Tips On How To Soothe A Newborn Baby
By Amy A. Vincent | Fact checked by Dr. Leah Alexander, MD, FAAP | Updated on July 23, 2022
Its not uncommon for a new baby to cry. It is, however, important that you know how to soothe your newborn. There are many different methods out there, and it can be difficult to figure out which one will work best for your child. In the following article, well explore ten tips on how you can calm your baby down and make them comfortable in their own skin.
What Can Help A Crying Baby
You can’t spoil your baby with too much attention. To soothe a crying baby:
- First, make sure your baby doesn’t have a fever. In a baby, a fever is a temperature of 100.4°F . Call the doctor right away if your baby does have a fever.
- Make sure your baby isn’t hungry and has a clean diaper.
- Rock or walk with the baby.
- Sing or talk to your baby.
- Offer the baby a pacifier.
- Take the baby for a ride in a stroller.
- Hold your baby close against your body and take calm, slow breaths.
- Give the baby a warm bath.
- Pat or rub the baby’s back.
- Place your baby across your lap on his or her belly and rub your baby’s back.
- Put your baby in a swing or vibrating seat. The motion may be soothing.
- Put your baby in an infant car seat in the back of the car and go for a ride. Often, the vibration and movement of the car are calming.
- Play music some babies respond to sound as well as movement.
Some babies need less stimulation. Babies 2 months and younger may do well swaddled, lying on their back in the crib with the lights very dim or dark. Make sure the swaddle isn’t too tight. Stop swaddling when the baby is starting to be able to roll over.
Why Is Baby Crying: Nappy Change Uncomfortable Sick
Does baby need a nappy change? If baby has a rash, rinse babys bottom with clean water, gently pat dry and use a nappy cream.
Is baby uncomfortable? Try holding baby upright and patting babys back. Also, check baby isnt too hot or cold. Make sure baby is dressed comfortably.
Is baby sick? Take babys temperature. An average temperature is 37°C. Talk to your GP if youre worried.
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More Tips For Calming Fussy Newborns That Wont Sleep At Night
If vigorous rocking doesnt soothe your baby, you can try some of the below tips for calming fussy newborns and preventing nighttime fussing in the first place:
- Swaddling. Swaddling helps recreate the snug surroundings of the womb. We recommend trying the swaddling method found in our article How to Swaddle a Baby.
- Use white noise. While in the womb, your baby was constantly surrounded by noise and activity, so putting them down in a silent room feels really weird to them! Thats where white noise comes into play. Check out our list of the best white noise sounds for your baby.
- Create a schedule during the day. This will help prevent your little one from getting overtiredand cranky.
- Create a sleep-friendly environment. Your baby may be hot or cold, or maybe theres too much light in the room. Be sure to limit light at night, and keep your baby at a comfortable temperature.
- Encourage pooping. Some belly massage and knee-to-tummy exercises may help get things moving during the day so nighttime sleep isnt disturbed.
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Know When To Seek Help
If you constantly feel overwhelmed and the feeling doesnt go away, you probably need some outside help. Additionally, if you are feeling like you cant pick up on your babys cues or your baby isnt alert enough to engage in the early milestone behaviors, it is important to seek help as soon as possible. Problems that are identified early can almost always be solved.
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Why Babies Cry So Much
Crying is how babies communicate. While it can be challenging to distinguish between the types of cries of a newborn baby, as babies get older, parents can sometimes differentiate an “I’m hungry” cry from an “I’m tired” cry.
Babies cry because they are:
Sometimes, cries can easily be satisfied with food or a diaper change. Always respond to your baby’s cries. You cannot “spoil” babies by picking them up when they cry. Being held is reassuring and comforting when a baby cannot express herself any other way.
Although babies cry to communicate, this crying can continue for a long time for no apparent reason. Crying can be a mystery and it can stop as quickly as it began. Your baby is not mad at you, nor is your baby trying to make you look like a bad parent.
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How To Soothe A Crying Baby
Causes and calming methods
The baby is finally here, the joy is great, but then the little one screams. Constantly. Its no wonder, then, when you start feel less heartfelt love and more despair. Why does it scream? What am I doing wrong? How can I end this situation or make it easier for everyone?
