Tips for Calming a Fussy Baby in Public
You decide to take the baby out to dinner and all is going well… until they start to become fussy and just won’t stop. You’re half way through your meal and don’t want to leave, but people are staring and it’s starting to cause a scene. Don’t fear! There are plenty of ways to calm your baby down without having to leave the restaurant! Here are six tips for calming a fussy baby in public:
1. Stay calm
The best thing you can do when your baby is crying is to stay calm. If you start getting anxious, your baby will be able to feel that tension and won’t be calming down any time soon. If you start speaking harshly or arguing with your spouse, your baby’s anger/fear/irritation will just get worse. Remain calm and your baby will follow.
2. Sway them
A good way to calm your fussy baby down is to rock them back and forth. Gentle movements like rocking will be calming for your baby and reminds them of being in the womb. Pull them out of their highchair or baby carrier and hold them in your arms for a few minutes. Sometimes just being close is enough to soothe.
3. Let dad try
If your baby is not calming down and you are trying very hard to get them to, hand them off to dad. For some reason babies calm down quicker when handed off to dad. We don’t know whether it’s his strong hold or because he swaddles tighter, but we’re not going to question what works!
4. Check their diaper
This may be common sense, but if your baby won’t quit being fussy, it could be their diaper. Go to the bathroom and make sure that their diaper is clean and dry. Just because you changed it ten minutes ago doesn’t mean it’s still dry. There’s a good chance it’s not!
5. Offer a binky
For some babies, a pacifier can be very soothing. Make sure you carry one around with you at all times so you have it when it is needed. Some parents prefer not to offer a pacifier frequently (which is fine, there are arguments for and against), but it is a useful tool when you need silence immediately. Some call it the “mute button.”
6. Feed them
We know that you are trying to enjoy the meal you’re about to pay for, but did baby eat? Chances are that if they are fussy for an extended period of time, it’s because they are hungry. Take a break from your meal to give your baby a bottle. They will be a much more enjoyable dinner date now that they have been fed.
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Written by Stephanie Parker from Sleepingbaby.com, inventors of the Zipadee-Zip
The motto for Sleeping Baby, makers of the Zipadee-Zip, is: "Inspiring Dreams One Night at A time," and that, in a nutshell, is how it all started…with one little dream that has since become the Parker family's reality. When Brett and Stephanie Parker's daughter, Charlotte, was born, the feeling that welled up inside of them was indescribable; they never realized until first looking into those baby blues of hers that they were even capable of that kind of love.
When it was time to transition baby from swaddling, the Parkers tried every sleep sack on the market and every swaddle weaning trick they could find for nearly two weeks and nothing worked to get baby Charlotte to fall and stay asleep.
Stephanie became determined to restore sleep and sanity to their household and set out to find a solution that would soothe Charlotte's startle reflex and provide her the cozy womb-like environment she loved so much but still give her the freedom to roll over and wiggle around in her crib safely. Out of sheer desperation and exhaustion, the Zipadee-Zip was born. The first Zipadee-Zip(R) Stephanie put together on her little sewing machine worked like magic!
To date tens of thousands of Zipadee-Zips have been sold and all from word-of-mouth marketing. It is so rewarding for the Parkers to see other parents and babies getting the sleep they both need and deserve!
For more information, visit sleepingbaby.com.
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