VENT about sleeping advice

i have got to get this off my chest, it is driving me nuts!
Dh has a lovely auntie, who is normally very easy to get on with. She has only got one child though.

She was here when Jordis was in her room having a sleep, and i told Xanthe to be quiet. everyone who has a 3 year old will know that nothing they do is quiet, right?
She (the auntie) then launched into a spiel about being quiet makes baby a bad sleeper and cant sleep with any noise around, she always made lots of noise around her son and he slept great etc.

It annoyed me so much because i do know that, i do agree that noise is good for babies to get used to, but there is a great deal of difference to white noise - vacuum, tv, or other noise that an adult in a house with a sleeping baby would make, and the noise that a 3 year old while playing can make. i dont like her running through the house screeching while j is sleeping, or yelling with excitement coz daddy is home.

I couldnt say anything though to the auntie, because she only has the one child and just doesnt understand that logistics change a heap when another child is added to the mix.

For the record, jordis sleeps great when i vacuum in and around her room, when i put clothes in her drawers, and when i talk to her sister in a normal way.
She does not sleep well when her sister stands outside the door to her room and goes "DADDDDYYY!!!!!" or, (my personal favourite of all time "mummy guess what sort of poo i did - a banana poo!" (seriously, dont ask me where she got that from, it was new to me too!

ok vent over. am i just silly lol?

Having a 4 year old that does the same, I can sympathise! I have been playing a lullaby CD on repeat in the gremlins room when they are sleeping during the day so that Maya's noise doesn't startle them so much, but I suspect that the music is winding them up now that they are older so are trying to wean them off it.

Tell the aunty to mind her own - I was full of advice too when I only had one child. Having three has made me realise that you can't win em all, and that law of averages is that even if baby #1 is perfect, the more you have, the more chance you have of getting a grouchy one

Nope, me either. I love the lot of them (altho I have my moments where I'd gladly sell them on TM!)

But just think when you can get them all old enough that they can play together and you can virtually retire as a mother

Where will us one child parents be then? Still having to play barbies with out demanding little toads!

nikkiwhyte wrote: But just think when you can get them all old enough that they can play together and you can virtually retire as a mother Where will us one child parents be then? Still having to play barbies with out demanding little toads!

(Sometimes) I wonder if this is the whole reason why I had a second child?!?


It is frustrating how many people out there are willing to give advice without actualy knowing what they are on about?! As hard as it is to do, I say ignore her! Or do what I do and quietly argue that you find this method works best for you, thank her for her input and then say as nicely as possible that when you want advice you will ask for it (I use this method on my MIL, she still helps out with her 'advice' tho).

Scary, scary thought...the one hope for NZ is that we're balanced out at opposite ends of the North Island....
(I had Sean at 20 btw - and went back to uni) I'll have to keep an eye on you Brad...(goes to movie collection to watch Snatch once more)

Reading this thread reminded me of a gift one of my former colleagues gave me when I was pregnant -- it is a small journal, and inside she'd written her advice to me -- things like cabbage leaves in the bra, putting the baby to sleep in the living room for daytime naps (so they'd get used to the noise), etc.

I think she intended it to be a journal where I could write my thoughts on motherhood, but I took a different approach. Every time someone wanted to give me advice, I'd whip out this journal and say, "Put it in the book!" and then get them to write down whatever they were trying to tell me. It worked a treat -- every time my MIL or various relatives would open their mouths with "You could try..." or "When my kids were little", I'd say, "WAIT! Let me get the Book of Advice so you can write it down."

I always said it with a HUGE cheesy grin so they were never sure if I was cutting them off or being so serious that I actually wanted them to write down their advice so I could refer to it later.

A year on, the book is almost full, and *some* people have stopped trying to give me advice!! Although, there are always those incorrigible know-it-alls who won't take the hint...

Katherine - what a cool idea! You should create a baby advice journal and market it! very, very cool.

Brad (nikki) - I like the accent in Snatch...Good dags. D'ya like dags? That being said, Fight Club is right below it on the DVD shelf....hmmm shirtless Irish Brad or shirtless soap selling Brad... so many choices so early in the day.

That is an awesome idea katherine!