Before You Elbow Your Husband...

My son woke up screaming bloody murder three nights ago. Though it has become a rarity, (thank heavens) it's not insanely uncommon for this to happen. Mateo, our youngest child didn't sleep through the night until he was over one and a half-years-old. And he has never been one to whimper -- when he wakes up he makes sure everyone within a one mile radius wakes up with him. And even though he's three now, I still wake up with my heart pounding, wondering who just got stabbed.

In the fifteen years my husband and I have been together nothing has perplexed me more about him than how he is able to go on sleeping, not even flinching, when our children wake up crying like that. At times I've turned on a light and stared at him to let him know I know he's faking it, to no avail. He just keeps on sleeping as peacefully as when we had no children. At times, when one or both of the kids have woken up three or four nights in a row, I have actually elbowed my sleeping husband but he's one of those people blessed with the ability to fall right back asleep even after having just been elbowed by a resentful, exhausted wife.

But I recently learned something -- it turns out women are biologically hard-wired to hear a child's cry. It's actually the sound most likely to wake a woman regardless of whether or not she has children. Duh, right? (Actually, I would've never considered what sounds are most likely to wake women versus men, but once I read the article it made perfect sense). 

What's the sound most likely to wake a man? The sound of a car alarm. I guess that makes sense because to a lot of men their car is their baby (I actually knew a grown man who called his car his "my baby"). The sound of a child wailing isn't even in the top ten sounds most likely to wake a man. The wind howling is more likely to wake them!

So the next time my son wakes up screaming like a banshee, I'll remember these scientific findings... or maybe I'll start blowing really loudly in my husband's ear to see if he wakes up. Now if he has the pillow over his head, the top ten list of sounds goes out the window and my elbow will in fact be aiming for his ribs.


Do you want to see the list of top ten sounds that wake women and men? Visit:
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/why-mom-wakes-up-when-baby-cries/