Science has devised a possible solution to a problem that has concerned new mothers since the dawn of time - a baby that won’t stop crying.
We know it’s not their fault, but a baby crying can be one of the most irking, tiresome sounds one will ever hear.
Luckily, a team of scientists did the hard yards and discovered a way to stop the baby from crying and soothe the eardrums of all those in the general vicinity.
The easy technique uses the ‘transport response’ which is used by all animals on the Earth. All it involves is walking, sitting, and sleeping.
Published in Current Biology, the study states that all one has to do to get the little one to stop the waterworks is to walk around holding the baby for five minutes, then sit down while holding the baby for another five to eight minutes before lying the baby down.
Once the baby is lying down, it should start sleeping and stop crying.
Hmm, could it really be that easy?
The ‘walk, sit, sleep’ method proved to be the most effective out of four methods used on 21 babies in the study. The other three involved the baby being held by the mother while she was sitting, putting the baby in a rocking crib, and putting the baby in a still crib.
The rocking crib method proved the next most effective, signalling that movement is a key ingredient in getting a baby to stop crying. Interestingly, only crying babies would fall asleep at the end of the ‘walk, sit, sleep’ method.
“Walking for five minutes promoted sleep, but only for crying infants,” lead researcher Kumi Kuroda said in a statement. “Surprisingly, this effect was absent when babies were already calm beforehand.”
Make sure to give this a go next time your little angel is upset about something and let us know how it goes! Could it be the end of restless nights?
