White Noise and 10 other Soothing Sounds for Calming a Colicky Infant - Answering Service Resources

Home
>
Babies & Toddler
>
White Noise and 10 other Soothing Sounds for Calming a Colicky Infant

White Noise and 10 other Soothing Sounds for Calming a Colicky Infant

The crying ? oh, the crying. A colicky baby can really drive you to the edge. Failed attempts to soothe her crying may leave you wondering if you are cut out to be a parent after all. But, don't worry, you are. You just need to arm yourself with some tools to battle each colic-crying outburst.

But, first, let's define why your colic baby cries.

The most popular theory from scientists lately is an underdeveloped and immature nervous system. I know all women who have given birth can attest to the fact that a baby has a big head. Right?

Wrong. Actually, a baby's head isn't big enough to house a brain that is mature enough to have all the survival tools a human infant needs. Their brain is only the size of an apple. The birth canal cannot handle a bigger head (thank God). So, when a baby is born, the only inherent survival skills are sneezing, sucking, swallowing and?.CRYING!

Most babies (80%, that is) are capable of crying for a reason, and then calming themselves down. These are usually what I call "the good sleepers" or "easy babies". They are awake for awhile to learn and accept stimuli. Then they sleep to recover and awake to take in more stimuli.

Unfortunately, a colicky baby is usually NOT a "good sleeper" or an "easy baby". They are high-maintenance. Their nervous system is overloaded with all the sights and sounds of a new world. And by about dinner time, they've had it. The crying begins. Once they start crying, they lack the mechanism to calm themselves down. In my experience, most mothers with colicky infants tell the same story. Their baby fights going to sleep. They won't take a nap. They won't stay asleep once they do finally go to sleep. These poor babies never take the time to recover from all the stimuli they have taken in over the course of a day.

So this is where you, as a parent, step in. Reduce the environmental stimuli and recreate the feeling your baby had while in the womb.

Remember, in the womb, your baby was packed in tightly. It was dark. It was warm. And the prominent sound she heard was the "whoosh" of blood flowing through the placenta. This "whoosh" is a little louder than the noise of a vacuum cleaner running.

However, there are other items you might have around the house that can lull your over stimulated colic baby to sleep. Most babies can be soothed by rhythmic, monotonous, low-pitched, humming sound that repeats at 60-70 pulses per minute. Here are 10 such items for you to try:

1.A shower running
2.A fan
3.A running dishwasher
4.A running washing machine
5.A very loud, ticking clock
6.A bathroom fan turned on with the light off
7.A metronome set a 60 beats per minute
8.A radio tuned to static
9.A tv tuned to static
10.Smooth jazz or easy listening stations

While listening to these rhythmic sounds, it is best to lower the lights, and make your baby comfortable. Remember, we are trying to recreate the feeling of being in the womb.

Finally, it is true what you read. Baby colic does eventually come to an end. As your baby grows, and their brains increase in size, all of the circuits mature and they learn the survival tools necessary to cope. It only takes about three to six months. In the meantime, when you feel a crying outburst about to happen, turn off the lights?and turn on all your household appliances.

Just kidding!

Cherie L. Stirewalt is a colic baby survivor and shares her colic experiences on her website Colic-Baby-Bootcamp.com. The site offers a one-of-a-kind white noise download and white noise CD to help frustrated parents cope with their fussy baby fast!

Join the Free Colic Baby Bootcamp newsletter and receive more colic related tips and tricks at http://www.colic-baby-bootcamp.com/newslette r.html.

In The News:

Bring On The Books For A Brainy Baby
Scoop.co.nz (press release), New Zealand - Oct 9, 2008
According to Dr. Robert Titzer, babies and toddlers are among the best equipped when it comes to learning to read, with reading success possible from as ...

SPECIAL SOMERSET FEATURE: The right foods for weaning children
Yeovil Express, UK - 12 hours ago
Babies need a variety of foods from different food groups to ensure they get all the nutrients they need. Follow-on milks contain higher levels of iron and ...

Woolworths launches baby & toddler world
Supermarket Online, South Africa - Oct 8, 2008
... through our regular email newsletters, will provide useful information on areas from feeding plans and recipe ideas for babies and toddlers to advice on ...

March of Dimes focuses on aiding premature babies
Rockford Register Star, IL - Oct 10, 2008
Crusader Clinic is starting special prenatal classes with topics like home safety and infant/toddler cardiopulmonary resuscitation in November. ...

A toddler's taste of free will
Irish Times, Ireland - Oct 6, 2008
When babies are small infants, up to the age of at least 12 months and often longer, they believe themselves to be indivisible from their primary carer. ...

Examiner.com
Safety tips for parents of babies and toddlers to prevent child ...
Examiner.com - Oct 6, 2008
The Power of Parents guide covers safety tips from for four key child development stages: infant to toddler, ages 4-6, ages 7-11 and ages 12-17. ...

Examiner.com
Which presidential candidate would you let hold your baby?
Examiner.com - Oct 8, 2008
by Darby Herrington, Baby and Toddler Examiner With all of the recent mud-slinging in the presidential race, it is no surprise that each candidate seizes ...

Wakefield toddler nearly died seven times
Yorkshire Evening Post, UK - Oct 10, 2008
... table SEVEN times after he was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot, a condition comprising four heart abnormalities which affects one in 1000 babies. ...

Carrick Library has programs for parents and babies
South Pittsburgh Reporter, PA - Oct 7, 2008
The time has come for Toddler Time where parents and their toddlers can sing, shake, wiggle and dance together while learning through songs and activities. ...

Rich, little babies
New Straits Times, Malaysia - Oct 5, 2008
And with this growing baby focus, the industry selling products for infants and toddlers in America is now worth a whopping US$7 billion (RM24.15 billion). ...

babies toddler - Google News

Answering Service ResourceAnswering Service Resource