My mom – she knows so many ways to soothe a fussy baby. Why not, she had six during her time. To make her kids sleep better, my mother made a hammock for us to sleep in during the day. Me and my 5 younger siblings all had the pleasure of the ‘duyan’ – a makeshift hammock made out of cloth and rope, a very popular (and powerful!) baby soother in the Philippines.
Back at home, it was easy to make a duyan – just nail on the wall and tie. Here in Dubai, we have concrete walls and because this is not our own but just rented the place, we can’t just drill through walls. However, my mom was bent on making a duyan for baby Ben to sleep in…and found that my cousin’s double deck is perfect for it.
Wrapped in motherly love with the duyan:
Baby Ben surely slept better and longer! What a pleasure. My mom is so awesome. I wish I am even half the good mom that she is. The duyan was really nice but one pitfall is that it’s difficult to put the baby on it and take him out because of the upper ‘ceiling’ (the upper bed of the double decked bed) and we can’t use it when my cousin is home during weekends.
I stumbled upon someone selling an electronic swing, the Graco Sweetpeace
The more modern ‘duyan’:
Baby Ben LOVES the Sweetpeace swing! Right now since he’s just getting used to it, we can’t put him on it unless he is already asleep (or really very sleepy as in the video) so this swing is not for putting him to sleep but to prolong his sleep. It plays music, his favorite being the womb sound!
He is sleeping better and less fussy, thanks to this swing – making me able to have some little blog time!
Do you have an infant? How do you soothe him to sleep? What do you do to make him/her sleep longer?
Finding Backroads 
you are one luck mama that ur mama is with you during this period grace, i love duyan kahit malaki na ako and sure babies sleep longer in this one tried and tested ng mga pinoy moms yan…sa pinas.
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I am glad you found something that could help you with Baby Ben. It looks perfect for long naps! I hope Baby Ben will like it and that he can use the longest possible time.
I’ve had a swing since before Matthew was born. That was the first thing I looked for. Matthew and Mark loved the swing. When Mark arrived, my sister-in-law got him a bouncy-seat, which was useful in our travels and to bring to other people’s houses. (We can’t bring the swing with us on our travels. Just too bulky.) I also have the pack-and-play (playpen). It’s very useful and comfortable for Mark. It had a napper which we used when he was an infant, and a changing station. Now that he is much bigger, can’t fit in the bouncy-seat anymore, and too heavy for the swing, he naps in the playpen. All these baby accessories are quite convenient and useful at a certain time in the baby’s life. I am glad we had them, new or old and no matter how much they cost, because… well, I have nobody around by myself. what else could have helped me.
I keep watching baby Bens video. Made me feel so nostalgic, remembering my babies when they were that small. How time flies so fast!
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I can honestly say I’ve never heard of a duyan before, but I can totally understand it! Like you said, it’s just an old-school way to get a baby to sleep, and sometimes the old-school ways are the ways to go 🙂
Regardless, I’m glad to hear that baby B is less fussy and sleeping longer! What a nice treat for you and the family 🙂
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Baby Ben looks so cute in his duyan! How wonderful that your mom figured out a way to make one for him and that you found a swing that he likes.
I’m so happy that you are getting some down time for yourself.
HUGGLES!
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