Crying Baby Hacks
Dec 3rd, 2007
When Jack-Jack was born, I learned of a fantastic book and video called The Happiest Baby on the Block by pediatrician Harvey Karp. It changed the way I approach the crying newborn problem. Dr. Karp talks about the five S’s: swaddling, side (or stomach) swinging, shushing, and sucking. In a nutshell, babies are happiest when the environment mimics their blissful life in the womb. Swaddled, held on their side, swung or jiggled, they feel more like they felt before that awful event known as birth.
Shushing was probably the biggest revelation to me, and the one that has worked the best. Babies in utero hear the sound of blood rushing through their mother’s circulatory system. They calm down when you “Shh” them–but not in a librarian sort of way. It has to be a really loud “SHHHH”.
One of my favorite bloggers, Merlin Mann of 43Folders, just became a dad. He mentioned in a Twitter post that running the vacuum cleaner was the “nuclear option” in his battle with the baby crying. I think the vacuum cleaner replicates the “Shh” factor that Dr. Karp recommends.
I suggested a more economical and environmentally-friendly approach: a vacuum cleaner CD. Yes, such a thing exists at Pure White Noise. For $13.45 (including shipping), you can get “Baby’s Vacuum Cleaner CD” with a full-hour of vacuuming.
(This doubles as a Noisy Neighbor Hack: I bought “Calming Electric Fan” for myself when a new neighbor with a loud stereo moved in–it works great!)
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Great tidbits in your auntie-blog (ha, that’s funny).
On the crying baby hacks – I have one to share that I discovered when my own son was a wee tot. If he was upset and “loud” I would chirp like a little bird in his hear… a series of high pitched whistles made with the tongue, not a regular whistle. It sounds more like pssss, psss, psss….. like baby birds. I found it worked on most kids – not just my son… and it’s good if you don’t happen to have a vacuum cleaner in your purse!
Cheers Jean – keep on bloggin’