As we get ready for the Thanksgiving holiday, I would have to say one of my top ten things I am thankful for is…my mama community.

I have friends I can text, FaceTime, or call any time day or night asking for prayers and helpful hints of how to handle certain situations with my kiddos.

Let’s use tonight as a lovely example.

My youngest, Lillian, is five months old. Usually around bed time she gets a little fussy and fights the night night time. Tonight she was experiencing some hard core teething and decided to scream. And scream. And scream some more.

I tried breastfeeding, pacifiers, teething toys, cold washcloths, and offering her my finger to chew on.

More screaming.

This Mama here is on her own for a few days while Daddy is on a trip for work. So there’s no game of tag to play with the other parent. In desperation, I reached out to two of my friends.

Every Mama needs a good bag of tricks, and sometimes it’s helpful to hear ideas from another friend who is in the thick of it with you.

Tip #1: Take a bath skin to skin with the baby. Seems weird, but it helps them remember the time in the womb.

Tip  #2: Turn on the microwave fan.

The bath was super helpful in calming Lil down, and myself as well. Sometimes I get so focused on needing to get Lil to stop crying that I’m letting off  anxious emotions. After a bit, she began to fuss again.

The microwave fan was the winning ticket tonight. The distraction allowed her focus to shift from being upset to the noise. Lilster then proceeded to show off her cute smile and pretend the previous twenty minutes never happened.

Do babies ever make sense? Haha.

So let’s hear it from you, Mama. What’s in your bag of tricks when the baby is crying and your go to soothing strategies aren’t cutting it?

“Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.” -Ecclesiastes 4:9-10a