I’m not one to tell a mother when she should stop breastfeeding, but there are some simple guidelines to follow.  For example, if your child can walk up to you and ask you for milk, it’s time to wean.  And if this happens during a cub scout meeting, step up the pace, will you?  In just a short amount of time you can become a lean, mean, weaning machine.

Few moms are ever fully prepared for the emotional process of weaning.  One moment you’re fine, and then at breakfast you’re weeping into your oatmeal.  Like so many other situations in life, the proper attitude can help you peacefully survive. 

A baby is able to drink from a cup at five months old.  If you breastfeed for six months, you can wean from breast right to a CUP, eliminating the need to wean again from a bottle to a cup.  The weaning process is difficult enough – why go through it twice? 

Replacing one breast-feeding per week with a cup will make life easier for you and your baby.  If you try to do too much at once, your breasts will be sore.  One week at a time allows enough time for you and your baby to get used to the new schedule. 

During the first week, start with the feeding that is the easiest for both of you to replace, such as mid-morning.  Have a plan ready for your order of weekly feeding replacements, ending with the bedtime feeding.  Nighttime is the most special bonding time for you and your baby, so leave the toughest for last. 

As silly as it may sound, choosing the right cup for your baby can be challenging. Most cups are only “spill-proof” when they are stationary on the table.  As soon as your baby knocks it over, however, welcome to Niagara Falls! You may have to experiment before you find a cup you and your baby like.  Cups have different spouts, and some are easier to suck from than others. You should buy four cups and fill them all the night before, so you can grab one quickly from the fridge as needed. 

If you do not have a lot of free time, you can buy ready-to-pour liquid formula.  While these bottles are more expensive than powder, the convenience is well worth the extra money.  Sometimes you also have to shop around to find a formula your baby likes.  When a baby is one year old, you can switch from formula to milk.  Dairy is difficult for a baby to digest, so many parents experiment with alternative forms of milk. 

When you switch from formula, don’t continue to heat milk to the same temperature.  That could eventually result in a four-year-old who still wants her milk heated every morning.  Serve milk gradually cooler every week until she finally enjoys it cold. 

If you decide to focus on The Last Supper, you will become an emotional wreck.  Do not worry about your baby; she will have no memory of breastfeeding once weaned.  Even if you imagine your tormented baby wailing as she roots for your breast, she has already “moved on.”  In reality, Mommy is the only one who is upset.   

Sometimes the emotional outpouring will not hit you until several days after you have weaned your baby.  A few days after the completion of weaning, you might cry at the slightest things, such as running out of potato chips.  It’s okay to “grieve” the end of a special time with your baby, but get it all out at once and immediately change your focus.  The end of every stage also heralds the beginning of a new and equally special time.  As your child grows, she will model your attitude and level of excitement about various stages in her life.  After the weaning process has ended, a mom usually feels a surge of energy. Let your liveliness and enthusiasm be a positive influence as soon as possible in her life, even while she is still a baby.

A woman once compared nursing to voluntarily sticking a wet finger into an electrical socket.  This analogy is not entirely fair.  It’s more like sticking a fork in a toaster.  All kidding aside, soreness during nursing is normal; pain is not!  If your nipples are cracked, raw, and bleeding, this sort of discomfort is totally unnecessary.  

The first time you experience any pain, evaluate your positioning.  The entire areola should be in the baby’s mouth while he is sucking.  Don’t ever force him off your breast; just Unhook the Trout by gently prying his mouth off with your finger.  If you do experience soreness, many products currently exist to help alleviate discomfort.  Before spending lots of money on creams and cooling gels, try a cold, wet wash cloth.  Some women recommend a large, cold “cup” of iceberg lettuce, but don’t try to be frugal by using it later in a salad. 

Some women do actually develop mastitis, a painful infection of the breast tissue caused by bacteria entering a milk duct through a crack in the nipple.  Don’t worry; it’s much more painful than it sounds.  If this happens to you, please see a health care professional to determine the best course of treatment. 

Babies sometimes develop a lip blister from vigorous sucking.  While this may look painful, it doesn’t cause the baby any harm.  The blister will disappear on its own and possibly come and go throughout the time of breast or bottle feeding.   

