I heard a wail coming from right beside me. It shattered the last vestiges of the sleep I had. My son was crying. Ah. He is the only thing I care about as of now. I still remember how I read classics like Mahabharat and Ramayana while he was in my womb.
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I remember how he came into this world. Like a surprise! I had gone to the doc for a check-up. It was the beginning of the 9thMonth. The doc directly told me that I had to be operated upon as soon as possible as the baby was coming soon. A normal check-up turned out to be the best thing I had ever done in my life.
Well, back to the present. I needed to see what had made him cry. I had my doubts. Most probably he had wet his nappy again. Humph. My husband earned enough to make a living for the three of us. We had diapers, but had to do with nappies as they were like diamonds in front of a nappy. We both had decided that we must use a diaper when we were going for an outing.
That was the basic reason, the secondary reason was that my husband detested diapers as a child had to sleep with his wastes with him. So nappy it was.
I still remember the first time I got him to sleep. It was one helluva night. The only methods which worked were the ones which we still used these days. We had termed them as ‘bedtime rituals.’ The rituals may sound a bit funny, but these are the only things which work.
First, what I do is that we hold him up and pat on his back while soft instrumental songs are going on in the background. He really seems to like those. And another thing which had to be there was that the room should be in soft yellow light- he really likes that. That’s what makes him drowsy.
Second, if the above ploy fails and he is still a bit hyper, my husband takes out a book and starts reading out to him. He can’t understand what is being said, but he really likes the droning and deep voice which comes out of my husband’s mouth while he is reading out loud. That, at most of the times, makes him drowsy.
Third, even if that didn’t work, I would then sing a lullaby for him while stroking his hair. That is one activity which makes him coo and sleep immediately- but we use it as a last resort, after all, what if he gets used to it and doesn’t sleep to that too?
We take care of his necessities and get him to wear a fresh pair of nappies after that. After that I and my husband leave the room and let the music and yellow lights stay on. He likes them and loves to wiggle his small hands as if he is really enjoying the soft music.
We keep checking onto him from time to time to see if he has slept or not. If he has, then we shift him to the center of the bed and sleep on either side of him. And these are our bedtime rituals.
Year 2002.
Now we tend to use diapers as the price has gone down. Pampers seem to have dominated the market. We now use that as the small baby as he was back in 2000 wasn’t small anymore. He created a ruckus wherever he went. And many a time he had peed on the floor. So, that’s when we decided that a diaper was what he needed. The only thing which worked now too was the bedtime rituals. They seem to be a God’s gift for us!
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