5 TIPS ON LULLING YOUR NEWBORN TO SLEEP
Harvey Karp is an American pediatrician, who has introduced a theory, where he describes that the newborn baby’s first three months are like the fourth trimester.
According to Karp, babies are born three months before they are ready for the world. The nervous system of a newborn baby is more immature compared to other mammals. For example, a foal can walk immediately after the birth, but it takes several months for a baby to learn how to walk.
Karp states that the best way to get the newborn soothe and fall asleep is by creating conditions similar to the uterus.
Karp’s keywords are swaddling, stomach or side position, shush and white noise, swing and suck.
Swaddling
Newborn babies don’t like to sleep on their back, because it causes a sense of insecurity for them. Swaddling helps newborn babies to sleep better and understand when it’s time to sleep. When the babies are swaddled, they can’t startle themselves to awake with their Moro reflex.
• Karp reminds that the uterus is very tight, which increases a feeling of security
• Karp recommends swaddling whenever your newborn baby sleeps
• Swaddling can be used until the baby is 4-5 months old. In order that the swaddling is safe and efficient, it is important that you know how to swaddle a baby in the right way
Carrying the newborn baby in the side or stomach position
It is good to soothe crying swaddled newborn babies by carrying them on side or stomach position. This will increase the baby’s a feeling of security. When the babies fall asleep, put them always to sleep on their back.
”Shush” and white noise
The sound level in the womb, for example the mom’s circulatory, is louder than a vacuum cleaner. A newborn doesn’t need silence.
On the contrary, being in a silent room is a strange thing for a newborn baby. “Shush” will soothe and comfort your fussy baby. It also makes it easier for a newborn baby to fall and stay asleep.
While carrying your swaddled newborn baby in the side or tummy position, whisper in his/her ear loudly “shhh”. The “shush” must be as loud as your baby’s cry. When your baby calms down, lower the shushing sound simultaneously.
In addition to this, Karp recommends playing white noise when your newborn baby is sleeping. Karp points out that it’s not indifferent to what kind of white noise you use. There are two kinds of white noises: low and high frequency.
High frequency sounds such as pagers, alarms and sirens are good at getting babies’ attention. Whereas low frequency sounds, such as cars’, trains’, and planes’ rumble, are the most smoothing voices there are. They can even lull your newborn baby to sleep. The sound in the womb is low, because the baby is surrounded by water and the water filters the high frequency voices. Low frequency voice such as pitter-patter on the roof, will courage the baby to fall asleep, when the in-question sound is used whenever the baby sleeps until the age of one year.
While soothing your fussy newborn baby, the white noise should be as loud as the cry is and while the baby is sleeping it should be as loud as the shower would be.
Swing
Babies are used to movement in the womb.
Calm and small back and forth motion will soothe your newborn baby. According to Karp the stable jiggling is the best for crying babies.
Suck
Sucking thumb or pacifier will calm and soothe newborn babies, because they often suck their thumbs in the womb.
In addition to the other tips mentioned above, give your newborn baby a pacifier to suck if he/she misses it. According to Karp pacifiers will reduce the risks of SIDS, so the baby can also have the pacifier in bed.
Karp highlights that the tips he describes, will only work if they are done completely right. The tips are effective for 98 percent of newborn babies when they are performed correctly and specially during the first four months after the birth.
