Rock-a-Bye Baby (19 page)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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: Relax and keep your focus on the big picture. Soon your baby will outgrow this problem and be into something else. Before you know it, your baby will be all grown up! In the meantime—here's the most important tip of all: Enjoy your baby!

“Oh sleep! It is a gentle thing, Beloved from pole to pole.”

—Samuel Taylor Coleridge

When babies around the world begin to talk, they speak different languages, but when they won't go to sleep, it's the exact same problem worldwide. While many techniques are the same everywhere, such as rocking and singing to baby, many cultures also have their own special tricks and different approaches to sleep. Learn what parents around the globe do to get their babies to sleep—and try a couple of these techniques in your own home.

Parents play Indian CDs—everything from Bollywood hits to sitar songs—on low volume and sing along to help their babies go to sleep. Invest in some international music to play for your baby. Some parents turn traditional folktales into songs and sing them to their babies. Follow their lead and sing
Goodnight Moon
or
The Night Before Christmas
.

Another technique used in India is a swing on a string. Parents attach a string to a small rocking bed and pull it from a distance while humming a special tune called a
lorrie
.

In India, the Ayurvedic culture believes that the combination of the body, mind, and soul work together to prevent health problems. One method mothers use is massage on their baby's tummies with a ball of dough coated with a little almond oil and turmeric, to help baby's digestion and calm him to sleep.