The Crying Baby

Nothing is more upsetting to parents than a crying baby. After only a few hours after his birthing experience your baby is set to go home with you. This in and of itself is a daunting adventure! Just think about what has just happened in those first few hours of your newborn's life not to mention what you as parents have just gone through. And now you are all getting into a car and going home together. YIKES!!!

For the first few days the baby will undoubtedly sleep, eat, cry and need to be changed. This will take up most of your time and that of your significant other. It is just amazing how a little package can change the pulse of a household.

One of the things that a baby does to communicate with you is cry. It is your job to figure out his cry and what it means. Is he hungry, wet, gassy or is something else bothering him. And then it is your job to try and soothe your baby...many times easier said than done!!!

Harvey Karp, MD and pediatrician writes that "one out of every five babies has repeated bouts of terrible fussiness ---for no apparent reason." The question is will your baby be one of these "fussy" little ones? One thing is for sure that for as many well meaning friends and relatives you have that will be the number of well meaning solutions you will get for dealing with this fussiness. Many parents turn to their pediatrician for advice. Most parents will be sent home from their pediatrician with no more answers than they came into the doctors office with. This is disconcerting...for many the next stop is the baby book advice aisle at the nearest bookstore or their computer. There is a wealth of information in books and on the internet but where does a parent with a "fussy" baby begin.

I particularly like Dr. Harvey Karp's suggestions and recommendations which he bases on his research about how our ancient ancestors intuitively understood how to calm a crying baby when all else fails.
He uses five different characteristics of the in utero environment called the "5 S's" They have to be performed exactly right for them to be effective if not they will not succeed in calming the fussy baby.
He refers to the "calming reflex" and the "Cuddle Cure" This calming reflex is elicited by layering the "5 S's" on top of one another.

Dr. Karp also refers to the "fourth trimester" of pregnancy which is the newborn period. Newborns are neurologically immature when they are born. He says that by mimicking the conditions that they experienced in the uterus it is possible to elicit "the calming reflex" and thus help babies to stop crying and settle down which is the first step towards assisting them in learning the ability to self soothe. This calming reflex is believed to be a neurological response triggered by the "5 S's".

I will be discussing more about the "5 S's" in later blogs. So stay tuned!