I have lost count of the number of times I have been asked if I can be called upon in the middle of the night if little one won’t settle. ????????
I thought I would put together some handy tips which might help all you new mummies and daddies get through those first few months with a newborn.
Swaddling
I find a variety of face stroking techniques really help soothe an unsettled baby. Between running a finger over their forehead, stoking their cheek or nose really helps settle a baby.
Stroke a finger down the middle of your own nose, you find your eyes naturally start to close. So imagine someone doing this to you repeatedly, whilst you’re wrapped up all cosy. It wouldn’t be long until you feel asleep.
White noise
Would you believe the womb is a really noisy place to be! With the sound of mummy’s blood flow and everything going on outside of her body it’s really not much of a surprise that babies will be more likely to settle in a slightly noisier environment.
When baby comes home, we think they want peace and quiet, quickly turning down the TV, telling people to shhh and put in a quiet room.
The truth is babies hate silence. The use of white noise or a shhh sound will help them settle. I have also heard good things about Ewan the Dream Sheep. Alternatively if you need help NOW then just switch on the hoover or a hairdryer.
Face stroking
I find a variety of face stroking techniques really help soothe an unsettled baby. Between running a finger over their forehead or stroking their nose really helps settle a baby. Stroke a finger down the middle of your own nose. You find your eyes naturally start to close, so imagine someone doing this to you repeatedly while you’re wrapped up all cosy. It wouldn’t be long until you feel asleep.
Bum patting
A gentle pat on baby’s bum will help settle them and drift them off to sleep. Gentle patting reminds them of the rhythmic motion inside the womb, as well as the sound of their mother’s heartbeat while they are in the womb.
Removing all stimulants
Sometimes your baby can just become very overstimulated. If noise, bum patting, bouncing, shushing etc all don’t work, and you can’t settle them down, the best thing to do is to swaddle your baby, lay them down in a darkened room, and leave them for a few minutes. Often they will then settle themselves. We sometimes just get caught up in the fact that we should be comforting our babies and sometimes they just need space to calm themselves.
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