(blogpost translated from https://majasode.com/2018/01/07/sov-soedt-barnlille/ )
As some of you know, Alfen had colic when he was tiny. For the first three months of his life, he was really quite miserable, and the time he slept was minimal compared with how babies that size should sleep. When he did sleep, it was almost always in Anders’s arms or mine, and the pram was certainly not a success!
I remember one day when the health visitor came, and she said she thought he would sleep better and for longer in the pram. I gave her a sceptical look, and said of course we had tried it, but he screamed and screamed as soon as we put him in it. She said he only needed to get used to it, and that she was always puzzled and saddened when she saw a couple of parents, one lugging the baby, and the other pushing an empty pram… Hm… That was us! She offered to go out with me and try and to show me some tricks. I thought it couldn’t hurt, and was quite optimistic. She must know a few things, since she had been in the business for so many years!
We went out and laid him in the pram, and, as expected, he began that heartrending crying. She suggested setting the baby alarm, so that we could go indoors and finish our talk. I could hear from her tone that she did not think we had tried hard enough. We must be a couple of those overprotective first-time parents who can’t stand it when their baby makes the slightest sound. I let her have her way. After ten minutes, when we could barely hear ourselves think (and I couldn’t concentrate… my baby was out there screaming for his mother!), she admitted, “No, I can see this is not really working.” I told you, I thought, but said nothing.
“I could hear from her tone that she did not think we had tried hard enough. We must be a couple of those overprotective first-time parents who can’t stand it when their baby makes the slightest sound”
When Alfen was about three months old, I went on my first walk with him in the pram without him crying! I remember it clearly! I called Anders, and he did not believe me until we tried it again later the same day.
Unfortunately we still had problems with him not sleeping for long periods. If we added all the little power naps he took in the course of the day, it might amount to two or three hours, but it was not much for such a little person!
He soon grew out of his carry-cot, which was actually one of the few places where he would occasionally settle down. He slept in the carry-cot at night, and we knew we had to find something that made him feel secure, like being wrapped snugly in the duvet in the carry-cot.
The autumn had come, and I bought a Voksi® sleeping bag. I really liked the idea that we did not have to dress him in a lot of outdoor clothes when we laid him to sleep in it, even though I barely dared to hope it was true. We started to put him in the Voksi® sleeping bag, and I experimented to find out what clothes he needed to wear in it. There was really something magic in that Voksi® bag. Not only was it warm and easy to handle, but it made him feel secure. Being able to pack him in and draw up the ‘hood’ to snuggle around his head was just what he needed! He immediately began to sleep longer at each nap, and he started to like lying in the pram. We soon found a rhythm with an hour and a half, twice a day!
“There was really something magic in that Voksi® bag. Not only was it warm and easy to handle, but it made him feel secure.”
When we went to the mothers’ group, all the children’s Voksi® bags were unfolded on the floor as the babies woke up, and then they could lie and play and babble while their mothers had a well-earned break and a good chat. We started with a Voksi® Classic, which we have replaced this year with a Voksi® Urban. Not because we really needed to, but it is an advantage to have a zip! It can also be extended, so if you have very long babies, it will fit as long as you have them in the buggy. However, I would prefer a Voksi® Classic while the baby is still tiny.
Alfen still sleeps better in his Voksi® sleeping bag than he does with a duvet, so we are enjoying the fact that it is winter again and we can take advantage of (usually) long naps!
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