Babies are a great blessing to us. We cherish the moments when they are all joyful and smiling but we often get upset when they start crying and we cannot find the right method to calm them down using the best pram online. This can leave a person wondering whether he/she is a very bad parent and leave them frustrated with child upbringing.
Babies often cry due to the changes in the environment in the outside world. Psychology has shown that the baby is so acquainted to the womb environment. Therefore, when these changes after birth, the baby will often get upset and eventually cry. Some babies however would not show emotion to this change and it is always advised for one to visit a paediatrician if a baby lack of emotional reaction.
What Causes a Baby to cry?
As I have mentioned above, babies cry when they detect that there is a change in the womb like environment that it is used to. Unless a baby is ill, there are several reasons that could explain why the baby is crying.
Gas, which is caused by unhealthy digestion when a baby is feeding, can make it to cry. Gas causes sensations to the baby’s body that the baby is no used to hence making it to cry. A heavily fussing baby often diagnoses this.
Another common cause for distress in a baby is hunger. When a baby is met with pangs of hunger, it is deemed to respond to this feeling.
Wet diapers will definitely make a baby cry. Wet diapers will produce an uninformed sensation to the baby’s body leaving it uncomfortable.
Soothing a Crying Baby
There are several techniques on can apply to soothe a crying baby. A person is advised to learn the crying behaviour of his/her baby since this is the first way in recognising what is making the baby to cry. Some babies might simply cry due to lack of action around it while some may cry if the temperature in the room changes slightly. Understanding may mean being able to soothe your baby easily.
- Use Soothing Sounds
When a baby cries, you can try to dampen other voices around the baby by introducing “white noise”. “White noise” can include noises from the fan, hair drier, and washing machine. All these are good sounds that can dampen the disturbing sounds in the environment.
One good advice is for one to record these “white noise” sounds and store them. You can later on play them when the child starts crying. You can have an audio that lasts as long as 50 minutes if you do not want to play it repeatedly.
- Make Mellow Movements
When babies are left down lying and they feel inactivity, it may trigger emotion and they suddenly start crying. This is because they feel the movements that used to happen in the womb have suddenly stopped.
A good practice is to making rhythmic movements that relieve these experiences such as making rocking movements, taking the baby on a stroller ride, swinging it, and cuddling it while moving around. These practices have proved useful and any experienced mother will attest to this. Different babies like different movements so be sure to watch out what soothes your baby better.
- Use the 5 S’s technique
The 5 S’s technique is a set of practices suggested by paediatric professor Dr Harvey Karp MD on how to soothe a crying baby. The techniques include:
- Swaddling – Wrapping the baby in a blanket to see if it finds comfort
- Side or Stomach position
- Shush the baby
- Swing the baby
- Sucking – provide the baby with something to suck on.
This technique is a very well documented procedure and many mothers have attested that it works.
- Wear The Baby.
Carrying a baby will make it cry less.You should wear your baby for several hours a day. This gives constant sound and protection, which the baby is adapted to. Special baby slings can be used to wear your baby whether on the front or on the back. The comfort the baby gets form this is unrivalled as it feels your breath and heartbeat. Do not cover the baby’s face, as it will suffocate the baby.
- Massage the Baby’ Tummy
You can try to massage your baby with your bare hands or you can opt to use cream. This tummy massage will comfort your baby and it may help to release any tension that the baby held. A baby’s tummy massage should be gentle to help avoid injuries.
With the above techniques, you will surely be able to calm your baby when it cries. If none of the above works, there might be a problem and you should consult your paediatrician.
