How To Comfort My Crying Baby?

It is a very common thing that daddy and mommy will find their little baby crying most of the time. Hunger, wet diapers, thirsty, tummy ache, and lots more that can cause discomfort to our little baby causing him/her to cry.

Many of us face this when we are dealing with, especially, newborn baby. And we (i mean daddy n mommy) will be running like "a headless chicken" trying to figure out what causes and how to soothe our crying baby. But, have we done something wrong here! Instead of trying to understand why your baby is crying, most of us jumped straight to the "mission" trying to soothe him/her.

It is distressing to see our little baby crying and not knowing what to do to comfort him/her, especially when we are first-time-parents. And when the crying doesn't stop, it will be like we are in the verge of breaking into insanity trying all "101 ways" to soothe our baby.

So the first thing that we need to do now (before we embark on the "mission") is to understand Why Do Babies Cry?

We should understand that our baby cries because he/she is trying to communicate with us. There are so many reasons why our baby cries. Our baby could be crying because of anxiety or there is an emotional need for affection. Remember! It is impossible to spoil a newborn with attention, so don't worry by picking him/her up immediately or you are cuddling him/her too much.

So first thing you do is to try offering your baby a feed. Check whether his/her nappy needs a change. Next you might want to rock, pat or talk to your baby to see whether he/she is comfortable. And if these seem to be useless, then you might want to check if your baby is too cold or hot (checking the room temperature for the room to be around 20-23*C(68-73*F) and baby's body to be 37*C(98.6*F)

There are many other ways in which you can make your baby comfortable and soothe him/her. Amongst others are these that I plucked from my search (u know lar, i also got a crying baby at home hehehe)

• Feeding your baby
  
• Burp him/her
  
• Wrap him/her snuggly(leaving her face uncovered)
  
• Talk soothingly to him/her
  
• Play music for him/her
  
• Change him/her position
  
• Change him/her diaper
  
• Check to see if he/she is too warm or cool
  
• Hold & cuddle him/her
  
• Put him/her down
  
• Put him/her to bed/sleep
  
• Offer him/her a toy (for babies three months and over)
  
• Take him/her outside
  
• Take him/her away from an overstimulating environment (for some babies, this can be lots of people or noise)
  
• Get comfortable holding him/her (some people like to hold a baby laying on her back along their thighs with her head at their knees, so they can make good eye contact)
  
• Put him/her down where you can stay close and still touch her
  
• Calm yourself and relax your breathing (remember, she can't cry forever)
  
• Think about how you might want people to respond when you are crying (do you like being jiggled, bounced or plugged up when you are crying?)
  
• Stay close
  
• Make eye contact
  
• Use your voice to let him/her know you are present and that you will stay with him/her while he/she cries

Most importantly stay calm and pay a lot of attention to your baby. When we focus on listening, rather than on simply stopping the crying, our babies have the experience of someone's full and responsive attention. Rather than having someone who is running through a list of "tricks" aimed at making him/her quiet, he/she has the experience of someone who wants to truly help him/her feel better.

But when these don't help and your baby's crying continues despite you doing your best to comfort him/her. Then start worrying!! ( Nyaah... just kidding yea... )