What's The Best Way To Soothe A Crying Baby?

A question new parents, grandparents and newborn photographers have asked many many times. We all just want the babies to feel settled and content but sometimes we try EVERYTHING and nothing seems to work. In a recent article in The Guardian they write about how scientists have found, what they feel is, the best way to soothe a crying baby. 

The new strategy follows research on animals whose babies are helpless at birth, such as cats, dogs, mice and humans. The research showed that, when carried by their mothers, the babies became docile. After being carried around for five minutes, all of the wailing babies had stopped crying and nearly half had fallen asleep. The parents weren't out of the woods yet though - with around a third of the babies waking as soon as they were put back to bed. Even laying them down gently didn't work. What did work was sitting with the sleeping baby for five to eight minutes after walking around so they fell into a deeper stage of sleep. 

Try this...

• pick up your crying baby,
• walk around with them for five minutes – without any abrupt stops or sudden changes in direction –
• then sit down and hold them for five to eight minutes
• before laying them back down again.

Of course, the scientists are not claiming that this is a magic wand,  Dr Betty Hutchon from the Brazelton Centre UK reiterated that “Crying is an important and normal communication method for babies – crying gives your baby a voice. Babies have different cries for different needs such as tiredness, discomfort, hunger or wanting to be held and played with. Over time parents learn through trial and error and experience what each cry means. There is no one answer or strategy that suits all crying babies’ needs at all times – different responses will be appropriate at different times.”

During a Newborn Photoshoot we use techniques known as the 5 S's to help soothe our tiny visitors, and we'll be adding this new technique to our list. The 5 S's include Swaddling, Shushing, Swinging, Sucking and Side -  you can read more about the 5's in our blog. Sometimes these techniques will work and sometimes they won't but they are worth a try. It can be hard as new parents, and distressing when you can't figure out what your baby needs, but you've got this.

Kate x