It is amazing how some little bit of motion can fascinate a baby and hold his attention for so long. One of our best purchases has been a Fisher-Price mobile, which we have attached over his cot bed. It has 3 mobile leaves that fan open and close to the rhythm of the music and 3 hanging animals that pass under these moving leaves. For music, we have a choice of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart or simply just rainforest noises. Of all his moving toys, this captivates Julien the most. He would watch it and coo, with swaying arms if not swaddled, and have been known to fall asleep after a while. It is truly a wonderful gift to this sometimes harried mum.
His playmat comes second. Now that his arms are long enough, he likes to stretch out his hands to touch the toys hanging from his playmat. He can entertain himself for quite a bit too just doing this, cooing away. Well, actually, I can't be sure if he is actively stretching out his arms to touch the toys or if it is just an involuntary action on his part, at this stage of babyhood.
His swing comes next. A gift from a fren, this side-to-side swing comes with variable swing speeds, a choice of music or forest sounds and light projection against its netting. Every time I put Julien in it, he is drawn towards the little light show and cam stare at it for ages. Sometimes, he falls asleep in this swing, which I don't really like, since I don't want him to be reliant on motion to fall asleep. That would be hard work for me in future!
Then, there is his bouncy chair. This is the one thing that an experienced mummy girlfriend told me I must buy. She and another girlfriend swear by it. And buy one we did; in fact, it was the first "motion thing", so to speak, that we got for Julien. Generally, I put him in, and pull the handle for the sounds, but if that still doesn't make him happy, then I resort to activating the vibration mode. Just like in the case of the swing, I do not want to cultivate in him a longstanding desire to be "vibrated" to be soothed. This swing and its vibrating feature have bought me some time when I try to cook, but I like it also because its reclining position allows Julien to be propped up. so that he can see what is happening around him and he really likes that.
Finally, there is his Baby Bjorn baby carrier. He now dislikes being in his baby buggy or the car seat. My guess is the former limits his field of vision, while the latter is not the most comfortable thing, since it curls up his spine. He is happiest most in his Baby Bjorn, because he is comfortably upright and he can look around easily and check out his surroundings. These days, he is always curious about his environment and drinks in all the sights around him. By far, we have found he is most drawn to lights (he loves Costco - the ceiling is full of lights), black-and-white designs (like the wallpaper in the dining room) and bold colour mixes (like our wall paintings). However, sometimes he does fret in it as well, as it can get a bit warm, being pressed against either me or Daddy Low (whoever is carrying him).
A while ago, Julien was too small physically to sit properly in the swing and the bouncy chair, but now he fits snuggly. In fact, the bouncy chair seems to be doing all it can to support an increasingly heavy Julien now. And while this is the reason why many parents hesitate to sink money in these items that Baby outgrows so quickly, I have to admit that these have been invaluable aids to my sanity and given me some sense of freedom, especially in the trying period of transition and adapting to new routines and changes in lifestyle.
I can't say that these work their magic all the time. Sometimes, Julien wises up to it and cries shortly after put in, and you know then that he seriously wants something (feed, sleep, diaper change, more clothes etc) and that no amount of vibrating, swaying, sweet music will help. But what I can see is these appear to be Julien's favorite things and if so, they are happily mine too! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment