Settling and Soothing techniques for your newborn baby

These tips help to replicate the environment that your bubba was in for the last 9 months - inside your womb! Your womb is warm, dark, very tight, has movement, and muffled noises. Your baby has also heard your voice and heart beat and knows it very, very well.

Here are some techniques that can be implemented from birth, that will help settle and soothe your newborn baby:

SWADDLE YOUR BABY IN NICE AND TIGHT

Ask your midwife for some tips on how to swaddle bubba. Tips can include a super tight swaddle with hands tucked in but nice and close to the face. This helps baby feel secure and safe and is also the safest way for baby to sleep for the first few months of life. After all, on the inside of your womb, your baby didn’t have much room to wriggle around - this is why they like this. Make sure you leave the swaddle loose around bubs legs, being careful of their delicate hip joints.

BABY MASSAGE

Make sure the room is warm, your baby is calm and you are using an all natural, baby massage oil, like Lovekins Baby Massage Oil. For 10-30 minutes, spend time massaging each part of your baby’s body. Use firm strokes or circular motions, so that it is not tickly for your little one. Use a calm voice, have a peaceful environment and enjoy this process with your baby. Ensure that your baby is not in any type of discomfort when performing the massage.

GIVING BUB A BATH

Water babies! Your baby has spent the last nine months swimming inside of you. A bath can replicate this concept. Make sure the bath is nice and warm and there are no windows or doors open (to keep it nice & warm). Have everything prepared before you begin, this should include; Lovekins Baby Body and Hair Wash nappy, pyjamas, two towels, baby wipes, Lovekins Baby Body Moisturiser & anything else you may need. This is a great settling technique and can be a calming experience for the whole family. Lovekins Baby Body and Hair Wash contains Australian Blue Cypress and Lavender which relaxes the senses, perfect for calming and soothing baby at the end of the day.

Make sure the room is dark

Babies often have a sleep schedule, (if at all) that is opposite to ours- awake at night and sleeping in the day. No matter what time it is, try and keep the environment as dark as possible with blackout curtains in their room. Once baby is awake, bring them out into the daylight.

White noise machine

By having constant muffled noises from something called a ‘white noise machine’ your baby will likely feel at peace. These are the types of noises they have heard for 9 months, making the sounds they make familiar to them. White noise machines also block out other noise around the house, bonus!

Skin to skin time

Swaddling is one thing Mama, but don’t forget the power of skin to skin contact. Having your baby just in their nappy, against your bare chest will help calm baby and regulate things like their heart rate, breath rate and temperature. Having baby so close allows them to hear your heartbeat and smell you, this calms them.

Talk to your baby

Whispering and saying things like ‘shhh’ will help your baby relax. As always, these sounds are familiar to your baby and they feel soothed and safe, knowing you are around. Think about singing soft lullabies to your baby, it might help calm them.

Positioning your baby for sleep time

In the first few months of life, the safest and best way to sleep your baby is in a tight swaddle on their back. They feel secure and this helps to reduce SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).

Written by midwife Aliza from Bumpnbub