Do you have a hard time rocking your baby to sleep? Are you one of those parents that HAVE to drive around the town with the baby in the car seat till she is fast asleep? Well, you are not alone. There are many mums and dads like you who are driving around the town with the hope that the baby sleeps soundly. But it is taxing, isn’t it? Coming home from work and then going out again? Well, your prayers may have just been answered.
Ford motors, in collaboration with EspadaySantacruz Studios, Spain, have come up with a genuinely amazing product. This high-tech crib just mimics the baby’s experience when she is in a car.
The product
The crib called ‘motor dreams’ goes the whole nine yards to provide your baby with the experience of being in a car ride. The crib rocks gently, mimicking the movements of the car. LED lights fitted in the side light up intermittently, just like the passing cars would do. There is a gentle humming of the car engine that is actually very soothing for the baby. And you can do all this by using an app! Just switch on the app and it records the sounds of your car. The baby would not know the difference!
Watch what this can do here.
The not so good news
There has to be a ‘but’ for every amazing thing (well, except for TheAsianParent Network: it is awesome!). For this amazing product, the downside is that it is a part of an advertising campaign. Ergo, it is not yet in a mass production stage. You cannot expect to buy this any time sooner.
Then why is this crib there?
The crib is a clever design, in the category of ‘concept designs’. Car manufacturers are known to showcase their innovative designs. Ford has a good portfolio of these, and the GT90 had me swooning all through my childhood! But this piece goes beyond this. It is a clever marketing gimmick by the Detroit-based car manufacturer for its new line.
The Ford GT 90 Concept car. Source: The Ford Blog.
The good news
There is a silver lining though. You can own one, but not just purchase it. This genius product has been put in a raffle. Buying a car from the range enables you to win one!
Or, there are other options as well. One of it is to sleep train the baby in such a way that you do not ultimately need a car. Because, come on; how long are you going to do that!
Here are three simple tricks to sleep-train a baby without crying her out.
1# Develop a routine
You can do this as soon as the baby is two weeks old. It does not matter if you are cosleeping, or the baby sleeps in a different room. The thing to remember is that babies will follow a routine if you are disciplined enough to set one up.
So just before sleep, bathe her, feed her, sing to her and rock her to sleep. I make it sound easy, but it is not, at least at the start. However, do this for 3 weeks every day and see the difference!
2# Tweak the sleep associations
As the baby grown up, she starts to put two and two together. It is a proven fact that a baby cannot fall asleep on her own. So, she will develop sleep association with whatever you use to rock her to sleep.
The strongest association is a need to suckle to fall asleep. While it is necessary at first, you can change this association as the baby grows older.
Using the technique of conditioning, you can help the baby to sleep without having to drive her around. It takes patience though, so develop some as you are going to need some soon, anyway. It is important that the baby sleeps in a familiar surrounding. Get a pair of similar looking blankets, bumper sets, and other bedding accessories. Just when she is feeling sleepy, you can put her to bed and sing reassuringly. It will take a few days, but this will help you in the long run!
3#NEVER excite the baby before sleep
A few parents think that exhausting a baby out will help her fall asleep faster. While it may sound sensible, it may not always be the case. If she is toddling around, then it is fine. However, if she sees a screen, or if she is trying to figure something out, it will be very difficult to put her to sleep then.
So, avoid any screen time just before sleep. Heck, avoid it as much as you can. It is not good for them anyway. Remove all the distractions from around her. So, no toys. Just get her familiar blanket, sing a familiar song, and again, make this a routine.
This is not an exhaustive list. Here is a better article to help your baby sleep on her own.
Meanwhile, let’s hope that this crib is available in stores for the parents who like the idea!
Also read: Nighttime parenting: What you can do instead of sleep training
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