Evening star., 1949-09-14
MORE ON ST EEPING PROBLEM
(From Mrs. r. B. B.,
Falls Church,


(From Mrs. r. B. B..
Falls Church,
I don't believe I can do much
more than sympathize with you
Mrs. A. E. S., but I will tell you my
experience with my daughter
which seems to parallel yours.
From the time she was 6 months
until 18 months, she woke at least
twice during every night even
though she may not have slept
more than Is minutes during the
day. I would sing to her, take her
to bed with me, rock her. give her
milk (she was weaned at 8 months.
then put on bottle until about
18 months) or walk the floor. I'll
admit I did a lot Of feeling sorry
for myself but came to realize that
there was no solution and I must
make the best of it, and I finally
got into the habit of waking at
all hours and I don't believe that
it did me any harm. I would put
her to bed at, say 8. reading or
singing to her; she would wake at
~, standing up in bed and crying.
I never let her cry it out, but once,
and she cried for As minutes and
vomited: that cured me. I'd then
give her milk, take her to the bath
room and sing her back to sleep.
Then she'd wake once or twice
more during the night and If she
wanted it I'd give her warm milk.
sing, rock or walk the floor again.
She would usually sleep well from
about 5 in the morning until 8.
Thinking back over it, Won
der If something couldn't have
Strengthened her out, but don't
know what. Nor can I account
for her sleeplessness. When she
was six months, we moved from
another city when she caught her
first cold. From that time she
woke as I have described. At first,
thought that was the cause but
after two months I took her to
the doctor who said she was a fine
healthy baby and would in time
take on better sleeping habits.
She is 2 now and sleeps much
better in the day time, two hours
after her lunch regularly. Twice
she has even crawled into her bed
without my suggesting 1t. She
goes to bed at 10 or 10:30, some
times without reading or singing,
and gets up at 7:30 or 8. She
wakes once during the night, no
crying though. She just calls me
saying that she wants to go to the
bathroom. Then she goes right
back to sleep.
About the only suggestion I
have for you is to read nursery
rhymes at bedtime and maps, in
a low quiet tone or sing in a low
soft voice and to always be gentle
and patient with her. I am under
the impression that back rubbing
is more stimulating than soothing.
Incidentally, a very few times I
tried scolding which aggravated
the situation.
So, actually, I'll be watching
with you for a better solution
through the RICH.
from Mrs. r. A. M, WashingtonJ
think Mrs. A. E. s. should get
to the root of her child's trouble
and find out what is causing her
sleeplessness. Perhaps her pedia-
trician could suggest some physi-
cal reason for her child's unrest,
or could throw some light on er-
rors in psychology she may be
making In. raising and training
her child. The ChildrenA Bureau
here in Washington could help
her with both these problems, too,
I believe.
HOOKED RUG CLASS.
{ From Mrs. A. B.. Alexandria,
Hooked Rug Class at the Alex
andria YWCA, 602 Cameron
street, Alexandria, started for the
season on Tuesday. September 13.
Glasses are from 10 am. to IL
noon and another from 7:30 pm.
to 9:30 pm. There will also be
a Del Ray Neighborhood Class
starting Wednesday, September
%, from 7:30 pm. to $50 pm.
Mrs. Augustine L. Bresnahan in
structor.
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