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How To Prevent Your Newborn From Waking Up Screaming
Preventing is always easier and simpler than resolving. Thus, you can refer and apply my tips below:
- As mentioned, the nightmare is one of the causes leading to your newborn wakes up screaming, so you have to make sure dont let it watch terrible films or see scary images before its bedtime. Due to just a baby, it cant fight against bad feelings influencing its dreams.
- To strengthen the mind of your baby, you can use flash light as a magic lighting to remind it that fighting against evil and darkness is possible thank to that prop.
- Try to make a proper eating routine for your babys comfortable sleep.
- Check your babys nappy regularly to change another one timely.
Note: If at last, that still happens, you can refer to the short video below about how to soothe a newborn wakes up screaming
Check For Signs Of Colic Or Reflux
If everything you did and said were to no avail, check for signs of colic or reflux. Studies show that around 26% or babies are colicky.
Colic happens around the babys 2nd week, peaks at 6 weeks, and is gone by the 16th week. It is defined as a babys crying for over three hours a day , at least three days a week, although your bub can be considered colicky even if they did not meet these criteria.
Paediatrician Harvey Karp, MD, author of the book and DVD The Happiest Baby on the Block, explains that crying babies are actually just adjusting to the life outside of the womb, so some lights, colours, textures, and sounds upset them. Most often, its the hunger, gas or reflux that make them go wild.
What you can do to reduce gassiness in babies is doing some types of holding positions to help them relieve gassiness, such as the following:
- Put your baby facedown along one forearm and support his/her neck by using the crook of your arm. Place your other arm between his/her legs to support his/her lower body.
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How To Safely Soothe Your Crying Newborn
BYJennifer Shu, MD, FAAP, American Academy Of Pediatrics
What parents and caregivers need to know about calming a fussy babyincluding 9 must-try techniques.
When your baby cries, do you sometimes feel like crying yourself? If youre nodding yes right now, dont feel bad! Its natural to feel overwhelmed when youre caring for a newborn, especially when youve got a screaming baby on your hands. Your childs shrieks can leave you wondering just what this tiny human is trying to tell you. Are they hungry? Wet? Or just startled by the sights and sounds of a world thats 100% new to them?
Learning how to soothe a newborn is a master class that even experienced caregivers and parents find challenging at times. Heres some information to know and tips that can help.
Crying: How Your Baby Communicates
Since your baby can’t verbalize her needs, just about the only way she can communicate is by crying, and it’s normal for a newborn to cry for one to four hours every day. As a parent, itâs up to you to try to figure out why she may be crying. It can be a tough job, but you’re the person to do itâtrust in your abilities!
After a while you may start to recognize the different cries your baby makes. For example, your little oneâs hungry cry may be completely different from a cry signaling sheâs feeling distressed. Eventually you’ll get better at picking up on your baby’s signals and you’ll know how to get your baby to stop crying by responding to her cues.
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Make Sure Theyre Fed And Changed:
First, make sure theyre fed and changed. It can be difficult to find a good time for a feeding or diaper change so its often best just to do these tasks right away when you notice the baby needs them. If this isnt possible, try rocking your child in their baby swing until theyve calmed down. This will help calm them down as well as keep that last meal from coming up too soon!
Our Amy Baby Review experts have reviewed some great colic swings. If you believe your infant is crying for colic, you may read it to get more information.
We also have a guide on baby swings with ac adapter. The swings we investigated in that post are plug-in baby swings, so you can play them whenever you want, and theres no worry of running out of batteries.
What Are The Best Ways To Settle A Crying Baby
Most babies like to be picked up and held when theyre crying. Rocking, shooshing, swaying and patting can help them to settle.
Babies aged less than 3 months often respond well to being swaddled. This helps them to feel secure and supports longer sleep periods. Young babies often prefer settling in arms or hands on settling strategies until they learn more independent skills.
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Keeping A Crying Baby Safe
Never shake a baby. It can cause permanent brain damage, disability or death.
