These Parents Will Teach You How To Leave A Room Once The Baby Is Asleep

If you’re a parent, an aunt, an uncle, or a one-time baby-sitter, you know one thing to be true.

Nothing, including Olympic-level gymnastics or baking a souffle, requires as much complex, delicate maneuvering as trying to escape a sleeping baby.

Even when they seem fast asleep, they are preternaturally attuned to your every tiny movement. You ease gently off the side of the bed, you tiptoe out of the room, you shut the door silently behind you and…thirty seconds later, she’s up again and feeling as extra chatty as this cutie.

You’ve probably experienced this scenario a few thousand times in your life if you’ve spent much time with kids. If you’re a parent or just a superhero babysitter, you’ve also probably developed a few patented strategies for making the process easier.

Thad and Esther, the parents over at Story Of This Life, feel your pain. They, too, struggle with the sleeping-baby-challenge, and they’ve developed a few tactics to make the process go more smoothly.

Granted, most of these are more comedic than they are practical — I can see a few of these ending badly for less limber child-care providers. That said, I see some definite applications for “The Squeaky Floor!” Truly inspired.

My personal go-to? Kneel next to the bed instead of sitting on the edge whenever possible. As soon as the little one’s eyes close, drop to the ground and army-crawl your way out of there!