We all know that babies cry. They will cry when they’re hungry, sad, scared, wet, dirty or want to be picked up. Unfortunately, there are also many other different reasons that your baby may cry and it will take some time to figure out each cry means. What you might not have ever been told before today is that sometimes you won’t be able to figure out what the cry is. You will try everything and it’s not colic…but the baby is still crying.
You are not failing as a parent, but sometimes babies need to cry and it’s our job as parents to comfort them as much as we can and teach them how to get past this. However, there are a wide variety of ways that you can soothe the baby and if you’re lucky, you won’t have a crying baby all night.
Swaddle that Baby
Swaddling a baby can almost seem cruel, until you think about how terrifying being born must be. During that last month of pregnancy, it’s usually pretty tight quarters for a baby and they get used to having very limited movements. Then, one day, they’re brought into the world, they can move around, it’s light where it used to be dark and sometimes they have to eat instead of having it magically appear.
Swaddling a baby simply gives them that compressed feeling from before they were born. There are blankets that can be used to securely hold them down, but for years a stretchy receiving blanket or cloth diaper worked as well. You place the baby in the cloth and cross the pieces, tucking them in tightly and covering the baby all the way to the chin. The important part of swaddling is that it needs to be tight, but obviously should not constrict breathing, digestion or cause pain. Typically a baby will fuss for a few minutes, then drink a bottle or breastfeed and then go to sleep, because they are comforted by being enclosed so tightly.
Wear Your Baby if You Can
Your baby probably got used to hearing your heart beat and is now missing it. The wide variety of front pack carriers and Snugglis that are available today make it easy to get everything done that you need to, while holding your baby. It can almost be thought of as the third arm all moms need, but really will comfort many babies when nothing else does.
Walking the floor with babies and rocking them to sleep is one of the most well-known tricks, because it works. It also promotes bonding, a solid bedtime routine and reminds the baby that you are there. Although obviously it is important for your baby to learn to go to sleep on their own and to self-soothe, newborns are rarely ready to do so and it is important to teach them who you are and that you will always be there for them.
