Some easy to follow steps to settle your Baby
I was attending an antenatal class a few weeks ago when I came across the teachings of a Harvey Karp. He has a great knack of calming screaming babies. These skills are a must for any new parent as sleep is at a premium particularly in those early times of bringing your baby home. His simple to follow 5 step process will help put an end to much anxiety and sleep deprivation for parents
I was quite amazed at how easily this Doctor was able to calm these babies down quickly almost to a hypnotic state. Granted sometimes when the baby cries it will mean something like pain or gas but if you can settle them quickly this can be ruled out
He talks about the Calming process as a reflex, that is programmed into each one of us. The calming reflex is as natural as sucking, sneezing or blinking. You just need to know how to turn it on. He also says that for the first three month of life you baby is still really a foetus and says that you need to mimic the uterus environment as much as possible for another trimester. Yes he says that the first 3 months of life to do this
There are 5 Steps to initiate this Calming Reflex in your screaming child.
The 5′s are
- Swaddling – Tightly wrapping up your baby. Your baby was confined for nine months in the uterus and feels safe being tightly wrapped. When the baby’s arms get loose it can distress the child so keep them wrapped up tightly with arms by their sides
- Side/ Stomach Lying – The key position of holding the baby on its side of stomach in your arms is crucial. It is known as the reverse breast-feeding position. You may need to play around with this to find the correct angle that is comfortable for your child
- Shushing – This is a quite loud SHHHH noise and is continual this is to simulate the noise of the baby being in the uterus inside Mum’s tummy. This is similar to having a radio tuned in between stations for white noise and is about the same level as a vacuum cleaner. Remember inside the uterus is a noisy environment.
- Swinging – This has to be quite smooth and not rough or a jerky movement. It can be a side to side sway or more of a jiggle where the baby looks jelly like in their movements. Done correctly it looks like a little shiver
- Sucking – The sucking reflex is very calming. This cam either be a finger or he does use a dummy or pacifier
To find out more about Harvey Karp watch the Video below
