"They have to get used to sleeping around noise" - Page 2

[lifeguard]

I think that babies just have different tolerances for noise while sleeping but that said as parents you can also have some impact on that. We have tried to make it so that ds is not super reliant on 16 different factors to fall asleep 'cause it can make things so difficult for everyone if you're somewhere else & can't meet all those parameters.

That said, we have 2 dogs & I was so worried that they would constantly be waking him up. I guess he got used to the barking before he arrived 'cause he doesn't even seem to notice the barking, even when it's right beside him.

I totally get trying to avoid waking the baby but I can't imagine taking that as far as not flushing the toilet, but perhaps ds just isn't as light a sleeper as others.

[KarlaC]

Originally Posted by LCBMAX

We are the Ludicrous Family who doesn't flush the toilet if our son is sleeping. It's just not worth the wake-up.

Count us into that family too. Ds has always slept horribly and is one cranky little man who won't nap again if woken.

[Llyra]

Whatever. My mom says stuff like that, too, but that's because me and my brother were and are rock-solid sleepers, and she's never had to deal with a sleepless, easily roused baby. And I know it's not my fault DS is easily roused. My girls aren't, and they grew up in the same house under the same conditions. DS's twin sister can sleep through ANYTHING AT ALL, but with DS, if I step on the wrong floorboard, or somebody flushes the toilet two floors down, he's up and screaming. And it was a lot worse when he was an infant. So yeah, for a long time I hung a sign on the front door threatening the mailman that I was going to throttle him if he let the screen door slam, and I silenced all the phones and avoided flushing when DS was sleeping. And a whole lot of other similar stuff. I don't call it ridiculous-- I call it survival. When DS doesn't sleep, the whole family pays the price.

[Tway]

We're a no-flush/no-shower family, too.

That said, I remember going by a jackhammer when DD was napping in her carriage. I was sure she'd be up and screaming--but nope! If she's in just the right level of sleep, she sleeps pretty soundly. But 20 minutes later a man WALKING his bike by her startled her right up again. Oh, well.

[LCBMAX]

Originally Posted by Tway

We're a no-flush/no-shower family, too.

That said, I remember going by a jackhammer when DD was napping in her carriage. I was sure she'd be up and screaming--but nope! If she's in just the right level of sleep, she sleeps pretty soundly. But 20 minutes later a man WALKING his bike by her startled her right up again. Oh, well.

Exactly this. And it's still the case at 2.5 years.

[2xy]

Originally Posted by WindyCityMom

With that said we went on with our daily lives onces we had children. We didn't make a tremendous amount of noise if we didnt have to though.

This is us. But we're a rather quiet family, so our house has always been on the quiet side.

I also believe that sound vs. light sleepers is more of a "nature" thing than a "nurture" thing.

[rhiOrion]

Originally Posted by Irishmommy

Yeah, but are they good sleepers because they are used to noise, or is there noise because they are good sleepers.

Dh works with someone who won't even shower at home if his kid is sleeping anywhere in the house. That's just ludicrous. We always made a point of not being silent, and we have awesome sleepers.

I think it's some of each.

DD sleeps just fine with noise as long as there isn't a huge sudden crash or something. But I don't know if she is just like that, or if she's like that because we were never quiet.

[greenmansions]

Originally Posted by Maela

....
My dd was a very light sleeper until just a year ago. And everyone always told me it was because I was quiet while she slept. NO, I started being quiet because she woke so often from every little noise.

Same here - we responded to our kids' reactions to noise and made adjustments as needed. My DD in particular woke very easily so after she came along we really quieted down.

We also tried to be reasonably quiet and not make noises that would wake either of us up, as adults.

We have had very inconsiderate, childless houseguests who would make all kinds of noise in the bathroom (showers, blowdryers, etc), even when requested not to - like please shower in the morning not evening - and of course would wake our kids. I hope to repay the favor when they have kids.

[ThisCat]

I never really understood why some people who have babies who can sleep through anything feel the need to imply that people who have babies who can't did something wrong along the way. I really can't imagine taking that much credit for my child or judging another parent whose circumstances I know nothing about. It reminds me of those parents that like to point fingers at parents with picky eaters while patting themselves on the back because their kids eat sushi.

Anyway, once my daughter was out of the newborn stage, she made it clear she needed quiet and dark to sleep, so we accommodated. That meant we watched TV at a volume so low that we had to use closed captions, we kept the lights low, we didn't flush the hall bathroom toilet, we turned off the ringers on the phones, and we whispered a lot. We also got a white noise machine and blackout shades for the bedroom. It really wasn't bad though. We actually look back on that time with fondness. It was very cozy.

She's almost five now and sleeps quite soundly. We are mindful that she's sleeping in the evening, but we don't have to tip-toe around anymore. She likes her door left cracked open and sleeps though us cooking, talking, showering, flushing, and watching TV on regular volume.

