Turn that Down: A Parent’s favorite phrase by Alicia Knust

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Was everything always this loud? It seems once you have a baby, everything sounds at least 10x louder.  I know they say you can tell your age once you start asking for stuff to be turned down because it is too loud but I say, “No, I am just a parent who wants their child to sleep.”

If you are a parent, you know exactly how hard sometimes it is to get your child to sleep and once you have accomplished that, you NEED them to stay asleep!  You find yourself holding your breath at the slightest noise.  The door squeaking (remind yourself to get DW40), floor boards creaking, even the toilet flushing.  In our first house, the main upstairs bathroom wall was shared with our daughter’s room.  It was so loud when anyone ran water in her room.  I didn’t even feel safe running a bath once she was down for the night.  Bad planning!  You can bet in our second home we made note of where the bathroom was.  Unfortunately, we didn’t pay t0o close attention to where the floor boards creaked, right in front of her room.  She has now started only sleeping well if we leave her door open a crack.  I find myself tiptoeing past her door in the spots I know won’t creak.  Any parent knows, you will do anything to keep them napping as long as possible.  I should probably go ahead and mark the safe zones with blue tape.

We as parent’s learned and discovered how to go about our daily lives aware of the amount of noise we are making.  Where to step, or what is a safe TV volume, and then the relatives visit.  I love my mother-in-law but she is NOT quiet.  She slams every cupboard to the point that it actually sets off our daughters’ baby monitor in the other room.  I think I had to remind her quite often to be quiet and wouldn’t let her help out around the house during nap time.  When our daughter is awake, sure, make as much noise as you can putting those dishes away but during nap; let’s just relax and talk.  Deal?

Then, you have my mother, who has so much love for her grandkids but a voice that can carry. Which, I am so very blessed with but I have learned the fine art of the whisper.  I remember being so paranoid about their constant surround sound TV volume but in the end it was her voice that carried the most. There is no volume control on my mother so naps didn’t always last the longest at my Mothers house.  On the bright side, mom was always there to entertain and play with our little so I still get a little break.

Then, there are family gatherings. Which are already overwhelming for your little then add the noise factor.  If you don’t have a quiet place for your little to sleep, forget about napping.  These last gatherings, I have thought to myself, “Seriously, do we have to yell at each other the entire conversation and why is the TV on?”  It makes my ears hurt by the end of the day (I know how old that sounds).  If my ears hurt, I can only imagine what my ear plugging little girl is feeling.

I complain and ask them to keep it down and I am sure they smile and think I am being overprotective or exaggerating.   I have got responses like: “It is not that loud.” Or “They need to learn to sleep through that noise.” Or if I am at my mother’s they will probably just turn the TV louder. I really think relatives mean well, but I also think it is hard to remember what it is like to have an infant or a toddler that you know needs naps.

I have chilled out some in this area because my daughter has become a pretty good sleeper but I was a wreck in the beginning.

Have any other parents noticed this change?  Or am I the only one?

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