Why Does My Baby Sleep By Pulling My Ear? - Bangalore Mirror

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• Why does my baby sleep by pulling my ear?

Why does my baby sleep by pulling my ear?Christobelle JosephChristobelle Joseph / Updated: Jan 8, 2019, 06:00 IST

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Print this articleReduce font sizeIncrease font size...Self-soothing tricks toddlers come up with, some weird, some alarmingWe were at this rocking party – first-time mums in skinny jeans and tight tees, hair all silky, and piercings in interesting places. The night wore on, and sleep-dep started to pull curtains over our eyes. Torn between taking our overweight toddlers home to a relaxing space (where both mum and baby could rest), and enjoying parties the way we used to, all of us opted for the second alternative.Out came gadgets and hacks. I didn’t just have a life hack, I had a live hack. My girl liked Mr Dad to carry her face-forward and pace up-and-down singing softly, for about 60 minutes; sometimes, multiples of 60. Thank god I married a rather patient party! How we ever knew she “liked” this, I have no idea. It probably worked once, and then he was stuck for life.My other friends had other hacks. One pulled out a super-soft blanky and placed it on her child’s face. Said child rubbed nose into it for a few minutes, and then nodded off. The other mother held the child in her arms and leaned into the baby, making her ear accessible to him. He then held it and pulled endlessly till our own ears ached at the thought (and sight). Apparently, he slept by yanking her ear.Yet another, told us about her child who would pull her belly ring in order to fall asleep and one day, the child ripped out her piercing. Yikes. Despite the sadistic ideas, we had a rocking time... and probably BECAUSE of them!My second child came wired differently. She was one of Colonel Hathi’s girls from Jungle Book, and would walk walk walk with no regard for gravity – on my tummy, her father’s face, between our heads – that was her thing.I learned later that these were ‘self-soothing’ behaviours; things toddlers and babies did to comfort themselves. Why oh why, did I not know this sooner?! Poor Mr Dad had put in more steps than a professional Fitbit, way before the device was invented. If only I had encouraged some toe-pulling or hair-stroking, we could have saved ourselves years!That’s when third children come handy. Now this column has potential to make my little boy really mad; but only when he grows up and can read. I’m writing anyway, because this is amusing (and self-soothing) to freaked-out parents with “oddly-behaving” toddlers. This can range from head-banging to hair-twisting, ear-pulling to body-part-touching.My boy chose tummy-touching. He would hold me around the tummy and fall asleep in seconds. No walking, no rocking, no singing, no pain. And the best part? Any dummy tummy would do. Grandma’s worked too. What an achievement... my tummy was like grandma’s.Self-soothing, for those still unwrapping it, is funny but not to be ridiculed. Experts say children lacking parental warmth do it a lot more, but it’s still a useful tool for falling asleep. If the behaviour is painful (e.g. hair-pulling), parents can redirect this to a soft toy. Who wouldn’t gladly give a teddy’s ear instead of their own?That said, some repetitive behaviours can indicate a medical problem. But this is only when it’s taking up a lot of her time, causing him to spend too much time alone, or is self-harming (not self-soothing). In such cases, be sure to mention it to your doctor (a real one, not Aunty Google) when you visit.And now to wait till my boy can read. Can I just say, though, that he is my best-behaved child? GALLERIES View more photos

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