Productive Communication to Baby: Eye Contact

It was an exciting weekend for Alula. Her grandpa was in the town. She played a lot and enjoyed the additional company. Grandpa came to visit us during the weekend, and now he should head back to Indonesia through Batam. We send him off to the harbor. I was about an hour travel time by train.

After saying goodbye to grandpa, we walk around Mother Care, that happen to be in the same building as the ferry terminal. There is a little playing corner for kids, and Alula plays there for a short while

The sun is setting. We are on the train on our way home after a long day. Alula has been a bit cranky since we left the mall. I know she's sleepy and exhausted. It's already past her sleeping time too. I tried to nurse her on the train, but she refused to sleep. Although she's tired, she's still excited to explore the train. Approaching home, she couldn't stand it anymore. She becomes fussier. We try to divert her attention as we walk home. In a short while we will be home anyway, so she can rest comfortably.

Reaching home, Mama and Papa need to rush for Ashar prayer before Maghrib time comes. Alula still needs to delay her milk time with Mama before sleeping. She becomes impatient. Usually, she will be very fussy and cry eyes out whenever she is sleepy.

Then I hug her and look her in the eye. "Alula, Mama and Papa need to pray for about 5 minutes. We can cuddle and sleep after that. Do you want to be with us while we pray?". Her fussiness softens. I held her and put her in between us while my husband and I pray. She was occupied by herself, observing our prayer mats, playing with her fingers, rolling back and forth.

After we finish our prayers, we thank her for behaving so lovely, "Thank you baby girl for being patient. I know you are very sleepy and tired. Thank you for letting us pray in peace."

Few minutes after that, it's time to pray Maghrib. Looking at Alula who is relatively still calm, I make eye contact with her and ask again, "It's Maghrib already, baby. We need to pray again. Can you wait for five more minutes?". Although she doesn't responding to what I say, she keeps on playing with her fingers.

Alhamdulillah, we finished our pray without having to hear the sound of baby cries. Ah, the eye contact just works like wonders! <3