Sammy Says Blog

Running a daycare can be a dream job at times, but at other times it feels like a nightmare. I specialize in dealing with small children - some of them still babies - who aren’t used to being away from their parents for any extended duration. The best time of the day is usually lunch, when I spoon feed them Gerber baby food and watch as they coo in delight. But the peace and sanity don’t last long.

Despite my large stockpile of toys and baby books, it’s inevitable that at some point in the afternoon the children will become cranky and temperamental. I’ve tried every possible measure to keep them happy - from stuffed animals to cartoons on TV - and it seems that only one method works every time. I keep a heaping supply of baby pacifiers in the closet, each one individually packaged. I buy them in bulk off the Internet, and they’re perfect for setting a baby at ease.

In an ideal world, putting a baby to sleep at night would be simple and incident-free. And of course the infant would sleep peacefully through the night, allowing her parents to wake up the next morning well-rested and chipper. Veteran parents are probably laughing by now, as we know that babies are notoriously light sleepers who often wake up numerous times in the night. Still, it’s possible to optimize the nursery, thus improving the odds that baby will sleep soundly through the night.

First, make sure that the baby’s bedding is soft and made of all-natural materials. Organic crib sheets won’t irritate the skin in the same way that other fabrics might. If my baby is having trouble sleeping, I will often play some soothing baby music lightly while I attempt to rock her to sleep. Light sources can throw off a child’s circadian rhythm, so take care to close any curtains or blinds in the nursery. You might also look into any noises that could be loud enough to wake the baby - noisy neighbors, music from an adjacent room and so on.