Parents can sometimes find themselves helpless when faced with the crying of a baby who does not want to sleep. To help them, Italian and Japanese scientists have discovered an unstoppable strategy to make it easier for toddlers to fall asleep.
- A healthy baby usually cries two to three hours a day. Different factors can be responsible for crying: hunger, a wet diaper, fatigue or even the desire for a hug.
- You can calm a newborn by picking him up, playing soft music, gently rubbing his tummy, or taking him for a walk.
Read a story, sing a nursery rhyme, go around the neighborhood in a pushchair… Every parent tries to find a miracle method that can put their baby to sleep quickly while avoiding crying. Nearly 20-30% of infants cry excessively and experience sleep difficulties with no apparent cause, d‘after researchers from the Riken Center for Brain Sciences (Japan) and the University of Trento (Italy).
Synchronization of the heartbeat when carrying
In a recent study published in the journal Current BiologyItalian and Japanese scientists looked at different techniques for putting a crying child to sleep. “This is an important issue, especially for inexperienced parents, and can lead to parenting stress and to a lesser extent child abuse”underlined Kumi Kuroda, the main author of the works.
For the purposes of the research, 21 babies aged 0 to 7 months were recruited with their mothers. The scientists used cameras and heart rate monitors to observe the infants’ reactions. Four methods have been tested by mothers to calm the crying of newborns: carry the child while walking, carry him sitting, push him in a moving stroller or a rocking cradle, and put him in a motionless bed.
According to their findings, 5 out of 11 newborn babies fell asleep after 5 minutes of carrying while walking. When moving, babies synchronize their heartbeat to that of the parent or person carrying them. This movement would have a soothing effect from the first 30 seconds of portage.
Rocking your baby while walking and in a sitting position
However, a problem arose during the study: some sleeping babies woke up within 20 seconds after being laid in a crib (9 out of 26). In particular, scientists have found that an infant’s heart rate increases the moment he detaches himself from his mother to be laid in bed.
But then what is the solution to keep your baby asleep even after putting him to bed? According to the researchers, the ideal regimen for soothing a crying child is to carry him for 5 minutes while walking, then rock him for 5 to 8 minutes while sitting. In the study, 9 out of 13 sleeping babies were carried by their mothers while walking before they sat down for a few minutes. This miracle combo could therefore help many parents save time on an infant falling asleep while calming his crying.
