Toddler Tricks - 21

Ways to Trick your Baby:

Problem:  Your kid, to put it mildly, wakes up on the wrong side of the bed.  It seems no matter what you do, you are going to be graced with a crying jag leftover from sleep.  Nothing appeases, nothing stops it.  She's just cranky when she wakes up.

Solution:  Try to get there right before she wakes up.  This has worked for me about 50 percent of the time.  It's hard to pull off because sometimes the babies will sleep for an hour, other times they'll sleep for 2.5 hours.  But if I can hear them even starting to stir a little bit, I stay close by so that I can sneak in as they begin to open their eyes.  For some reason, them waking up to me in the room sets the tone and gives me more control over the situation.  So that I can smile and hug them playfully and they follow along without question, whereas had I tried to do that after they woke up without me, they wouldn't buy it.


Ways your Baby Tricks You:

Problem:  You're in the room already, and your baby doesn't care.  She's waking up crying, no if ands or buts about it.

Solution:  Stop.  Give her a hug if she'll let you.  Let her know you care however you can in the first minute or so.  Then walk away.  If your toddler is anything like mine, she'll cry for just a bit longer than you can stand before turning off the water works and continuing on with her life as if nothing had happened. (And she's right to do so; nothing happened.)  If you can up your tolerance for baby-crying just a few minutes, you may find that the cranky-pants changes her own tune when left to her own devices.  If she's not getting attention for flopping around for no reason, perhaps she'll reasonably see that the crayons or the video is more interesting than her own salty crocodile tears.

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