Many seasoned parents swear by dancing with their baby to put them to sleep.  This requires nothing more than a CD of soothing music or your own voice to sing out a song or melody, and the good attitude to give dancing a try.  You don’t even have to be a good dancer for this to work (ask my wife - I’m horrible), because your baby isn’t judging you on whether or not you have two left feet, your baby is judging you on whether or not you rock and swing them in a way that they like.

 

Basically, this baby sleep tip is a variation on rocking or bouncing your baby to sleep.  However, when you’ve been up until the wee hours of the morning trying everything you know, sometimes putting on a good CD and dancing around to the music with your baby can be just the ticket to motivating your tired body to carry on just a little longer, and motivating your little one to give up the fight and go to sleep.

 

Some babies will prefer the gentle swaying that a soft classical piece of music will inspire.  Other babies will be knocked-out by something more lively.  My own daughter falls right asleep whenever she is bounced to uptempo bluegrass or fiddle music… Go figure.  We discovered this by accident at around 2:00 in the morning when we were willing to try anything to get her to sleep.  So, don’t always assume that quiet soothing music is what will work best.  Start with whatever you like, and experiment with different styles.  For most babies, it’s not the type of music that matters most, but rather it’s the constant rhythm of the dance that lulls them to sleep.

 

This technique seems to work exceptionally well with babies who are overstimulated, or babies who are too interested in the fun that happens when they are awake to go to sleep.  Perhaps this is because dancing provides motion that is very interesting at first, which allows the baby to relax - thinking you’re not trying to put them to sleep, and they don’t need to fight you anymore - but the constant motion soon becomes boring enough to be soothing in a hypnotic way.

 

Plus, if you’re like most parents with young babies, I'm sure you don't have time to go out dancing for real!  So, have a little fun with this idea.  Break out your dancing shoes, and dance your baby to sleep the next time he or she won’t sleep.

 

Andrew Dolbin-MacNab

Pediasleep LLC

 

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     About the Author:

 

Andrew Dolbin-MacNab is a father, sound-engineer, and the founding member of Pediasleep LLC, a leader in the production of white noise and other soothing sounds to aid the healthy sleep of infants, cosleepers, and parents. Having successfully survived his daughter's early sleep problems with the help of white noise, he is also an expert on infant sleep problems and their solutions. Pediasleep can be found online at http://www.Pediasleep.com.