Crying Baby, Stressed Mother, Singing Voice
Do you know it only takes a few minutes of crying to raise your stress levels? You know the anxious feeling when you wonder what you’re going to do next coupled with ringing in your ears as the crying gets louder.
That’s why, in our family, we think it’s better for everyone’s mental health to soothe baby rather than let her cry it out. I walk, I rock, I speak calmly, I sing, I rub what might be a sore belly.
And, when I feel like I might go crazy and/or deaf, I bring in reinforcements.
The very soft blanket my aunt knitted stroked against a tired cheek is soothing. The Bulgarian-language recording of the Three Little Pigs also has its charms. And walking up and down the hallway generally bores a cranky baby to sleep. Today, though, I had to pull out someone else’s lullabys.
Jennifer Mason is a friend of mine who I met when we were both helping to care for a very ill mutual friend. She was calming during a very difficult time, but I am happy to report she is also a good influence in better times. Jennifer’S CD, Mothers of the World, is a collection of lullabys from around the globe that reminded me that there is nothing more universal than a pair of cradling arms and a crying child. It was a calming experience. For the baby too.
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POSTED IN: Baby Care, Mental Health
2 opinions for Crying Baby, Stressed Mother, Singing Voice
Babylune » The Long Dark Night
Sep 23, 2006 at 2:22 am
[…] These days I, too, find myself making a deep query of my soul and the universe when I should be resting in preparation for the next day’s work. Will I survive teething? How long can a woman go with so little sleep for so long? Why do babies cry so much louder, so much more inconsolably, at 3 a.m.? Why do teething gels and soothing homeopathic remedies from Europe work for about 15 minutes? […]
Babylune
Nov 30, 2006 at 1:20 pm
[…] Yesterday, I popped in to see a friend who was babysitting an 8 month-old who had an especially despondent cry. The kind of keening that triggered my let down reflex and demanded that I pick this child up. She imediately sniffed me and assumed the nursing position. I almost nursed her out of sympathy, but it was a physical reflex before it was an emotional one. Now, I don’t breastfeed strangers’ babies but I was surprised that my body responded so quickly to a child I’d never met before. […]
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