5 Practical Ways To Soothe A Crying Baby

First the baby is born and they say, “if baby doesn’t cry, something is wrong”. Now baby keeps crying and doesn’t want to stop. She gets fussy and cranky and just won’t stop with a little the “waaahh waaahh!!” and it’s driving you bonkers.

Here we are to the rescue with these 5 baby soothing hacks. Oh wait. Before we dive in I think it’s important to say that the success of these tips depend on when baby gets fussy. Otherwise, what’s the cause of baby’s fuss. You’ll understand why this is important as we go on.

Warm & Cosy

Many “baby experts” including pediatrician, Harvey Karp believe that in the first few months after birth, the baby will still be feeling like an alien in this wide, wild world. They’ll still be longing for the warm and cosy surroundings of the womb. Simulating this condition is something that will soothe them almost anytime. There are different ways to do this. You could swaddle or wrap them in a light blanket or cradle them in your arms and close to your body. Skin to skin contact is the best of its convenient where you are.

To swaddle or cradle, cross baby’s hands on her chest and wrap her with the light blanket. It should be more tight than loose so that it doesn’t come undone. However, it should be a bit loose so that baby can move her limbs. The same goes for cradling her in your arms. This however works mostly when baby has been fed or when she wants to sleep/take a nap. The best position to cradle and soothe babies is the same as their position in the womb, either on her stomach or on her left side.

Milk, Cuddles & Suckles

When last did baby feed and how much did he take in? According to www.kidshealth.org, babies need get hungry between every 1 and a half to 3 hours or between 7 to 9 times a day. If you have missed any of these feeding windows, baby is sure to get cranky and start crying. Needless to say, a mouthful of flowing breast milk will calm your baby like you flipped a switch. Of course this is a good time to cuddle them and strengthen that mother-child bond as you do so.

Sometimes, you may find out that a pacifier works wonders. The baby might just want to suck something, not necessarily breast flowing with milk and honey. Some parents say they offer their thumbs, which should be clean, or they give baby a pacifier. There now, baby is cool and calm.

Shush A Cry Baby

Studies have shown that when trying to get baby to get calm and quiet, we may need to make the right type of “noise”. This is as a result of the environment they just came out from, the womb, which is/was anything but quiet. The sounds of the mothers beating heart and the blood coursing through her body are as loud as playing your sub woofer sound system at normal (not blaring) volume. This is why making the prolonged “shush-ing” sound calms them: it sounds just like blood rushing through the veins.

You could carry baby on your shoulder so that your mouth is close to her ears and make the magic sound. Some parents suggest playing sounds of the beach or white noise. White noise is that sound the TV makes when it’s trying to connect with a station/channel.

Change The Scenery

Distraction is the tactic here. Parents swear on this trick when it comes to soothing that screaming, fussy baby. Some make faces or funny sounds and it’s such a trip to see baby fluidly shift gears from fussy and crying to giggling with glee. Sometimes, going to another room or pointing at something colorful could do the trick. You could put the baby in the stroller and push him around the house or if the weather is convenient, step out for a walk and some fresh breeze. The changing scenes are sure to catch baby’s attention and remove his/her focus from whatever is troubling them.

Sometimes, there might be too much activity going on and this could be making baby get worked up. Changing the scene might imply turning off the TV or turning down the volume and removing some toys from around the baby’s line of sight. Experiment until you find what it is that works. All babies are not the same, you know?

Get Jiggly With It

Yeah, Will Smith had a similar song and a dance step to go with it, right? That might also work though. But that’s not what this is about. This is just an idea based on simulating the conditions that baby was used to in the womb. According to pediatrician Harvey Karp, babies experienced a lot of Jiggly motion in the womb as momma went about her daily life; walking, shuffling and turning around. If you can simulate this experience with fast tiny motions, you’ll be able stop the baby from crying almost immediately. I’ve often noticed some mothers carry the screaming baby on their shoulder and bounce them in fast, tiny motions like Karp described on the website www.happiestbaby.com. It did seem to work most of the time.

Now we can see that the possibility of any of these tips working is based on why the baby is crying. If she’s been playing or just waking up, she might want to feed. Giving her milk and cuddles may work. Asserting why the fuss is key to soothing her. It might be that she’s dishes out some chocolate pureé in her diaper or the room temperature is too hot for a swaddle. Use a thermometer to check her temperature if its above or below normal and make the appropriate change. One thing is common though; constant physical contact with your baby. Maintain this and you’ll soon be the sensei of soothing crying babies.