This is how you are guaranteed to put your crying baby to sleep

One lets his baby cry for a few minutes, the other picks it up after the first beep. But what’s the best way to soothe your whining blood? Scientists at Japan’s RIKEN Center for Brain Science agree: crying isn’t the answer.

This is shown by research among 21 babies.

Heartbeat

From walking and sitting to a pat on the head in bed, the babies (ranging between two weeks and seven months old) were soothed by their mother in various ways as soon as they started crying. Next, the scientists looked at how the babies reacted. Did they stay awake or did they fall asleep? They also recorded their heart rate with an electrocardiogram (ECG).

Five minutes

The results were striking: all babies calmed down after their mother walked around with them for five minutes – carrying them or in the pram. If mothers stayed put, the babies’ heart rates actually went up and they continued to cry. After the five-minute round, the mothers were able to sit down and the baby remained calm. They then put their baby to bed after three minutes. Only one in five babies then started crying again. “18 percent of the babies studied even slept within one minute after the five minutes had elapsed,” Kumi Kuroda told IPS. Scientias.nl. “This suggests that wearing facilitates sleep, even during the day, when babies are normally awake.”

Small side note

Good. This all sounds fantastic, of course, but we all know: not every child is the same. Age, development, temperament, sensitivity to stimuli, those points also play an important role. A small remark is therefore in order.

You can read more about the research here

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