Gear: Soothing

Happiest baby on this block!

This is a pretty short list, but it's a very important one! Being able to sooth your baby's crying and help your baby to sleep is good for the whole family. Elsie has a very easy disposition, and always has, so we did not need the entire bag of tricks, but we were SO happy to have a few of these tools on hand and a few of these tricks up our sleeves. If your baby has colic, then you're probably going to want the entire list.

Soothing is all about baby-hypnosis. You can soothe by nursing, but sometimes it's nice to be able to soothe your child without having her attached to your nipple. (Coming from someone with nipple eczema, that's an understatement.) To soothe off-breast, you want to exploit your baby's relaxation reflexes, and to do that, you're effectively going to replicate the sensation of being in the womb. Your baby wants to be wrapped up so tight she can't move, warm and cozy, jostled by mommy-like motions, and set at ease by reliable, consistent, and familiar sound.

What we used:

• The Happiest Baby on The Block -- Dr. Karp's book or dvd. Used or borrowed is absolutely fine. If you've already got a baby, just do the dvd because you don't have time to read! You need results now! If you've got time, the book is cheaper and contains good information. This is where Hub and I learned of the importance of swaddling, how to jiggle your baby calm, and how to effectively "shhhhh" the tears away. It's an incredible resource, and I won't let any of my friends make it to their birth without it. These tricks work.
• 2 Swaddle Me velcro swaddles, size small -- These are a lifesaver! Sooooo great! No amount of wiggling gets the baby out of these little swaddles, and that might just buy you an extra hour or two of sleep at a time. Get the appropriate weight for the season, and only buy for 0-3 months of age, because your baby may come to hate swaddling after that. Other brands make swaddles, too. I haven't tried them all, but these were easy to use.
  
• 4 flannel swaddles -- Usually come 4 to a pack in cute prints
  
• 4 muslin swaddles -- Aden and Anais makes really nice ones, but they're very expensive, so I make my own out of bubble gauze. Just cut it and zig-zag the edges. It takes 5 minutes, even if you have to thread your sewing machine.
  
• 4 Pacifiers -- I used to think that I didn't want Elsie to have a pacifier, but it was a very effective soothing device. We took it away at 5 mo, before she could get emotionally attached to it. It was a smooth and painless transition. Janice (lactation consultant) recommends the soothie, because "it is round, and your nipple is round, and we want your nipple to stay round." The drawback is that it falls out of the baby's mouth before she learns how to suck strongly, but you can train her by playing tug-of-war with it. It'll only take a couple of days and she will learn. Be aware that there are "newborn" and "infant" varieties, and the "newborn" kind is much softer than the older child type.
  
• Hot water bottle -- To pre-warm the crib or basket. Elsie used to start and get upset when we put her in a cold crib. Solution? Put her in a warm crib! You could use an electric blanket instead, but the hot water bottle seemed safer to me. I'm afraid I would somehow start a fire with an electric blanket (which is probably paranoid).
• A Baby Sling/Wrap -- To be honest, I didn't use this method all that much because of my engorgement, but many babies sleep very soundly when wrapped up tightly against a loving adult. It's like a swaddle and a rocker all in one.
  

What we didn't use, but your baby might like:

• White Noise Source -- I think a white noise cd is probably your best bet, but they make all sorts of little teddy bears or sound makers, or you could just use a fan (though it is energy-intensive). Babies fall asleep to the sweet sounds of vacuum cleaners, hair dryers, and loud engines. Seriously.
  
• Swing -- Moms and dads of colic babies swear by these things. They're HUGE, so be prepared for that, but if constant bouncing/swinging is what your baby needs, it's probably worth giving up the middle of your living room. Used is fine. Just make sure it's modern enough that you don't have to crank it. You want it to go forever without you having to lift a finger. Some of the modern ones rock side-to-side, and apparently that's good for soothing some babies.
  
• Rocking chair
  

What we didn't use for soothing:

• A bouncy seat -- we did use our bouncy seat, but not for soothing. The vibration didn't do anything for her, only big bounces powered by hand or foot, which gets tiring.
  
• Lullabies -- Singing to your baby is awesome, and very important as a bonding and play experience, but don't bother with a whole bunch of lullaby tapes for sleep or crying, because making a big, loud "SHHHHHH" is more effective at soothing a newborn.
• Side-sleeper, pillows, props -- Though it might help a baby sleep better, our pedi forbade it. Back is best as far as SIDS goes. An empty crib is fine.
• The Car -- Though driving did put Elsie to sleep, we really didn't need to go out for drives around the block because our in-house methods worked just fine.
  
• Whiskey -- though great-grandmothers everywhere swear a little on the gums goes a long way.