Babycare

How to Soothe a Crying Baby ?

CRYING WOES

From the very instant you realized that you’re pregnant, you longed for the day you could hold your bundle of joy in your arms. Some may feel a sense of achievement post-giving birth and love holding, touching, watching, smelling, and playing with the baby. All of these emotions are worth experiencing, and the parents are often quite elated to grab the opportunity of cuddling and holding their little one in their arms. The thing that they aren’t ready for and often fail to understand is the continuous wailing….     

New-Born Baby Care

New-born babies cry very often, and most of the time, there’s a reason for it. It would be easier for parents to soothe the little one, only if they could know the reason behind their cries. The best thing that parents can do is to stay calm and not panic during such times. Before we look at solutions to calm a wailing baby, let’s take a look at the most common reasons that the baby starts crying for –

CAUSE AND BECAUSE

  • Hunger – If they haven’t eaten for a while
  • A dirty or wet diaper
  • Being too hot or too cold
  • Loneliness – If they aren’t being held or cuddled constantly
  • Sleepiness
  • Colic, acid reflux, or food allergies
  • Stranger anxiety or fear
  • Pain
  • Teething
  • Overstimulation – From noise or activity

THE CALM AFTER THE STORM

SWING

Swinging the Baby

Try swinging the baby gently to make them calm down. Make sure to support the baby’s head and neck.

SHUSH

Making a shushing sound into the baby’s ear does calm the baby. Amp up the volume a bit, if the baby is crying out loud.

Baby Skin Rashes

DIAPER CHANGE

No two babies are the same. Some of them may cry when the diaper is filled and gets quite uncomfortable, while some might not like their diaper changed because of the strange feeling of cold air against their skin. Become a pro at quick diaper changes, break into a song or distract the little one with a toy during nappy changes, to get the crying down.

PACIFY

A lot of wailing babies relax when they get something to suck on. Try nursing or using a pacifier once the baby starts to calm down.

TEMPERATURE CONTROL

The ideal way to keep a check on your baby’s temperature is to feel the tummy. Their hands or feet are generally colder than the rest of their body. It’s important to make sure your baby doesn’t feel too hot or cold. Your baby will sleep safe and sound if the temperature is set between 23 – 25 degrees Celsius.

BURP

Sometimes the little one could be crying due to colic. Placing your baby’s head on your shoulder and rubbing its back or making it lie on its back while moving the legs in a bicycle riding motion could help in getting rid of gas.

SOOTHING SOUNDS

Make your baby listen to soothing sounds, sing a lullaby, or download and play white noise sounds created for babies. These mimic the sounds in the uterus and may help soothe your crying baby.  

A WARM BATH

Sometimes giving the baby a warm bath can soothe and calm the baby down. It will do the trick only if your baby loves to have a bath.

TAKEAWAY

Sometimes, letting your baby cry it out can be a good option for your little one to learn self-soothing techniques, but every family needs to find their training strategy that works best for them and their little one. As the baby grows, it will find new ways of communicating its needs to you and the crying will eventually stop.