Are you frustrated or upset? Put baby in a safe place and walk away until you feel calmer. Or ask someone else to hold baby.
Its OK to ask for help. If its hard to cope with your babys crying, call your local Parentline or talk to your GP or child and family health nurse.
Why Do Babies Sometimes Cry Around Feeding Time
If your baby often cries or seems unsettled when feeding, the solution could be as simple as trying a different breastfeeding position. Your midwife or health visitor can help if you think you may still be having problems with attachment and positioning.
Here are some other possible causes of crying related to feeding:
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Getting Help With A Crying Baby
You can talk to a friend, your health visitor or GP, or contact the Cry-sis helpline on 08451 228 669, open 9am to 10pm, 7 days a week. You’ll be charged for your call.
Cry-sis can put you in touch with other parents who have been in the same situation.
You can also visit the Cry-sis website for information on coping with crying babies.
If you decide to talk to your health visitor or GP, it can help to keep a record of how often and when your baby cries.
For example, this might be after every feed or during the evening. This can help your health visitor or GP to work out if there’s a particular cause for the crying.
Keeping a record can also help you identify the times when you need extra support. You could think about possible changes to your routine.
There may be times when you’re so tired and angry you feel like you cannot take any more. This happens to a lot of parents, so do not be ashamed to ask for help.
If you do not have anyone who can take care of your baby for a short time and the crying is making you stressed, put your baby in their cot or pram, make sure they’re safe, close the door, go into another room and try to calm yourself down.
Set a time limit for example, 10 minutes then go back.
Your Baby Might Be Over
Its possible for babies too to be over-tired and exhausted from throughout the days exploring, running, playing, walking, or just about any activity they want to spend their day with. So when its time to sleep, sleeping sometimes becomes way over their heads.
To help your baby get more shut-eye, do bedtime habits that would calm them down. Pamela High, M.D., a colic expert at The Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, in Providence, Rhode Island in the US suggests giving bub a warm bath then playing a soothing music. Its important for their room to be quiet and the lights, dimmed. Babies dont know the difference between day and night, so you have to teach them by behaving differently, Dr. High says.
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Baby Wakes Up Screamingis It Normal
Babies can wake up during night around 3 to 4 times, depending on their age and feeding habits, but waking up while screaming is an issue parents should not take lightly. Nightmares or bad dreams are usually a sign of deep psychological problems that should be recognized and dealt with as soon as possible. According to a latest survey, 1% to 6% children may have night terrors and wake up screaming. Also, it has been mostly observed that boys are at higher risk of experiencing night terrors for unknown reasons. According to a survey, around 40% of children will experience one nightmare before they reach the age of 6 and if one family member has a positive history of night terrors, other family members are at significant risk of experiencing it as well.
Burp Your Baby Correctly
We cant stress enough that your babys digestive system is still developing so dont skip the burping stage! In some cases, you might want to burp them twice.
This means that midway through a feeding session, let them take a break and burp them. Then you can continue feeding them, and burp again once youre done. Be sure to follow different positions for burping and always work the gas from the bottom up.
If youre breastfeeding or chestfeeding, you may not need to burp your baby as frequently, since nursing babies usually swallow less air which results in less gas. Babies with lots of gas may need to burp more often.
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What Are The 3 Types Of Baby Cries
Babies cry to tell you their needs. They usually cry for 2-3 hours a day. Sometimes, a bawling baby can be distressing to the anxious parents. Babies may wail for no obvious reason. However, sometimes, the baby cries when they are trying to convey their problem to you. The three types of babys cry are:
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Do One Thing At A Time
To stop the crying pronto, parents will often pile one strategy upon another, in quick succession.
Parents often hold, bounce, shush, sing, pat, change positions all at once! They also will try to change the diaper, feed, and finally pass off to the other parent for a turn. Oftentimes all these happen within a couple of minutes. The only thing this does is overstimulate the baby, says Ideran.
Instead, carry out one action at a time such as just rocking, just patting, or just singing and stick with it for about 5 minutes to see if your baby settles. If not, try another relief method.
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