TOP 5 TIPS FOR GETTING BABY TO SLEEP

We know that all babies cry— it alerts us to the fact that they need something – warmth, food, company or medicine.  There hasn’t been a parent on this earth who hasn’t felt that deep anguish when hearing their baby cry.  In Western society we are conditioned to just get on with it, ignore how it makes us feel and hope that baby grows out of it quickly.  However there are ways to help us soothe crying baby and help calm baby and parent. 

Crying Makes Parent and Baby Stressed

Typically, babies get increasingly irritable around sundown and can continue for hours. No wonder, parents get concerned, frustrated and very, very tired.

Exhaustion triggered by persistent crying creates huge stress in families, including marital conflict, maternal and paternal depression, and obesity. It causes car crashes and other accidents—people make all kinds of poor decisions when stressed and overtired. It also puts babies in danger when a wiped-out parent falls asleep with a baby in their arms, on an unsafe couch or a bed, which increases the risks for SIDS and infant suffocation. And believe it or not, the national costs of complications of infant crying and parental exhaustion total well over $1 billion dollars a year!

The Fourth Trimester

Many doctors say that colic (crying for more than 3 hours a day) is a mystery. However the Kung San tribe of the Kalahari Desert calm their babies in under a minute!  Research into this tribe has produced two interesting points;

1. All babies are born 3 months early. New born horses can run within an hour of birth but not human babies. A virtual fourth trimesterof womb sensations (soft touch, jiggly motion, snug holding, etc.) may just be what they need.
2. The rhythms experienced inside the womb trigger a reflex that keeps babies relaxed. This calming reflexis a virtual off-switch for crying and on-switch for sleep.

The Kung mothers are master baby calmers because they imitate the womb by carrying and rocking their babies 24/7...and feeding them 3 times an hour.

Western parents have long turned to similar womb-mimicking tricks, whether they’ve realised it or not, like going for car rides and turning on the vacuum cleaner to soothe their babies.

 The Basics of the 5 S’s Method for Soothing Babies

Parents around the world have invented all kinds of variations on the calming womb-like sensations  - the 5 S’s: Swaddle, Side-Stomach Position, Shush, Swing, and Suck.

1. The 1st S: Swaddle

Swaddling recreates the snug packaging inside the womb and is the cornerstone of calming. It decreases startling and increases sleep. And, wrapped babies respond faster to the other 4 S’s and stay soothed longer because their arms can’t wriggle around. To swaddle correctly, wrap arms snug—straight at the side—but let the hips be loose and flexed. Use a large square blanket, making sure not to cover your baby’s head or swaddle so loose that the blanket unravels. (Note: Babies shouldn’t be swaddled all day, just during fussing and sleep.)

2. The 2nd S: Side or Stomach Position

The back is the only safe position for sleeping, but it’s the worst position for calming baby. This S can be activated by holding a baby on her side, on her stomach or over your shoulder. You’ll see your baby mellow in no time. 

3. The 3rd S: Shush

Contrary to myth, babies don’t need total silence to sleep. In the womb, the sound of the blood flow is a shush louder than a vacuum cleaner! But, not all white noise is created equal. Hissy fans and ocean sounds often fail to calm babies because they lack the womb’s rumbly quality. The best way to imitate these magic sounds is white noise.

4. The 4th S: Swing

Life in the womb is very jiggly. While slow rocking is fine for keeping quiet babies calm, you need to use fast, tiny motions to soothe a crying infant mid-squawk.  To do it, always support the head/neck, keep your motions small, and move no more than 1 inch back and forth.

5. The 5th S: Suck

Sucking is “the icing on the cake” of calming. Many fussy babies relax into a deep tranquillity when they suck. Many babies calm easier with a pacifier.

The 5 S’s Take Practice to Perfect

The 5 S’s technique only works when done exactly right. The calming reflex is just like the knee reflex: Hit one inch too high or low, and you’ll get no response, but hit the knee exactly right and, presto! If your little one doesn’t soothe check with your doctor to make sure illness isn’t preventing calming.

TOP 5 TIPS FOR GETTING BABY TO SLEEP

We know that all babies cry— it alerts us to the fact that they need something – warmth, food, company or medicine.  There hasn’t been a parent on this earth who hasn’t felt that deep anguish when hearing their baby cry.  In Western society we are conditioned to just get on with it, ignore how it makes us feel and hope that baby grows out of it quickly.  However there are ways to help us soothe crying baby and help calm baby and parent. 

Crying Makes Parent and Baby Stressed

Typically, babies get increasingly irritable around sundown and can continue for hours. No wonder, parents get concerned, frustrated and very, very tired.

Exhaustion triggered by persistent crying creates huge stress in families, including marital conflict, maternal and paternal depression, and obesity. It causes car crashes and other accidents—people make all kinds of poor decisions when stressed and overtired. It also puts babies in danger when a wiped-out parent falls asleep with a baby in their arms, on an unsafe couch or a bed, which increases the risks for SIDS and infant suffocation. And believe it or not, the national costs of complications of infant crying and parental exhaustion total well over $1 billion dollars a year!

The Fourth Trimester

Many doctors say that colic (crying for more than 3 hours a day) is a mystery. However the Kung San tribe of the Kalahari Desert calm their babies in under a minute!  Research into this tribe has produced two interesting points;

1. All babies are born 3 months early. New born horses can run within an hour of birth but not human babies. A virtual fourth trimesterof womb sensations (soft touch, jiggly motion, snug holding, etc.) may just be what they need.
2. The rhythms experienced inside the womb trigger a reflex that keeps babies relaxed. This calming reflexis a virtual off-switch for crying and on-switch for sleep.

The Kung mothers are master baby calmers because they imitate the womb by carrying and rocking their babies 24/7...and feeding them 3 times an hour.

Western parents have long turned to similar womb-mimicking tricks, whether they’ve realised it or not, like going for car rides and turning on the vacuum cleaner to soothe their babies.