On Saturday, we took the kids to the museum. We were gone from about 8:30 am until about 6:30 pm. Giggles was amazingly calm the entire day despite having less then optimal sleeping arrangements.

When we got home BeAGoodMom put Pookie and Geetle to bed while I put Giggles to bed. Instantly, the stress of the day overwhelmed her and she started her full out baby scream. 15 minutes later she was sound asleep.

Magic? Not really. But here’s what I did to calm down my screaming baby so she could fall asleep.

screaming baby

Photo by jessicafm
First, I did not bother talking to her. The few words I tried just made her angrier.

I quickly put her in her pajamas.

I tried rocking her which brought forth what I believe were her first profanities.

I placed her in her crib and swaddled her. I turned on the CD that she listens to every night and I walked out of the room.

That didn’t quite work. The screaming turned hysterical…and not the funny hysterical.

I returned to the room without turning on any lights or making any noise. I placed my hand lightly on her chest so that she knew I was there and waited about 5 minutes.

She continued screaming for about 2 minutes and settled into more sporadic yelling and crying. And then she stopped.

Then, I left the room.

She has me trained well.