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Write
a Family Bestseller – My Sleep Book
Once your
baby is over a year old, she begins to understand more about
life. She is probably able to follow simple instructions,
such as, “Please put this on the shelf.” Most babies at
this age enjoy reading books — especially books with
pictures of real babies. You can use this love of books to
help you encourage your baby to sleep through the night. You
can do this by writing your baby his own book about sleep.
Here's how:
Use poster board or very heavy paper. Your book should be
large — 8 ˝" X 11" or bigger. Tape the pages
together with heavy tape.
Title
your book All About [insert baby's name]. It
will depict the story of your baby's life, with the focus on
sleeping -- and/or weaning, if you want to use this idea to
help wean baby from the breast or bottle. You can also use
this idea to wean baby from the pacifier, or for that
matter, to help baby adjust to any major change in her life,
such as introducing a new pregnancy, or dealing with
divorce.
Gather
pictures of your baby right from the time of birth. Start
with a shot of her as a newborn, and progress through her
life, finishing up with those that feature actions and items
in your bedtime routine. Pictures of baby breastfeeding,
taking a bottle, using a pacifier, wearing pajamas, reading
a book, lying in bed, and sleeping, are the most helpful. If
possible, get a new roll of film and take photos of your
baby during every step of your current bedtime routine —
including several of him sleeping soundly. In one of the
sleeping photos, have Mommy or Daddy in the background
smiling and looking at baby.
Don’t
make the book so long that your little one will lose
interest, since the ending is, after all, the real goal of
the book. You know your own baby and how long of a book she
enjoys. The last section of the book will be your bedtime
and sleep (and/or weaning) goals, outlined very clearly and
specifically.
Read this
book every night. (Your baby may like it so much that she
wants to read it during the day, too — and that’s
perfectly fine!) Talk about what you read. Help your little
one do the things you talk about in the book.
As you
use this homemade book, also put into action a complete
sleep plan for your baby. Step-by-step, and night-by-night
your baby will move closer to sleeping all night long.
Excerpted
with permission by McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Publishing from The
No-Cry Sleep Solution:
Gentle Ways
to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night by
Elizabeth
Pantley, copyright 2002 Website: http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth
USA
:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0071381392/
qid%3D1003592050/sr%3D1-5/ref%3Dsr%5F1%5F11%5F5/002-1419920-8436816
Canada
:
http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0071381392/
qid%3D1026668674/sr%3D1-1/ref%3Dsr%5F1%5F0%5F1/702-1316659-8088819
UK
:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0071381392/
qid%3D1019681327/sr%3D1-7/ref%3Dsr%5F1%5F0%5F7/026-8551436-6902850
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