How to calm a crying baby?
Research indicates that babies are more adaptable to “transport responses” such as holding, carrying, and walking.
This is also the behavior of many other mammals. Young animals often feel calmer when held by their mother.
Although it is very positive, this is not the only way to help children sleep deeply.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says parents can put their children to bed when they are sleepy, not rushing to coax their children back to sleep when they have just woken up.
According to experts, about 20-30% of babies cry and present with difficulty sleeping for unknown reasons.
The team needs to perform more in-depth analyses to explain this phenomenon and provide immediate measures for parents.
“Like science-based physical training, we can raise children based on science, hoping for new methods to help children sleep well, reducing stress for parents with children who cry a lot.
We need to use science to understand a child’s behavior, because it’s much more complex and diverse than we think,” experts said.
Research shows that the best way to help babies stop crying at night and fall asleep quickly is to hug and walk with your baby for 5 minutes.
Experts say parents can sit and hold their babies or walk for 5 to 8 minutes before putting them to bed, according to the results of the study published in the journal Current Biology in mid-September.
This method works even during the day.
To reach their conclusions, the team compared the reactions of 21 infants in 4 situations: being carried by their mother for a walk, their mother sitting in a crib and lying down when they were taken to a bassinet.
The team found that the crying child calmed down, had a steady heart rate within 30 seconds of being held and walked by his mother.
All babies stop crying when their parents do this. Half of them fell asleep.
However, when mothers try to put their babies back in bed and not sit with them, one-third of babies become conscious within 20 seconds.
Their heart rate increased, and many continued to cry as they were held, not moving.
Therefore, experts say that the most reasonable time to hold the baby and move is 5 to 8 minutes before putting the baby down on the bed.
The cradle movement also causes their heart rate to slow down, showing comfort.
In addition, the longer they sleep in their mother’s arms, the less they wake up when they are laid down.
“As a mother of 4, I’m still surprised to see this result.
Initially, I thought that babies woke up when lying down because they were placed on the bed the wrong way, lack of lightness or wrong posture (startling).
But this test shows that’s not true,” said Dr. Kumi Kuroda, a researcher at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science in Japan.
