How To Soothe A Colic Baby – Meg Faure
Having a colic baby is an issue many new mothers struggle with, however research has shown that swaddling your baby is one of the simplest methods to soothe your colic baby. Meg Faure tells us more about the advantages of swaddling.
In many cultures, swaddling babies are encouraged as a method to soothe newborns and to help babies sleep better. However, in the western world, in the latter part of the 1900’s, swaddling went out of fashion and this morsel of parenting wisdom was essentially discouraged and lost over time. Many a new mum will have heard her grandmother say:”Why is your baby not swaddled?” or “Let me show you how to swaddle your baby.” Is swaddling a useful tool to soothe your baby?
The answers can be found in research as well as mum’s anecdotal experiences. In the new millennium, mothers are returning in droves to the skill and art of swaddling. The reason is that recent research is full of the benefits of wrapping babies for the first three months.
In 2002, research from the Washington University Medical School studied the effect of swaddling on sleep. The results indicate that swaddling a baby decreases the number of night wakings during deep sleep significantly. Likewise, swaddling increases the length of REM sleep by helping babies return to sleep spontaneously, which limits the need for parental intervention to get their baby back to sleep.
Other research in the Journal of Human Lactation (2001) revealed that babies who fuss at the breast, feed better with more coordinated sucks and breaths when swaddled.
Subjectively most mothers will confirm that when their baby is swaddled he is calmer and cries less than when he is not.
The reason swaddling is beneficial to young babies
Swaddling replicates the world of the womb. The intrauterine environment provides the ultimate environment for the developing foetus. The deep pressure touch of your uterine muscles in the last few months contains your little foetus’ involuntary movements. After birth your little baby feels uncontained as his movements come up against no resistance. Swaddling mimics the tight hug of the womb, containing these little movements.
How to swaddle
For the first nine to twelve weeks, your baby should be swaddled for all sleeps and when unsettled or colicky. It is very important to swaddle your baby with his hands near to his face so he can suck on them to self-soothe. Swaddling with the hands by the sides is not a good option as your baby will not be able to self-soothe or to regulate his temperature. ALWAYS swaddle with a pure cotton stretchy blanket as polyester carries the risk of overheating young babies.
Either fold a rectangular blanket into a triangle or use a specially shaped swaddling blanket, in the shape of a triangle or heart.
- Lie your baby with the neck on the long side of the triangle.
- Fold up the lower tip of the swaddling blanket.
- Wrap one corner of the triangle across your baby, securing his hand near his face so that he can self-calm by sucking his hand if he needs to.
- Wrap the other arm in with the other corner of the triangle.
Photograph by Charl Smith from Agape Studio
The post How To Soothe A Colic Baby appeared first on Parent Pal.
