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Calming Your Newborn

What are some ways I can soothe my baby?

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Dr. Ann Kellams
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Virginia

Dr. Ann Lenox Kellams, assistant professor of clinical pediatrics in the Division of General Pediatrics and medical director of the newborn nursery at the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital, is an expert in newborn care and breastfeeding. Kellams teaches pediatric clinical skills to students and residents and authored the Newborn Nursery Resident and Student Curriculum and Orientation Manual for UVA Children’s Hospital. Kellams serves her surrounding community by being a mentor for the African American Student Mentorship Program, by serving on the Virginia Breastfeeding Advisory Committee and by hosting various community education workshops on newborn and infant care. She received the Outstanding Graduate Designation from her alma mater, the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.

What are some ways I can soothe my baby?

In this video Dr. Ann Kellams discuss the many issues surrounding how to properly care for a newborn baby.

This expert: 71,144 views

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Host: What are some ways I can soothe my baby?

Dr. Ann Kellams: Well, along those same lines, I generally, I start with, "Okay, when did you last eat? Are you hungry?

" Then I check the diaper. Is it wet, is it dirty, if the little boy has been circumcised, if the Vaseline has come off, is there something that's making him uncomfortable in the diaper area? My next move if that's okay and they are nice and clean and dry is to swaddle them. So I take the blanket and fold over the corners usually trapping their arms inside. Get them nice and snug and sometimes that alone will make them stop crying and be very calm. If that doesn't work, my next move is to go ahead and pick them up and do something rhythmic. So either patting or rocking or swaying some motion that's rhythmic they generally tend to like. You can also introduce something for them to suck and that gets tricky because pacifiers early on are not recommended if you are breastfeeding while the baby is learning how to nurse, but maybe your finger. Just with clean, dry hands let the baby nurse on your finger. So those are the main things. The other thing they like, they are used to be in environment with a lot of shushing, giggling noises and often times, a shushing sound can be very calming and soothing for a baby. Sometimes you have to do all of those things that we have mentioned at the same time.

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