Science News
Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Japan, explored effective ways to soothe a crying baby, especially in the hours before bedtime. The study is published in the journal Current Biology.
The Study
The researchers compared 21 infants’ responses while under several conditions—being held by their walking mothers, held by their sitting mothers, lying in a still crib, or lying in a rocking cot. They explored the link between the effects of transport response, maternal holding, and relaxed reaction in the participant babies.
Elaborating on the purpose of the study, lead researcher Kumi Kuroda said: “For many, we intuitively parent and listen to other people’s advice on parenting without testing the methods with rigorous science. But we need science to understand a baby’s behaviors, because they’re much more complex and diverse than we thought.”
The Findings: How to soothe a crying baby
The results revealed a specific 5-minute walk protocol for soothing or ensuring quality sleep for crying infants. Parents are recommended to take the time for holding infants and walking for five minutes. Then, they should sit and hold the infants for another 5–8 minutes, before putting them to bed.
To Know More You May Refer To
Ohmura, N., Okuma, L., Truzzi, A., Shinozuka, K., Saito, A., Yokota, S., Bizzego, A., Miyazawa, E., Shimizu, M., Esposito, G., & Kuroda, K. O. (2022). A method to soothe and promote sleep in crying infants utilizing the transport response. Current Biology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.08.041