HOLD THE ONIONS, PLEASE

Too much of anything is usually not a good idea, and sometimes babies can suffer from Mommy’s nutritional indulgences.  A lot of babies are particularly sensitive to dairy. Garlic and onions can change the taste of your milk.  In fact, there is nothing quite like Onions in the Stream to upset a baby. Huge servings of broccoli and other gassy foods can cause extreme discomfort to your baby. Since food takes approximately eight hours to enter the bloodstream, sometimes a baby has to suffer the consequences until the following morning.  You don’t have to eliminate these foods entirely; just keep them in moderation. 

H2O

Be aware of the dangerous potential for dehydration during breastfeeding.  About a week into nursing my firstborn, I thought that I had caught the flu.  I finally called my doctor after several hours of nausea, fatigue, and a fever.  He informed me that a nursing baby depletes his mother of fluids, and she needs to constantly drink water to rehydrate.  Drinking large glasses of water throughout the day will eliminate the uncomfortable symptoms of dehydration.   

GET A LEG UP

During nursing, getting physically comfortable takes some experimentation.  Everyone prefers different positions, from the football hold to the cradle hold.  The one common denominator seems to be elevation of the feet.  This can be accomplished by either putting your foot on a low stool or up on a chair or ottoman. 

When you start out nursing a baby, you can use a rocking chair or glider.  After a couple of months, however, babies no longer fit comfortably lengthwise in a chair.  They become so long that their head is on one arm of the chair, and their feet are in the neighbor’s kitchen.  At this point, you can nurse in the middle of the couch or on the bed with pillows behind your back.  Be sure to enjoy this one time in your life when you can sit still and relax with your feet up!

After surviving labor and delivery, breastfeeding is not quite so intimidating.  In a way, a new mom is even tougher than Rambo. She handles the blood and gore of childbirth, and then endures milk shooting from her body, all without the aid of an assault rifle. 

When a mother nurses her baby for the first few days, she is not actually supplying milk, but a substance called “colostrum.”  Colostrum provides all the nutrients that a baby needs until his mother’s milk comes in, usually around day four.  Engorgement, a painful yet short-lived occurrence, also happens at this time.  For a few days, your breasts will be painfully swollen with milk. You may experience The 9 to 5, the cruel irony about how you always wanted to look like Dolly Parton, but now it hurts too much to enjoy it. Sometimes the breasts become so hard and swollen that the baby has trouble latching on.  For relief, you can express some milk by pumping or massaging circles around the breast.

Mothers have to be courageous in order to stick their breasts into a pump that looks and sounds like a mini-blender. (Even the bravest of men would hesitate before sticking a private part in there and trusting that all will be well.) Pumping milk may sound scary at first, but it is a completely painless process with all of the new fancy electronic equipment that is now available.  Some women even pump both breasts at the same time – a true octopus maneuver – during breaks at the office.  That could be a little awkward if your boss suddenly walked in at that moment. (Did you see the game last night? Go team!) 

THE LET-DOWN

If no one has prepared you, the first time you have milk “let-down” can be shocking.  Whenever your milk is about to flow, you will feel a tightening or tingling in the chest area.  After this sensation, the milk will be “let-down” or released from your breasts.  Sometimes your baby will have to suck for a while before the milk flows. Depending on your milk production, the milk may come in as slowly as a leaky faucet or as quickly as a monsoon.  If you happen to have an overly abundant milk supply, this steady stream will be convenient for your baby, but messy for you.

Supply and Demand dictates that the more frequently you nurse, the more milk you produce.  A baby’s cry will also stimulate milk production.  You could be on a date with your husband when a crying baby in the restaurant stimulates your milk let-down.  Since any crying baby can start your milk flowing, you have to be prepared for leaking.

THE LEAKY FAUCET

It is both annoying and amusing that when a baby nurses on one breast, the OTHER breast leaks at the same time.  You need to cover the other breast with a cloth or towel to prevent making a mess.  In an emergency situation, do The Hans Brinker to decrease the flow of milk by pressing firmly against the other breast.  (Hans Brinker is the story in which a little Dutch boy saves his country by plugging a leaking dike with his finger.) Nursing pads for the bra can be handy, but they are small and expensive.  Cut a maxi pad and stick it in each half of your bra. Maxi pads are twice as big and absorbent, and you can buy them in bulk inexpensively.  Newborn diapers are another alternative.

