If you have a baby and they are fussing, your check list should always be: Check the diaper, check if they are hungry, check if they are tired, check if they are bored. Address any issues found.
If you've checked all that, come up empty and baby is still fussy, baby may be reacting negatively to something they ate or you may be making it hard for them to get to sleep, leaving them frustrated.
If you are breastfeeding, what YOU eat impacts the taste of the breast milk and can also cause an upset stomach for the baby. Avoid obvious foods, like onions and spicy foods, but you may also need to avoid things that are less obvious, like peanut butter.
The trick to getting a baby to sleep is make sure they are fed, make sure they are physically tired and make sure they are mentally tired. Sometimes just walking them around the house and opening closets and such will be enough mental stimulation to make them happily conk out.
Never, ever spend more than fifteen minutes trying to rock a baby to sleep. If they aren't asleep in fifteen minutes, they have an issue that needs to be addressed. They may not feel well. They may be hungry. They may be bored. Etc.
If you are trying to rock baby to sleep and there are no other issues, the key to doing this successfully is for YOU to be calm. You want your breathing and heart rate nice and steady, you want to be in a zen-like state and you want to do whatever you can to make them feel secure in your arms and like you absolutely have got this, they are SAFE.
I'm a big woman. I used to lift weights. I've put to sleep the babies of strangers and they were astonished. I have nice comfy upper arms making baby go "Yes, this grown up person is NOT dropping me! I am SAFE!"
Swaddling the baby can help because it recreates that womb-like feel. Sitting down in a rocking chair can help if you aren't a big gal yourself. It can help you position yourself as a safe haven for the baby and assure the baby you securely have them and will not drop them or something.
If you are breastfeeding and baby is overly hungry, feed YOURSELF better. You may need more calcium, more fats, more protein and more hydration.
Good quality ice cream can be a good thing. I also used to make enriched cereal with cream of wheat, whole milk, wheat germ, tofu and frozen berries (strawberry or blueberry) added at the end for flavor without making it too sugary.
If that tastes good to you, you NEED all that extra calcium and protein. If you can't choke it down, you probably aren't that needy and can go with less agressive means to up your nutrition so you can make milk for baby.
Babies are LITTLE. They get hungry FREQUENTLY. Don't go "I JUST fed the kid." They also can mess themselves frequently, so don't assume "I JUST changed the diaper. I don't need to CHECK."
If baby is fussing, go through your check list AGAIN even though you JUST did all this stuff thirty minutes ago: Check the diaper, see if baby is hungry, see if baby is BORED, see if baby needs a nap.
When baby sleeps, TAKE A NAP. Especially if you are a single parent or, like me, your other half is gone a LOT and you are EFFECTIVELY a single parent.
If you've checked all that, come up empty and baby is still fussy, baby may be reacting negatively to something they ate or you may be making it hard for them to get to sleep, leaving them frustrated.
If you are breastfeeding, what YOU eat impacts the taste of the breast milk and can also cause an upset stomach for the baby. Avoid obvious foods, like onions and spicy foods, but you may also need to avoid things that are less obvious, like peanut butter.
The trick to getting a baby to sleep is make sure they are fed, make sure they are physically tired and make sure they are mentally tired. Sometimes just walking them around the house and opening closets and such will be enough mental stimulation to make them happily conk out.
Never, ever spend more than fifteen minutes trying to rock a baby to sleep. If they aren't asleep in fifteen minutes, they have an issue that needs to be addressed. They may not feel well. They may be hungry. They may be bored. Etc.
If you are trying to rock baby to sleep and there are no other issues, the key to doing this successfully is for YOU to be calm. You want your breathing and heart rate nice and steady, you want to be in a zen-like state and you want to do whatever you can to make them feel secure in your arms and like you absolutely have got this, they are SAFE.
I'm a big woman. I used to lift weights. I've put to sleep the babies of strangers and they were astonished. I have nice comfy upper arms making baby go "Yes, this grown up person is NOT dropping me! I am SAFE!"
Swaddling the baby can help because it recreates that womb-like feel. Sitting down in a rocking chair can help if you aren't a big gal yourself. It can help you position yourself as a safe haven for the baby and assure the baby you securely have them and will not drop them or something.
If you are breastfeeding and baby is overly hungry, feed YOURSELF better. You may need more calcium, more fats, more protein and more hydration.
Good quality ice cream can be a good thing. I also used to make enriched cereal with cream of wheat, whole milk, wheat germ, tofu and frozen berries (strawberry or blueberry) added at the end for flavor without making it too sugary.
If that tastes good to you, you NEED all that extra calcium and protein. If you can't choke it down, you probably aren't that needy and can go with less agressive means to up your nutrition so you can make milk for baby.
Babies are LITTLE. They get hungry FREQUENTLY. Don't go "I JUST fed the kid." They also can mess themselves frequently, so don't assume "I JUST changed the diaper. I don't need to CHECK."
If baby is fussing, go through your check list AGAIN even though you JUST did all this stuff thirty minutes ago: Check the diaper, see if baby is hungry, see if baby is BORED, see if baby needs a nap.
When baby sleeps, TAKE A NAP. Especially if you are a single parent or, like me, your other half is gone a LOT and you are EFFECTIVELY a single parent.