If there’s one thing new moms will have in common, it’s the fact that they are all exhausted. No, they are not overreacting. Newborns need care and attention 24/7, and a recent survey showed it may even be harder than a full-time job. That's why self-care can be an issue because taking short breaks while caring for the baby is easier said than done.
An Australian mom, however, rose to the challenge and may have found a solution to get some time for herself while making her baby think she never left her side. It does look funny at first (see photo below), but, hey, an overtired mom will try anything.
Melissa Dykstra shares to News.com.au that her baby was “going through her first ‘leap’ (in her mental development) so she’s been extra clingy,” and it has made it hard for the new mom to even go to the bathroom. So, she had to get creative.
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Dykstra blew up a regular rubber glove like a balloon and rested it on her baby’s stomach while the little one napped. Surprisingly, the contact with the glove was enough to calm the baby while Melissa finished some of her tasks.
“It gave me enough time to finish my coffee while it was still hot,” she said to News.com.au.
Floored by her discovery, Dykstra felt other moms deserved to know about the hack, so she snapped a photo and sent it to the "Baby Hints and Tips" Facebook page. She captioned the photo with, “Going on 20 minutes now and she hasn’t realized. She will crack it when she wakes up, but for now I actually get to finish my coffee!! #babyhack”ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOWWhat other parents are reading
Obviously, the post went viral. The photo was shared over 3,800 times and received more than 7,000 reactions and 11,000 comments with users commenting that Dykstra’s idea was pure “genius.” Others mused “why didn’t we think of this earlier?” and wondered whether it worked on toddlers as well.
Reading through the thread, it turns out that other moms have used similar hacks in the past.What other parents are reading
“This legit works!” said one mom. “I’ve put a sand-filled door stopper on [baby’s] back and walked out the room, and she had no idea.”
“I used to put an (unheated) wheat bag heat pack on baby to give him the sensation I was still holding his tummy,” another woman shared.
“Letting you in on a secret — I may or may not have done this. Cloth gardening gloves are nicer,” another commented.The hack looked easy enough, and it may buy you some time to do short tasks (like taking a shower!). In Melissa’s case, she was able to get 20 minutes of free time before her baby woke up. In one of the Facebook comments, she clarified that she sat with her baby the entire time while the glove was resting on her baby. "I just didn’t want to spill hot coffee on her, and she was awake all night, so I needed one," she wrote.
CONTINUE READING BELOWwatch nowHer baby was perfectly fine. “She wasn’t upset when she woke up, just looked a little confused,” Melissa said.
To know about safe sleeping practices for infants, read here.
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