A new method, scientifically tested, has been found to be the most effective in calming a crying baby who is struggling to sleep. In a quarter of an hour, baby should be sound asleep, without untimely awakening when you put him in his bed.
[Mise à jour du 14 septembre à 12h34] For no apparent reason, baby cries hot tears. He has eaten well, his diaper is clean, it’s even time to sleep and yet nothing helps: he remains inconsolable. An exhausting situation in many respects for the parents, often helpless in the face of these incomprehensible cries, and undermined when the baby is finally asleep, he wakes up immediately in his bed. Good news ! According to a scientifically proven method, it only takes two small steps to soothe baby for sure.
Walk, and keep it on your arm
Notice to all parents disarmed and tired by baby’s crying, here is the procedure to follow, literally, to calm him down: first of all, you have to walk with baby in your arms, for 5 minutes – and it is mobility that is important here- then again keep it against you for 5 to 8 minutes, statically this time, so as to pass the first phase of still light sleep. Only then can you put him in his cradle, without risking a thunderous awakening: baby is soothed and gone to take a good nap.
A scientifically proven method
Published in the journal Current Biology, the method developed by the Italian-Japanese team of scientists was tested with 21 babies, aged between 0 and 7 months. By observing their reactions through their heart rate, four strategies were tested by the mothers: carrying the child while sitting, walking, pushing him in his stroller or leaving him motionless in his bed. Only carrying, in the first instance, proved to be effective in quickly calming baby down. From the first 30 seconds, the heart rate is lowered and “hasAfter 5 minutes of carrying while walking, 5 of 11 infants (45%) were asleep and none were crying at the end” noted the scientists. Note: it is the combination of movement and carrying that guarantees the success of this first step. Also, you have to walk for 5 minutes on a flat surface, at a regular pace and without turning or stopping so as not to suddenly raise the baby’s heart rate..
Then comes the second stage, during which you still have to keep your baby in your arms, and above all not put him in his bed.. It is that at this time, baby is not yet deeply asleep, and detaching himself directly could wake him up immediately. Indeed, it is exactly during this delicate maneuver that baby’s heart rate accelerates. To be sure to accompany him well in the land of dreams, you must then keep him close to you, in a static position this time. Sit with baby curled up in your arms for 5 to 8 minutes who “corresponds approximately to the duration of the first stage of sleep (about 8 minutes in infants from 4 to 5 months)” detail the researchers. Of the 13 babies who remained asleep, 9 were so thanks to the double method.
Prevent postpartum depression and shaken babies
A double method which ultimately does not offer anything revolutionary, but whose combination is more than surprising, for the director of the study in the first place: “Even as a mother of four, I was very surprised to see this result. I thought babies waking up during bedtime had to do with how they were put on the bed,” recognized Kumi Kuroda, who hopes via this method to prevent the access of nerves and their sometimes very serious consequences of parents at the end. “About 20-30% of infants cry excessively and have trouble sleeping for no apparent reason, which causes parental stress and can even trigger impulsive acts of child abuse in a small number of cases“.
Postpartum depression and parental burnout are on the threshold of many parents’ morale, and are just waiting for a situation of distress to make their entrance. Finally, baby crying being the main cause of baby shaking, it is necessary to seek tirelessly how to prevent these extreme situations, proof of deep parental distress.