How to: stop an infant from crying almost instantly
March 18, 2008
As a new parent (my son turns 10 months old this week!) it can be easy to let a screaming child start to get under your skin and cause your stress level to rise. My son has been sick and teething over the last little bit (sorry for the less-frequent posting) which means he has a short fuse: whenever he falls on his diaper-padded bum no one knows whether it will trigger an ear-piercing cry or be completely ignored. I’m sure there are many out there who can relate.
However, there is one time in a young child’s life when you KNOW he or she is going to be wailing: getting their shots. Prior to taking my son to get his first round of vaccinations my saint-like mother gave me the following advice:
“Try comforting him and if it doesn’t work after a minute or so, walk out of the room with him and he’ll stop.”
It worked just as my mom said it would. My poor son was bawling after receiving three shots in each of his chubby thighs. After the nurse wrapped things up we put his clothes back on him (still crying), walked out of the doctor’s office and into the hallway. It was like someone flipped a switch: he instantly stopped crying.
Since then we’ve used the same trick and it’s worked countless times, though less for “fussy” crying and more for, “I just fell down and scared myself” crying. You know, the freaked, out, top-of-the-lungs cry. Our apartment is small enough that we have to walk outside to get it to work, but it does work.
Someday he’ll probably get to the point to where it doesn’t work. I fear that day. But until then, the simple act of carrying him into another room has done wonders for my nerves. I hope it proves beneficial for you at some point in the future as well.
LivSimpl
P.S. If you know someone with a small child please feel free to pass along this tip!
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No, that’s not my son. Photo courtesy of here.
March 18, 2008 at 3:51 pm
We used to use this tactic when my daughter would wake up with night terrors. She would start screaming frantically in the middle of the night. We soon found that trying to soothe her was impossible. So we did what I called “a reset.” We just brought her out, turned on the lights, and watched TV. Just acting like everything was cool and normal went a long way to calming her down. Usually after 10 or 15 minutes, she would be back to normal and we’d put her back to bed.
March 18, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Thanks for the tip! Fortunately, my son hasn’t had those kind of nightmares but it will be good to keep in mind.