This Is How to Put a Crying Baby to Sleep, Study Says

Parents will try anything to get a baby to sleep. If you pay attention, you’ll see them all around the neighborhood, running around outside in the rain with a covered stroller, pacing up and down the hallway, going on a midnight ride, and bouncing the baby up and down the hallway.

But a recent study says there may be an easier formula to calm a crying baby, possibly to sleep. The secret lies in “transporting” rather than standing still, according to the study published in the journal Current Biology said. The potentially helpful strategy could work for 20-30 percent of parents who the researchers say have a child who cries excessively and has trouble sleeping for no apparent reason.

Participants were monitored with EKG machines and video cameras to see how the child responded to various behaviors and what helped them stop crying and calm down. They found that the perfect combination that was most helpful was to first carry the child for five minutes and then sit with them for eight minutes. This may not be the typical pattern for parents who sit in a seesaw to rock their child to sleep, or for others who let their child romp around alone in the crib.

The dilemma of what to do with a baby or young toddler who cries before bed is a long-standing controversy between parents who believe in the traditional “crying out” method of leaving the baby in a secure cot to help to calm down, and others believe in rocking and comforting the child until he is almost or completely asleep. Some parents also fall somewhere in the middle, frequently checking up on a crying child but leaving them to sort it out, and others picking up the baby before trying again. A mix of personal philosophies, each baby’s patterns and needs, and recommendations from your pediatrician all play into the decision.

The need for soothing physical contact

“Being supported, whether walking, rocking, or just sitting, is sensory feeding and helps lower a baby’s cortisol levels and can help them feel calm and secure,” says Michelle Smith, a registered sleep specialist and newborn care educator. “Movements like rocking or rocking are known to aid sleep not only in babies but even in adults… After 6 months, it’s important for your baby to learn to fall asleep without this extra support Not means you can’t cuddle her until you’ve put her in hers crib.” She adds that the moment each baby wants to be rocked is different, as each child has specific needs that may even change as they develop.”

Her recommendation of 6 months as the earliest time to put a baby to sleep is a common recommendation from paediatricians, although their advice may vary slightly.

That American Academy of Pediatrics says you don’t have to “rush in” to soothe a crying baby, but give him a few minutes to soothe himself from four months. Traditional methods of “crying out,” where the baby is left in the crib until the next day despite their protestations, are still tried by some parents, and others find it too harsh or mean. Instead, some parents use “sleep training‘, including strategies like that Ferber method, in which the baby is controlled at increasing intervals but not picked up when comforted. Whichever method you choose, you’ll no doubt be swaying, pacing, or swaying, and the specific numbers from the study can give first-time parents in particular a little guidance on where to start.

Smith says there is an “old standard” that uses the 4-month or 14-pound measure as the time to start sleep training, but that this is based on when you start bottle weaning overnight or breast milk can begin. “But many babies still need 1-2 meals a night and are not developmentally prepared to self-soothe. It’s important to wait until your baby is closer to 6 months before instituting strict bedtime rules.”

The motion-to-sleep controversy

Not everyone believes that using exercise to help put a baby to sleep is a helpful long-term sleep training tactic. Kylee Money, parenting coach, pediatric sleep specialist and founder of a sleep training company Parenting is funsays that using movement to get a baby to fall asleep can lead him to associate movement and falling asleep, which can make it harder to get him to fall asleep without movement later.

“I do not recommend my clients to use exercise to induce sleep as my clients are all parents who want to sleep train. Using exercise (or anything else parent-driven) to induce sleep is the opposite of sleep training. If you’re a parent whose goal is to get your baby to sleep without the need for a parent or caregiver to facilitate sleep, then behavioral sleep training is recommended,” she says. If you don’t mind being part of their sleep mechanism, as the study suggests, the exercise plus sitting formula is worth trying.

How to consider the implementation of study results

Money says the study “basically tells us what we already know” that babies like movement, being held close to their parents’ bodies, dislike being put down, and may wake up when that happens , if you don’t do it, you’re already asleep. “It’s easy to see in any family with a baby.” Money adds that parents struggling with sleep training should consult a sleep counselor, and that it’s always an option if the parent is too upset or tired are to put the baby in one safe sleeping area (like an empty bed) and walk away to give yourself a break, regardless of your attitude towards sleep training.

Smith says she loves research results that help parents comfort their baby or follow their instincts. “So often you hear ‘don’t spoil’ and ‘don’t react right away’. All parents should feel empowered to respond and support their baby in ways that make them feel comfortable. Data like this gives these parents permission to follow those instincts.