Whether you’re a first time parent or on your second, third or even fourth baby, we could all use a few more tricks up our sleeves for calming crying babies and getting them to sleep. Here are a few amazing, quirky and tried and true baby care tips you should know.
1. Calm Your Crying Baby in Seconds
Newborns cry a lot, and sometimes even our best mother’s or father’s instincts can’t seem to calm them. Now pediatrician Dr. Robert Hamilton has released a video that shows him calming crying babies with a simple (and gentle) bum jiggling routine called “The Hold.” This 30-year veteran pediatrician swears by the technique for calming little ones in seconds. Watch the full video for details on how to try it yourself.
2. Implement a 5-Point Baby Soothing Plan
Follow renowned pediatrician Dr. Harvey Karp’s advice – the 5 S’s – and you’ll have a handful of new ideas for calming your newborn. He calls them womb-like sensations: Swaddle, Side-Stomach Position, Shush, Swing and Suck. Visit happiestbaby.com to learn how to master each one.
Photo: Beth via Flickr
3. Learn to Speak Baby
Newborns can’t talk yet, but that doesn’t mean that can’t communicate yet, and the brains behind Dunstan Baby Language think they’ve cracked the crying code. Watch online ($10 for 1 day or $15 for 15 days) and learn how to recognize each of five different cries your baby uses. In theory, if you can learn the difference between the hungry cry, tired cry and uncomfortable cry, you should be able to tend to your baby’s needs quickly and keep her happier.
4. Get on a Schedule, Stat
You probably wish your baby slept more, or longer, or took better naps. Take a few tips from mom of five, Janeen Maxwell in her book Help Baby Sleep: The Exhausted Parent’s Guide to a Restful First Year. She lays out a step by step, tried and tested, plan for getting more sleep (for you and Baby!), which relies heavily on establishing and sticking to a routine for feeding and sleeping. Her tips also include knowing the difference between crying and fussing (and not always running to the crib for the later). Get the book on amazon.com for $3.99.
Photo: Raul Hernandez Gonzalez via Flickr
5. Try Music, Any Music
Twinkle, Twinkle and Brahm’s Lullaby aren’t the only soothing tunes for newborns. Every baby has their own musical preferences. Some will be lulled to sleep by Star Wars, while others chill out to Taylor Swift. See proof here, that it’s not always the calmest songs that calm babies.
6. Read the Right Bedtime Story
Think Goodnight Moon is king of baby bedtime? Maybe not. Parents rave that reading The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep will lull your baby, toddler or child to sleep. Written by a Swedish psychologist, the slow story of a rabbit who can’t sleep is supposed to be read in a certain way with some words emphasized and some enunciated. If you’re having trouble getting your little one to fall asleep, why not try it?
Willing to try anything? Then read more of our parenting hacks: 8 Sleep Tips for Desperate Parents.
What’s your go to trick for calming your baby or getting him to sleep? Share your tips in a Comment.
–Julie Seguss
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