and then passed down through generations.

Stop Worrying!
    Grandmother often advised the new mother not to worry, knowing that eventually baby will go to sleep. That was probably easy for her to say in retrospect, but the advice is still solid: