Scientists say the best way to soothe a crying infant is by carrying them on a 5-minute walk

Medical Xpress / Cell Press / Current Biology ^ | Sept. 23, 2022 | Kumi O. Kuroda et al

[ConservativeMind]

Most parents have experienced frustration when their infants cry excessively and refuse to sleep. Scientists have found that the best strategy to calm them down is by holding and walking with them for five minutes.

Kuroda and her colleagues have been studying the transport response, an innate reaction seen in many altricial mammals—those whose young are immature and unable to care for themselves—such as mice, dogs, monkeys, and humans. They observed that when these animals pick up their infants and start walking, the bodies of their young tend to become docile and their heart rates slow.

..The team found that when the mother walked while carrying the baby, crying infants calmed down and their heart rates slowed within 30 seconds. A similar calming effect occurred when the infants were placed in a rocking cot, but not when the mother held the baby while sitting or placed the baby in a still crib.

When the mothers tried to put their sleepy babies to bed, more than one-third of the participants became alert again within 20 seconds. The team found that all babies produced physiological responses, including changes in heart rate, that can wake them up the second their bodies detach from their mothers. However, if the infants were asleep for a longer period before being laid down, they were less likely to awaken during the process.

Based on their findings, the team proposes a method for soothing and promoting sleep in crying infants. They recommend that parents hold crying infants and walk with them for five minutes, followed by sitting and holding infants for another five to eight minutes before putting them to bed. The protocol, unlike other popular sleep training approaches such as letting infants cry until they fall asleep themselves, aims to provide an immediate solution for infant crying.

[9YearLurker]

Grandmothers have been saying this for millennia.

[BereanBrain]

Like I said in the first post, you can never change anyone’s mind about attachment parenting, due to the view of children they have.

[ladyjane]

You can still get paregoric? I didn’t know. I should get some. You never know you’re going to need it for a little child. LOL