Whilst chatting with some lovely new parents about their 11 week old baby, Alfred, he started to get more and more unsettle. He wasn’t hungry as he’d just finished his feed and didn’t seem tired as he’d recently woken from a nap in his pram. He looked uncomfortable and possibly a bit windy so I asked if I could hold him for a moment.
I showed them that by resting his head in the crook of their elbow and his body along their arm they could feel that his tummy felt tight after his feed, which was possibly the cause of his unhappiness. As he lay in this position, his tummy gradually started to relax, as did his legs, and he dozed off for a while.
In this hold, it is easy to gently sway with your baby, allowing them to relax and let you know what’s bothering you. It’s a great hold to use when you feel the need to pop in a dummy or start pacing as it allows you to connect with your baby and tune into them, making it easier to figure out what is bothering them.
Neil and Alfred mastering The Ultimate Baby Hold
You won’t always get it right first time and you may need to work your way through the “Baby Needs Check List”:
Hunger or thirst
Wind
Too hot or cold
Pain
Tiredness
Boredom
If you can figure out what your baby is trying to tell you when they are unsettled, you will find that you use a dummy less and less and you will feel more confident in your parenting as you get to know them better through using their cries as communication.