Mommy Needs a Time Out!

Monday night after an hour and a half of Ryley screaming and crying, I gave myself a time out. I put Ryley in his crib with his music and mobile and went into my room for 10 minutes or so. At that point I called my mom. Feeling like the worst mother in the world, I was reminded that many mothers go through this and I did the right thing. After assessing that Ryley was not hurt, didn't want food, had a clean diaper, and needed nothing I had to put him down and calm myself down. For me, it is very hard to put my baby down when he is crying. I feel like I am the mother and I should always be able to calm my baby down, when in fact sometimes that doesn't happen. Ryley has a fussy time between 6-8pm. Sometimes I am able to calm him down with tools I have learned, other times (like Monday night) I am not. On the days where I am not, I find that sometimes I need a time out for a couple of minutes to calm myself down and that is ok! In fact removing myself from the situation is probably the healthies thing to do. Babies just get moe upset when they know that we are upset. It also removes the danger of parents loosing their cool. Some tools I have learn to calm Ryley down during his fussy times:

• -Music: I put on some soothing music right by his ear


• -Rocking: I rock him from left to right


• -Bounce: I bounce him up and down


• -Dance: I dance with him, usually the waltz to some music


• -Baby wearing: I put him in my Moby wrap and sway back and forth


• -Sway: While holding him, I sway back and forth


• -Singing: I sing to him soothing songs


• -Swaddle: I swaddle him in a blanket


• -Warm bath: Lastly I give him a warm bath. (worked monday)


• -Call some to help calm you down.


• -Ask a friend or family member to come over to give yourself a break.