[Tway]

Originally Posted by ThisCat

That meant we watched TV at a volume so low that we had to use closed captions, we kept the lights low, we didn't flush the hall bathroom toilet, we turned off the ringers on the phones, and we whispered a lot. We also got a white noise machine and blackout shades for the bedroom.

Except for the blackout shades, that's us! In fact, I'm starting to find it hard to watch a movie WITHOUT the subtitles, even if DD isn't asleep.

And yes--my biggest bugaboo about parenthood is having other parents tell me what I'm doing wrong/how I'm ruining or spoiling my kid/what I should do instead/etc. I sincerely cant imagine telling any mother what she should do, even if I really don't agree with her. It really stumps me every time.

[emilysuek]

I live in a tiny apartment where the kids sleep in a "railroad room" basically a glorified hallway alcove. There isn't even a door, there's an insulated curtain! To add insult to injury we live in one of the few towns left in my state that still blares an air horn 20 times to "call" the volunteer firefighters. And I live two houses down from that air horn. Naptime is a crap shoot.

[Asiago]

My son is napping and I just returned from using the phone in the bathroom so that he would not wake.

[mamazee]

I really and truly believed this with #1. I thought she slept so soundly through any noise because of my mad skillz and because I'd made noise around her when she slept.

LOL.

Then came #2, and any peep anywhere in the house will wake her up. I'm constantly shushing #1, don't want anyone ringing the doorbell, put the phone on vibrate, etc.

And I have been the same with both.

I think we give way more credit (and fault sometimes) for our children's quirks to ourselves when it's often just personality.

[MommatoAandA]

People say that all the time to me. I think we forget babies are people, rather than a hinder to moving on with our lives as usual.

I have a sensitive to noise/light type baby. She also becomes overwhelmed in social situations where there are more than a few people and people want to talk to her or hold her or when random strangers get in her face at say, the grocery store. She will give me the deer in headlights look and CRY.

She currently sleeps in our walk in closet which has no windows. She needs complete dark and almost complete silence. We do use a noise machine with the Heart beat or rain setting and a small fan. I do not shower or flush the toilet. I do not vacuum and often take my 3 year old out to play for her 2 hour nap.

That is who she is, I respect it. I personally cannot sleep with any lights within my eye line and NO TV. I do like some white noise.

[Anastasiya]

Originally Posted by Maela

BUT vacuuming in their room?! I think that's just rude.

This made me laugh. With our last baby, as soon as I noticed he'd begin to rouse, if it was too soon from a nap or if someone had accidentally woken him, I would actually run the vaccum to get him to fall back asleep!

[One_Girl]

I took a baby class after I had dd and they told us to turn off all the lights, shut off anything that made noise, and nurse or bottle feed our babies quietly at night to get them used to night being a quiet time for relaxing. We did that and co-slept and by the time dd was two months old she was sleeping twelve hours a night (though she did still wake to latch on). I would rather have a good long sleep than a baby who can sleep through any noise. I think priorities have changed though over the years. My mom used to be super concerned about everything being immaculate and never rested when we did. I always slept and let some of the immaculate go.

[2xy]

Originally Posted by One_Girl

I took a baby class after I had dd and they told us to turn off all the lights, shut off anything that made noise, and nurse or bottle feed our babies quietly at night to get them used to night being a quiet time for relaxing. We did that and co-slept and by the time dd was two months old she was sleeping twelve hours a night (though she did still wake to latch on).

Well, this is pretty much what I always did because I like silence and don't care for TV or the radio very much. I guess I didn't make the house pitch black, but it was quiet and dim. DS1 slept through the night at 6 weeks (11pm-6am). DS2 started sleeping through the night when he was 3.5 YEARS old.

I work odd hours...I used to get home not until 2-3am sometimes, and minutes after I walked in the door (quietly), he would often be standing in the hallway to say hello. He sleeps pretty soundly now, at 15. Funny enough, noise bothers DS1 MORE now that he's older. I used to joke that you could drop a brick on his face and he wouldn't wake up. Now he comes upstairs (his bedroom is in the basement) to ask DH to turn the TV down.

[akind1]

I think it is an individual thing - kind of like STTN - with the noise, we didn't change anything noise wise in our house when DS was born, and he naps ok. He sleeps ok too. Not exactly STTN, but well enough for us.

When he's napping, if we need to do something loud (like vacuum) we shut the door to the room he is sleeping in. Just in case. For bed time though; we have a lullaby instrumental cd we play and that is it as far as noise. We do have a night light because I like to be able to see my way to the bathroom, and I like to be able to see a little where DS is, and it helps with night-nursing.

People always have these opinions, I think alot of it just depends on the baby.