I’m a newborn care pro, but last night at 2:17 a.m. I taught the 5 S’s while bouncing on a squeaky yoga ball, and now baby will only settle if the squeak hits the downbeat of my shush — mom got the laugh she needed, and we got the calm we wanted. Anyone else have a soothing hack that turned into a strangely specific performance?
I once had to rock in a desk chair while tapping the crib rail in a 4-count and humming “Yellow Submarine”; switching to a metronome app at 72 bpm next to the chair let me sit still and fade the tempo a few beats each night. If the squeak works, keep it for now, but have you tried replacing it with a low fan or phone metronome so your knees survive?
DJ Squeak & Shush is a hit, but to wean the “squeak,” I set the ball on a thin mat, then a folded towel over a few nights so the friction noise fades while I keep the same tempo with a haptic metronome on my watch — @amelia_wong45’s metronome idea, just hands-free. If baby protests, swap the last bit of squeak for a quiet finger tap on the crib rail at the same beat — does the rhythm seem to be the real cue?