Written March 21, 2008
When I was in high school or college, I was taking a nap on the beach in Aruba and woke up to hear a baby not far away crying at the top of his/her lungs. I asked my grandmother how long the baby had been crying, and she said 10 minutes. Usually I would have incorporated such an extended sound into my dreams, but hadn't. What really disturbed me was the fact that I didn't wake up quicker. GM assured me that things would be different for my own children, and they are. Not only am I more likely to hear DD's cries sooner (not that my brain can always comprehend what it is or my body willingly gets out of bed quickly), but I have gotten to the point where I hear her fuss or cry before she does.
In an attempt to help poor DH and me get more sleep, my grandparents bought us the Dunstan Baby Language DVD. While I'm sure it will be helpful, I can already tell the differences in some of DD's sounds, I'm glad the $40 didn't come out of my pocket. There are 5 distinct sounds for newborns, which I would include here, except they're copyright protected. Priscilla Dunstan goes over these sounds, tells what they mean, and then proceeds to ensure that even the stupidest new parent understands that if your baby is hungry, you need to feed him/her, and if s/he's gassy (or "windy" as they apparently say in Australia) you need to burp him/her. There are also demonstrations showing how to go about feeding, burping, and rocking your child to sleep, which can be helpful. What really gets me, however, is on the two DVDs provided, the bonus features seem to be more lengthy than the actual instruction. And what might be the bonus feature you ask? Parents telling the camera how wonderful the language deciphering is. There is also a 24-page booklet provided, but again, that's not a whole lot of help. The little wall chart that tells the words/cries, meaning, and what to do (again, feed your baby if s/he's giving the hungry cry) will be helpful, esp. at three in the morning when I can't remember the difference between the lower and upper gas cries.
I think what will really help DH and me is this Friday - his parents are going to take DD for the night so he and I can get a full eight hours worth of sleep, in one time block. I think I'll miss her terribly, and I'm sure I'll get up every few hours thinking I hear her crying. Wonder if it will be when she actually does cry. Of course, with my luck, she will sleep through the night for her grandparents.
In an attempt to help poor DH and me get more sleep, my grandparents bought us the Dunstan Baby Language DVD. While I'm sure it will be helpful, I can already tell the differences in some of DD's sounds, I'm glad the $40 didn't come out of my pocket. There are 5 distinct sounds for newborns, which I would include here, except they're copyright protected. Priscilla Dunstan goes over these sounds, tells what they mean, and then proceeds to ensure that even the stupidest new parent understands that if your baby is hungry, you need to feed him/her, and if s/he's gassy (or "windy" as they apparently say in Australia) you need to burp him/her. There are also demonstrations showing how to go about feeding, burping, and rocking your child to sleep, which can be helpful. What really gets me, however, is on the two DVDs provided, the bonus features seem to be more lengthy than the actual instruction. And what might be the bonus feature you ask? Parents telling the camera how wonderful the language deciphering is. There is also a 24-page booklet provided, but again, that's not a whole lot of help. The little wall chart that tells the words/cries, meaning, and what to do (again, feed your baby if s/he's giving the hungry cry) will be helpful, esp. at three in the morning when I can't remember the difference between the lower and upper gas cries.
I think what will really help DH and me is this Friday - his parents are going to take DD for the night so he and I can get a full eight hours worth of sleep, in one time block. I think I'll miss her terribly, and I'm sure I'll get up every few hours thinking I hear her crying. Wonder if it will be when she actually does cry. Of course, with my luck, she will sleep through the night for her grandparents.
Written June 9, 2009
I must admit that I'm glad I had the DVD, as it did indeed help me, most of the time. I try to teach the various sounds to my family, but they still relied on me a great deal, and for the most part I was able to determine what DD wanted/needed and fix the problem pretty quick. When she was about six months old we signed up for Baby Signs at our Gymboree Play & Music. She quickly caught on to hat, even though she would rarely keep them on, and dog, one of her favorite animals. She would occassionally sign 'milk,' and I really worked on 'more' to get her to stop screaching for more food. Before I knew it, not only was she doing signs I would use with her on a regular basis, but started to use some occassional signs on her own, such as 'diaper,' as in, "Mommy, I have a dirty diaper." She can now do over a dozen signs, some her own version of them, but we understand each other to some degree and that really does help make for a happier relationship. It's so cute now, too, because she'll grab someone's finger (sometimes after putting that person's shoe on him/her) and do a sign while leading the person towards whatever she wants. Her favorite, again, is going to see the dogs. She even holds the leash, though the big dog walks her rather than the other way around.
DH and I really enjoyed our full night's rest, although I think I had to wake up to pump. His parents made it a weekly treat for us for a few months, and she did, indeed, sleep through the night (beyond the official five hours) the majority of those nights.
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