Newborn soothing 101

Bob Wills

Bob Wills

500+ Posts
Any suggestions on soothing a newborn? I've got a nice system down where I rock her cradled in my arms, wait until she's had her eyes closed for 10+ minutes and keep rocking her in my arms until I get her into bed. So far, this seems to work 75% of the time, but unfortunately my wife doesn't have the abdominal strength yet to keep up the rocking while cradling her, so we're looking for other ideas. Our little girl isn't too keen on the swing yet, and the noggin scrambler (bouncer) only works about half the time.

I also took her for a stroll the other afternoon and she was out cold the whole hour. Honking cars, rough sidewalks, and even a firetruck's siren 20 feet away didn't phase her. Incredible! It's amazing she passed the BAER newborn hearing test.
 
Yup, swaddle for 3 months. Works well.

After 3 months, you might be best served to bite the bullet and put them down and let them learn to self-soothe and fall asleep on their own.

It's going to be a rough couple of weeks, but it will pay off huge in the long run.
 
I agree w swaddling. Also, she needs to learn to soothe herself, starting yesterday. Rocking her to sleep is great fun now, but it will eventually get old and make bedtime/naptime a real pain in the ***.

A great book to read is "On Becoming Babywise." We followed the principles in this book, and our oldest daughter was sleeping 8 hours straight at night by 8 weeks, our younger kids all were by 12 weeks.
 
I agree she probably need to be swaddled. I was confused with my little one (he's now 4 months) because he would be sleeping but every time i put him down in the cradle/crib he would wake up. I finally figured out he needed to be swaddled. My first never needed it. But I swaddled my second up until about a month ago and I stopped only because he was getting too big. Even now he has to sleep in a long sleeve sleeper with the feet on them. If I have him in a onsie with pants and socks he always wakes up but in the sleeper he sleeps through the night 80% of the time. Give it time you'll figure it out. The only problem I'm going to have now is that he's soothing himself with his thumb. Won't take a pacifier but likes his thumb.
 
You know, several people recommended the Babywise book to us, but our pediatrician discouraged its use as apparently the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against it. Here's why.
 
Two birds...
Do laundry and place the kid (in their carrier) on either the washer or the dryer - you'll be amazed/
 
Rich UT speaks the truth.

Swaddle until it doesn't work anymore and then bite the bullet and let them get the idea that you aren't going to come in and "rescue" them everytime they cry. It will suck for about 10 to 14 days and then they will "get it" and start sleeping 12 hours a night.

I recommend the Miracle Blanket, if your kid always seems to break out of swaddle. My kids were flailing all the time and always breaking out of those generic receiving blankets.

Seriously. The Miracle Blanket. I was skeptical at first. But it saved my sanity.
 
Austingirl, that is an interesting link... I think there could be a problem with parents not reading the book but just using it as a "cookbook" the book does NOT advocate ignoring/not feeding a hungry infant.

Our oldest was in the 85%tile at birth for length and weight and made appropriate gains throughout infancy (in fact she had rolls on her rolls...). As far as the triplets, at birth the boys were 75%tile for height and weight and the girl was 25th for length and 5th for weight (damn boys started stealing all her food towards the end of gestation) but she actually gained ground during the first few months.

The first was breastfed until 9 mos when she quit the breast, the triplets alternated BF and bottle through 4 mos when it just became unfeasible to continue.

They were fed on a schedule, not on demand, but if they got hungry in between they were fed. A halfway observant parent can quickly tell the difference btwn a cry of hunger and a cry of irritibility.

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Thank you. Hornfans to the rescue again!

Swaddling her has been very effective and we also discovered this Mommy Bear stuffed animal that makes "womb noises" -- she seems to prefer some noise versus complete silence while sleeping. I think it helps filter any random, abrupt noises that may otherwise startle her.

The most priceless look on her face is after nursing. The only way to describe it is a funny looking old man passed out drunk with a milk mustache.
 
Congratulations.

We swaddled our twin boys and our baby girl.

Humming the Largo Movement from Dvorak's "New World Symphony" also worked for me with all of them. The Link



They grow up fast - as soon as you figure out an age, they grow out of it and you have to try something new. Hardest and most fulfilling role I have ever taken on.
 
We've got a new addition - and the Miracle Blanket pwns all the other swaddling blankets. I think we have at least one of every model thay BRU and Right Start sell - save yourself the money of trial and error and get a miracle blanket.
 
this is my husbands username but im going to add anyways...

my mother had 5 kids and i am preggers with our second and one of the most helpful tips my mother gave me was not to allow the house to be silent when the baby is sleeping. if you allow background noises, the baby will get use to them quickly. this will allow you to do things around the house or have people over without having to watch your every move. this is really important if you have other kids running around the house as well.
 
since I had no clue what swaddling is, I had to look it up on Wikipedia. I came across this and found it interesting. Then again, it's from Wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt

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Agree with the previous posters on the swaddling. I did it with all three of my boys, at least for the first month, and it really helped. They are all teens now, and I see no ill effects in terms of rage, anxieties, or a decrease of social capabilities. In addition, my washer/dryer were in the garage, so I didn't have an opportunity to try that method. However, I can remember a couple of times that the twins were particularly fussy, and nothing seemed to help. So, I put each of them into their carrier, and set them on the floor in my bathroom, while I climbed in and took a hot shower. The combination of just the window light, the sound of the water, and the warm humidity of the bathroom had them calm and snoozing in no time at all. Plus, I was a lot less frazzled after a nice warm shower.
 
Had my first all-nighter last night. Poor girl only wanted to nurse, nothing else would soothe her. (Poor mama too.) After about five hours I was able to get her to calm down and fall asleep by taking her clothes off and having her snuggle up high facing my chest in the rocking chair. I felt so bad for her and helpless at the same time, but patience finally paid off.

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Another vote for the steps provided in Happiest Baby on the Block.

I added singing along to Bob Marley's Buffalo Soldier and Three Little Birds into the mix.
 
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