Calm Your Baby With Soothing Techniques: Tip and Resources for Parents
Now that baby is here, they may be full of emotions and can be easily overstimulated. Studies show that supporting baby’s emotions through soothing techniques can help them create pathways of regulation in their brains to healthily cope with emotions when they are older. Baby will experience their stress and other emotions completely differently when they have someone there supporting them whether it be through simply holding them or by using one of the helpful soothing techniques listed below. Nurturing baby and their emotions allows them to develop a healthy relationship with the world around them while feeling safe and comforted by their caregiver. Finding the right tools to calm your fussy baby in each moment may take time, but with practice you’ll learn what works best for your dyad.
Pro-tip: You may find that using these techniques can come in handy before and while breastfeeding or bottle feeding. Feeding is much more efficient with a calm baby. Additionally, soothing techniques are super useful for sleep!
Techniques You Can Try:
There are many different soothing techniques you can try to help soothe baby and see what works best for you and them! Listed below are just a few techniques you can equip yourself with:
Magic Baby Hold - You can find a demonstration here
Giving baby a warm bath - warm temperatures may help baby feel calm and sleepy
Infant massage - not only great for soothing, but also feeding baby. The Center offers a class series on infant massage, join us either in-person or virtual to learn more!
Rhythmic motion- This can help baby’s reflexes and allows them to release tension. You can find a helpful video on rhythmic motion here
Soothing sounds- Babies can feel protected and calm by hearing sounds like white noise
Singing or Reading- This allows baby to bond with you and your voice
Wear baby - Babywearing can be an invaluable tool for baby and the parent/caregiver. This allows baby to feel safe and calm while also being close with you. Allowing for you to get your hands back and do things you might have not thought possible with a baby. We also offer a class and 1:1 support for parents interested in learning more!
Change of scenery- Neighborhood walks with baby allows them to see their environment and unlocks their curiosity
Reduce stimulation- This helps baby reduce their anxiety and feel calm.
Avoid Scheduling - every child is different, but newborns are better suited for flow and responsive care, (including sleeping, feeding and soothing). Avoiding scheduling can help you feel less strained while also meeting baby needs in a way that is efficient to them.
Soothing helps parents too!
Trying these techniques can help calm baby down but it can also help parents! As you try out these different techniques, you will begin to see and understand what makes baby feel comfortable; you will also begin to understand more of their emotional cues which can be so helpful in moments of stress. These soothing techniques allow parents to develop a bond with their little one and feel more confident in their role as a parent or caregiver.
resources for parents and figuring out their newborn:
it is super important to understand your babies feeding cues. This blog post will outline feeding cues with photos for you to begin to decipher those early cues to hopefully avoid hunger meltdowns a bit more frequently.
Class: if you’ve never been around many infants or would like a refresher course on caring for a newborn, our Baby Care Basics class is the class for you. Register here.
Finding Support: An IBCLC can support you on your feeding journey, no matter your feeding goal. This blog post outlines how an IBCLC can support you.
Have further questions or concerns and/or need an appointment? You can book with us here, or talk to our admin team at 202.293.5182 via text or phone.