Wahhh! Wahhh! Wahhh! It’s 2:30 in the morning, why? Or maybe he was literally just sitting there smiling up at you and starts screaming for what seems like no reason. Michael will go from zero to one hundred real quick. Like, within a second. So how have we found ourselves coping with these outrageous outbursts and colicky moments? Wine. A TON of wine. Just kidding, but it does help. There are a ton of different things you can do (safely) to calm down a fussy baby..well hopefully calm him. These are what we have found have been HUGE game changers with Michael.
When we were registering for all the things in the world one of the associates gave us a good tip, Register for more than one thing to help soothe your baby because what works for one baby may not work for another. No matter how expensive or inexpensive. Examples being: a rocker, a bouncer, a swing, a Mammaroo, etc. We got all the above from our registries and have tried almost all of them!
- The Mammaroo worked great the first week like magic and then Michael hated it! We were so bummed because it isn’t a cheap item at all and weren’t sure what to do after that. Fortunately my parents were there and suggested the obvious to us newbie parents, try something else. Later on when he was about a month or 2 months old he loved his Mammaroo again and it is his hangout chair now.
- So we busted out the bouncer and it was as if it had been sent from the gods, HUGE sigh of relief! The one we registered for was the Fisher Price Deluxe Twinkle Twinkle Bouncer . There isn’t anything too special about this bouncer honestly. It bounces, it vibrates and it has dangly things for Michael to gaze upon so it is a win for me. He loves the motion and the vibrations will put him right to sleep, cha-ching! He is one that has to be
forced to nap. Michael loves to be up and exploring ALL the time, which is fantastic! For my adulting productivity it isn’t however. So 60% of my working days are spent in my new floor office which is on the coffee table next to his bouncer. Bouncing with my foot, binky with one hand and typing with the other. Talk about multitasking (Insert wine into coffee mug). - The rocker for the nighttime was AMAZING repeat AMAZING. Michael has had reflux pretty bad since the beginning and not being able to have him sleep on his back has been a rough time. Now
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as a new parent you will find yourself doing whatever it takes to get them to safely sleep at night!
The rocker was an instant success for us. He seemed to love it and it was recommended by our lactation consultant for his reflux. We didn’t know what it was until she recommended it so it wasn’t on our registry, fortunately the same day one of Kevin’s friends handed us his, WINNING! It is wonderful for newborns because you don’t have to worry about them possibly falling out or off, they sink into it as if they are in the womb so it is also comforting to them, and you can swaddle them into it as well. If we had registered for one it would’ve been the Fisher Price Hands Free Rocker. At night time, say 3:45 am Michael is half awake and just needs a little rock to get back to sleep, a self-rocker would be AMAZING!
I’d say one of the funniest and most helpful things we have discovered (a baby is all trial and error) is his “Sing to Michael” playlist. Finding music that he enjoys was one of the funniest things. He could be screaming at the top of his lungs uncontrollably and as SOON as we turn the magical song on, he stops. It is so funny! One hundred to zero real quick. Our magical song you ask, Over The Rainbow. You remember that song, don’t you? “somewhere over the rainbow, way up high…”. Finding music Michael enjoys has been one of the best discoveries yet. Our little man loves music! I listened to mostly country, christian, and oldies during my end of pregnancy and have seen him respond to these genres better than others. So if you are in desperation try out some different songs and see how your baby responds!
Now as you are discovering songs your baby loves also find a room your baby seems to enjoy being in more than others. Randomly I was walking through our house, Michael was being fussy and I walked through the bathroom to grab something quickly and he calmed down, instantly. Whaaa?? Did that just happen? It did. The next time he was fussy I repeated a walk to the bathroom and BAMM silence, even a smile. Yaaass!! Do a little combo action in the bathroom with his magic song and I may just post up in there all day. Just kidding but go check out different rooms in your house probably one with less airflow like a bathroom or closet and see how they respond!
The 5 S’s. These are extremely helpful for most newborns. Usually at least one will work. What are they might you ask, well let me tell you. You can get an informative video here that demonstrates how to perform each of these.
- Swaddling- swaddling replicates the tightness of being in the womb. and helps them from the startle reflex or Moro Reflex. What this looks like is random jerks or spastic limb flailing. It is caused when the baby receives excess or sudden information from his senses. Personally when we swaddled Michael he ALWAYS maneuvered his little arms out no matter how snug we made it. That is o.k. mamma if they do. It may have woken him up a few times but ended up benefiting us because he also taught himself to self sooth during the night.
- Side or Stomach Position- Babies enjoy being on their side. When the side S is activated you will see you baby mellow down quickly. Weird I know but it works.
- Shushing- Babies go from the womb which is extremely loud all the time. They are hearing your heart, your insides going similar to a vacuum cleaner or loud fan. So shushing as loud as your baby is crying will help calm them down.
- Swinging- Inside your womb the baby is bouncing around as much as you are! Think about how much he is swaying around when you are going down a set of stairs. Swinging helps re-enact this motion from your womb soothing them and again calming them down. A rocking chair helps with this greatly which is why they recommend this on your registry!
- Sucking- This one always worked the best with Michael, and probably with a bunch of babies. He would be losing his mind and as soon as a binky went in his mouth, we could think straight again. At first I didn’t want him to use a pacifier, at all, then very very quickly realized that self soothing would drive me insane and the binky won. Our favorite binkys are Avent Soothies.
Lastly of course you can try taking them for a ride around the block in your car or stroller. We love our Chicco Travel System Stroller. It is great for almost all occasions and not too bulky. Personally, maybe I’m just lazy or don’t want to get out of my mom bum clothes to go in public, but this is my last resort. Motion is known to calm babies and soothe them to sleep. For Michael it works almost every time. Take him for a walk around our area for 15 minutes and BAMM he is out! Then you have the struggle of taking them out of the car seat or to leave them in the car seat but knowing it isn’t good to leave them in there for too long. Decisions decisions. Screw that! Like I said this is my last resort because it is almost more of a hassle to get him in a car seat or out of one than it would be to try one of the above remedies, and putting on publicly appropriate clothes is just..whoah.
These are all the things we have discovered in our parenting journey so far to be extremely helpful for almost any case. The song though, is seriously MAGIC! I am just praying he doesn’t get bored with it and we have to find a new go-to to song to calm him down (fingers crossed). See what works with your little bundle of crying joy and share this with your mommy friends who are having fussy baby probs! As always beautiful, cheers!