Infant crying
Did you know that an infant cries for between two and three hours a day? (I guess it just feels like longer.)
Crying is an infant’s only method of expression, yet can be incredibly stressful to new parents. Food, a clean diaper and attention are the three key elements of keeping baby happy, but this list of ways to soothe a fussy baby has some great suggestions to help with the attention part.
I especially like # 7:
7. WALKING WITH BABY.
One of the easiest baby—and parent—calmers is a simple walk. When our babies were fussy and obviously needed a change of scenery, I borrowed a motto from Knute Rockne, the famous Notre Dame football coach: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” I would nestle our baby in a sling and take a long walk, each time trying to vary the route and the attractions.
Nothing gets our little one to calm down like a few laps around the house, or up and down the street. As always, I’d love to hear your experiences and what helped you calm fussy babies.
Tags: babies, infant_cryingRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Dads on Duty, General
8 opinions for Infant crying
brent
Dec 10, 2007 at 5:27 am
yeah, walking. Laps of the house - singing pop songs - counting out loud - reading out loud… basically anything that takes time. The kid wants comfort and security - and they just need to go through the whole catharsis of crying. There’s no ‘trick’ to it, only things you can do to pass the time while your brain leaks out your ears from boredom and frustration.
I’ve heard of people who went for a drive with their three kids then just carried them upstairs to bed. Never worked with my kids.
Also be aware that there is such a thing as an overstimulated baby. Sometimes they can’t switch themselves off so then you need to use lowered tones in your voice, refuse to make eye contact and do boring repetitive things. I used to go to the kitchen where the bright flouro is and rock back and forwards so that my shadow passed across their eyes, forcing them to blink every time I swayed. Get the kid to blink their eyes enough times and eventually they stay blunk.
brent
Dec 10, 2007 at 5:30 am
forgot to tick box
Jennifer
Dec 10, 2007 at 5:46 am
I used to sing Cedar entire Joni Mitchell albums. It worked when he was fussy but my voice hurt. Also, I mostly wore him and we co-slept so he didn’t actually cry all that much. Rarely do I remember him out and out bawling. In other cultures where they carry their babies all day long and co-sleep there’s far less crying as well.
brent
Dec 10, 2007 at 6:12 am
I read that Fijians are confused by the question “How do you get your baby to sleep at night”. They think it’s amusing.
If I could do my time over again I would 100% be co-sleeping. read all about it http://www.naturalchild.org/
I don’t plug any website other than this one. It’s my favorite on the whole web.
pickel
Dec 10, 2007 at 10:27 am
I have never parented an infant but I know that swaddling my toddler is the only thing that calmed him. He loved/loves deep pressure.
Brent, for some adopted children this is the only way to go but they have never felt the comfort of people before so they can’t possibly allow themselves to feel safe in open spaces. We did this by having his crib right beside our bed…he felt safe this way.
Julie
Dec 10, 2007 at 9:53 pm
Ditto to pickel’s swaddling comment. It did wonders for all of our kids.
The Happy Rock
Dec 11, 2007 at 3:34 pm
The Happiest Baby On The Block’s 5 S’s were a huge help to us.
Swaying, Swaddling, Sucking, Shooshing, Side
The Happy Rock
Dec 11, 2007 at 3:36 pm
@pickel - Our son is adopted to, although he came to us at 7 days old. He really did love swaddling.
We are about to adopt our second infant, very soon and then look forward to being able to adopt waiting children once they get a little older. We are trying to keep birth order intact.
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