Do you have a crying baby that is having a hard time calming down. A crying baby can bring out so many emotions you never thought you had. Feelings of hopelessness, frustration, helplessness, worry, exhaustion, stress…..The list can go on and on.
This post is going to focus on teaching you how to calm a crying baby and arm you with knowledge that will help you and your journey as a mother. Knowledge is power and something you carry with you forever!
You would think that by baby number 5 I would have known all these things I’m about to share you. But my first few children weren’t particularly fussy, so I just walked and rocked them when they were crying and never really searched for a better solution.
After my 5 month old got sick and suddenly became a very fussy baby I got desperate. I all of sudden became overwhelmed, and exhausted. My baby wouldn’t stay asleep longer than 20 minutes without me holding her. She wouldn’t go to anyone with beginning to cry…..including her daddy.
I mentioned my frustrations to my sister-in-law who came running to my rescue. She showed up the next day with swaddling blankets and a DVD to help me find some sanity. She sat me down and taught me everything thing she learned with her incredibly fussy child number 1. She’s made my life so much more manageable.
So, let me pay it forward by telling you all I have learned through this experience and arm you with the resources you will need to calm your super sweet, adorable, incessantly crying baby.
Hopefully you can learn all this on your first baby instead of your fifth like me.
#1 – Begin to recognize your babies different cries.
My baby has different cries??? What? Absolutely YES, and knowing this will help you in so many ways!! If you are a first time mom, this can be overwhelming. This can take some time, even for seasoned moms.
I remembered an Oprah episode back in the day about how you can tell what a baby needs by their cry. I went searching for that episode and I found it!
The lady Oprah featured is Priscilla Dunston who figured out that babies speak a language of their own through specific noises they make in their whiny stage, JUST BEFORE they really start to cry. She found there are certain noises they make when they are hungry, tired, uncomfortable, wanting to be burped, or when they have gas pains.
I included this video clip so you can hear some examples.
If you are fascinated and want to learn more, you can buy her book here or her DVD here. I can totally hear my baby making these different noises now and it helps me so much in figuring out what to do to help her stop crying.
#2 – Use The 5 S’s (Swaddling, Side or Stomach Position, Shushing, Softly Shaking, Sucking)
You may have heard of a book or dvd called The Happiest Baby on the Block. This is what my sister-in-law shared with me. It has been around a while and I had heard of it, but had never really looked into it much.
After using the 5 S’s for the past two weeks, I’m a believer! It really is magical to watch my baby calm right down when I use the techniques Dr. Harvey Karp teaches. (Dr. Karp is not paying me to promote his dvd- I just really am amazed at how well it works.)
I included a video clip of him on a talk show giving a quick demo of his technique. You can purchase his dvd here if you want to delve deeper.
The best thing about this approach is that anyone can do it- your husband, your mom, the baby’s caretaker, even older siblings. It is such a burden off my shoulders to not be the only one who can calm my baby down! It is extremely effective for the first 3 months of your babies life- which he calls the 4th trimester.
The basic idea is to create womb-like conditions for your baby to help them feel safe, comfortable, and calm. But my daughter is 5 months old and still responding really well to most of these techniques.
Because my baby is older and longer, I have a hard time holding her on my lap and doing the 5 S’s he talks about. So, I made a couple of videos to show you some alternative positions that are working for me with an older baby.
How to Calm a Crying Baby
How to soothe a Crying Baby
Now, maybe you are like me and thought your baby hated to be swaddled because you didn’t have big enough blankets to get the job done right or your swaddling skills are lacking. You can find the right kind of blankets for swaddling here and swaddling specific blankets with velcro to help you get the job done here.
I use these and love them.
Here is a more detailed post on how to swaddle your baby and WHY you should swaddle your baby! There are so many benefits. Check it out.
And if you don’t want to hyperventilate doing the shushing noise or waste electricity running your hair dryer- no worries! There’s an app for that! I use this one and love it.
#3 – Face Time with MOM
On days when you have a ton to accomplish and you are just trying to get the baby to stay happy in the swing or on the play mat or even in your arms, you might notice they seem to be more fussy. At this point, stop what you are doing and give that baby a good 15-30 minutes of face time.
YOUR BABY NEEDS YOUR FACE! She needs to smile at you and see you smiling back. She needs to look into your eyes and interact with you. Sing and coo at your newborn. Mimic her sounds. All if this is important for her emotional development and in helping her bond with and attach to you.
As they get a little older and interactive, play patty cake and peek-a-boo. Talk to her. Make her giggle at your crazy faces. This is also very critical for her language and social development.
A little face time goes a long way. Give your baby facetime attention throughout the day and they will be less fussy. (For more good information on why face time is important read here and here.)
#4- Give your baby a change of scenery
This approach works particularly well as your baby gets older and becomes more aware of her surroundings. Go outside if the whether permits. Sometimes just walking out into the sunshine will calm a crying baby by distracting them with a whole new world of things to look at and discover.
There is also a magic thing called a mirror. Most babies can’t resist that cute little baby staring back at them. 😀 And my baby loves being in a warm bath now that she’s a little older. Sometimes all it takes is a little bath time to change her mood.
#5 – Treat pain symptoms
If none of these things are working, your baby may be experiencing actual pain. A stomach ache, earache, diaper rash, fever or sore throat. And then there is always the joy of teething. The Happiest Baby on the Block techniques can help sooth a baby who is in pain, but sometimes more action is needed to help relieve the pain your baby is in.
**disclaimer: I am not a doctor. I am only sharing with you some things that have worked from my personal experience. You should ask a medical professional if the options I’ve listed below are a good choice for your baby.
For stomach aches, you can try Colic Calm. I used this for my last two babies and it seemed to work well.
For earaches, check out this post on Ear Infection Remedies
For diaper rash, Boudreaux’s Butt Paste is my favorite by far among bum creams.
For fever or sore throat– check with your pediatrician. They may suggest Tylenol or Motrin to help ease the pain.
For teething- good luck. Just kidding. You can find some ideas here and here.
You might also do a quick check over your baby’s body to see if there is anything bothering her- like a hair wrapped tightly around her toe, a bug bite, a rash other than diaper rash, etc.
With these 5 ways to calm your crying baby, you will become skilled at reading your babies cues so you can quickly meet your baby’s needs and end the incessant and unnecessary crying.
My goal is to help you no longer feel frazzled and at your wits end so you can really enjoy the sweetness of your newborn baby and find more joy in being a mom. Now get to it! You got this.
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