Attachment Parenting

How to Soothe Your Baby

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Trying to deal with a fretful crying baby can be more stressful than doing a sales presentation to an audience of high-powered executives. Many parents end up feeling inadequate, incompetent and helpless. You may be thinking: “And I thought the worst part was over after the 9-month wait!!”

Here are some simple tips to help you soothe and calm your crying baby:
1. CHANGE YOUR PERCEPTION
First, it starts with you. Your attitude means everything. Adjust your perception. By you having a crying baby in your house doesn’t mean that you are one lousy parent. Recognize that crying is an important development in your baby’s growth and that crying is your newborn baby’s language for now. Once you adjust your perception, you’ll be more calm and cool when coping with a agitated baby. Your inner sense of balance and calmness will influence your tone of voice and your actions, which will in turn transmit positive signals to your baby.

2. TALK TO YOUR BABY AS IF HE WERE AN ADULT
Just as babies have physical growth spurts (remember the time when the baby in your tummy suddenly put on significantly more weight in the last 2 months as compared to the first 6 months of his development), babies’ brains grow more rapidly during the first year of his life than any other time. Your baby’s brain reaches 60% of its adult size by the end of 12 months! Respond to your child when your baby cries, in clear complete sentences in a firm strong tone. You will reap the rewards of your patience in time to come.

3. RECREATE THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE WOMB
Your new baby is trying to adjust to the new environment after being enveloped in a safe, dark, warm enclosure for the last 9 months. Ease the transition from the womb to this new world by creating an environment as similar to the womb as possible. One suggestion by midwife Rahima Baldwin is to keep lights reasonably dim at first for newborns. Consider bathing your baby in soft light by draping a veil of colored (recommended is blue and pink or rose-colored) silk over the cradle during the first few weeks.

Another suggestion is to unwrap him slowly (eg. when bathing, when changing diapers) to avoid exposing him to sudden changes in temperatures. Also, if you’re rocking him to sleep in your arms, consider draping a light blanket gently over your shoulder and baby to block out any excess visual stimuli.

4. BABYWEARING
Research has shown that babies thrive on skin-to-skin contact. First, because it provides warmth and second, the scent of a familiar parent/caregiver is reassuring for the baby. Third, according to PinkyMcKay, the author of “100 Ways To Calm The Crying“, the familiar sound of a mother’s voice has been shown to regulate an infant’s early, uncoordinated baby movements. Feeling your heartbeat and rhythmic movement as the mother walks has a calming effect on the baby’s irregular rhythms of waking, sleeping and digestion.

Swaddling may also help calm your baby because it resembles being enclosed within the mother’s uterine wall before birth. Swaddling can provide a sense of security and warmth. However, do recognize that not all babies like to be swaddled or swaddled in the same way. You may wish to try this: some mothers have testified that by swaddling the baby loosely during the day and more firmly at night has helped their babies differentiate between day and night.

If your baby is crying continuously then there is a possibility that your baby suffers from colic (the catchall term doctors use when they have no idea what is wrong). There is a great chance that you can ease your babies suffering (and they are suffering) by trying an elimination diet to rule out dairy and soy as colic-causers if you are breastfeeding or switching formulas if bottle feeding.

by Tani Lane
About the Author:Tani Lane is the webmaster for www.funsignlanguagewithbaby.com. Here you can get a copy of the ebook- Sign Language for Babies and Beyond. You can also receive a free evideo (over 250 signs) which you can use with your baby straightaway! A certified instructor and mother of 4 reveals her secrets and shares real life examples of joys and obstacles to guide you through your own journey of using sign language with your baby.

Buy the Book: Soothe Your Baby The Natural Way

Image Source: http://flickr.com/photos/jon_bradley/2691120692/

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