FWIW, aquarium pumps also generate a nice warm buzzing, and they don’t use up batteries. Maybe you could set up a small fishtank so that the baby can see it and have the pump mounted to the crib? You can buy extra-long tubing to run from the pump to the fishtank, if necessary, to make this logistically possible.
Hal and the Mrs., ready for a night out, MIL agrees to babysit:
"Ok, MIL, here’s what we do to put the baby to sleep. Put her down in the bassinet here, reach underneath, and ok, you see this thingee here?
What? You have one just like it?!?!
Well, then you know how to make it work, so we’ll see you around 10:30, bye!"
Thinks about it… if my parents came to me and shared a little tidbit like that with me… oh ewww…nope - squicked… very squicked and I am 34.
Why don’t you duct tape the button down?
Whatever you use, please make very very sure it’s not a fire hazard to leave it on for a long time or under a blanket.
Samantha did it for Miranda’s baby on Sex And The City
Miranda’s comment: “That better be brand new!”
The family that, er, hums together, er… oh dear, I really do not want to finish this thought :eek: But if you do, you must take photos. 
In a teddy bear? hell no. Stuffed lamb, perhaps…
On a more serious note, Hal, what’s happening is that she’s learned to fall asleep only when Condition x is in place. When she wakes, and whatever condition is no longer there, she can’t figure out how to sleep until you reintroduce the condition. It’s an association that you’ll want to get her past at some point. Otherwise of course she’ll be the only kid who goes to nursery school with an “electric ear cleaner” for nappy time.
Oh for Og’s sake, buy a new one!
Perhaps you could get one of those 1950s era belt massagers. I’m sure you could put it on the lowest setting and wrap the belt around the entire bassinette. Of course, on weekends you could hang a few buckets of paint underneath and and have it do double duty.
During the day your wife can use it to vibrate off those extra pounds gained during pregnancy and after work you could do the same.
Seconded. All in favor?
Hahaha. Roffle. Won’t that drain the batteries rather fast? I don’t think those things are designed for repeated overnight use.
Why? It hasn’t been anywhere the baby hasn’t been before .
I’m more concerned that once the baby’s asleep, and Hal’s out in the barn, what will Mrs. Hal find to do with herself? So to speak.
Good grief, I think I just swallowed my cigarette.
Christ another line or two like that and I’m going to get fired.
How about one of these (work-safe)? It might be cheaper in the long run, what with how expensive batteries are these days.
I found and tested the crib shaker we had. It appears to shut off in 20 minutes.
An improvement but probably not enough of one.
Jim
Hey, that’s what I was going to suggest! (because I’m listening to mine now) But don’t bother with a fish tank to go with it unless you want fish. They vibrate the most when not hooked up to an air tube, and the cheaper you get, the more noisily it vibrates. Like Scrivener said, you get to plug it in rather than spend a fortune of batteries (and therapy) too.
I was going to suggest the aquarium pump too!
It’s AC, makes a great little hum, vibrates very nicely. They usually run $10 - $20 in the pets section at Wal-Mart IIRC.