The first time your milk comes in, you may have two huge wet circles on your shirt if you are not prepared for leakage.  You will want to prevent that embarrassing moment of talking to someone and feeling milk leaking down your shirt. (Got milk?)  To avoid looking like an advertisement for a wet t-shirt competition, use pads.

After a grueling labor and delivery, my baby had arrived, and I blissfully sank my head into the hospital pillow.  Two hours later, I thought I must be dreaming as a starched demon-nurse was standing over me with my newborn in her arms.

“Time to nurse your baby!”  she beamed.

I wiped imaginary sand from my eyes. “B-b-but I just fell asleep,” I stammered.

“Newborns have to be fed every two hours!” She was way too enthusiastic about this.

Every TWO hours?  Why hadn’t anyone warned me about this?  My new daughter was looking at me expectantly with her huge, saucer-like eyes.  She started to root toward my breast, and I hoped she knew what she was doing, because I sure didn’t.

I called a close friend to tell her the good news, and she asked me how breastfeeding was going.

 “Have you started leaking yet?  Have you experienced let-down?”

(Dead air).

Leaking?  That didn’t sound good.  Let-down?  Was there supposed to be some sort of disappointment coming?  She then elaborated on some details, and I realized at that moment how little I knew about breastfeeding.

The good news about breastfeeding is that it is a natural process that woman have been doing for thousands of years.  If you have a baby in a hospital, they now have Lactation Consultants, who will help you with everything from the latch-on to the proper release.  Most of them will even provide in-home assistance, if needed.  Beware of the overly enthusiastic ones, however, as they can turn a beautiful experience into an anxious one.

By the time my third baby arrived, I was fairly comfortable that I knew how to nurse him.  Unfortunately, my assigned Lactation Consultant was Nancy the Nursing Nazi.  Nancy was a perfectly lovely lady, but she was a little too obsessed with breastfeeding.  Nate would be happily gulping away at my breast, and since Nancy had too much time on her hands, I would have to endure The John Madden Play-By-Play of breastfeeding.

“See how his chin is two inches below your breast?  That is NOT proper positioning!  Move it up 1.5 inches.  Now, see how his head is at a 45 degree angle?  That’s terrible!  It should only be 38.5 degrees!  Your hand is not supporting his neck enough; babies don’t like that!”

This was news to Nate, who was now milk-drunk and ignoring every word she said as he emptied me of my last drop.  I felt sorry for Nancy, so I humored her until she left the room, at which point I promptly returned to my own comfortable technique.  When Nancy offered me an in-home follow-up visit, I briefly considered changing my address and phone number.

Are you comfortable while nursing?  Is your baby happy, healthy, and growing?  If the answer to both of these questions is “yes,” then relax and don’t get caught up worrying about the “perfect positioning.”  Women nursing thousands of years ago did not have Lactation Consultants, and they somehow managed to feed their babies.  Try not to let the beauty of breastfeeding be diminished by the anxiety of trying to achieve perfection.

THE ONE-UP

For every developmental milestone you celebrate with your baby, there will always be someone around to one-up you.  If your baby starts walking at twelve months, so-and-so’s baby walked at nine months.  Hopefully, you will quickly learn to weed out the phonies.  Your baby started talking at seven months? Mine talked at two months!  Try to avoid deflecting with sarcasm.  My other baby actually talked in the womb!  One-upping the One-up is generally considered obnoxious and unacceptable.  Simply nod and smile and try to rejoice in their successes. 

THE NFL CONTRACT (BRAGGING)

Comparison conversations tend to become extremely ridiculous when boys are involved.  Everyone wants their boy to be the tallest, biggest, and strongest boy of all time – the kid who will be picked first for teams in gym class. Once you have a boy, you will be inundated by other parents with stories of how their son was so strong he could hold his head up as soon as he was born.  Even though this is completely irrelevant in life, it sure sounds impressive! 

Our first son was a fairly large baby at birth (9 pounds, 3 ounces, 22 inches), and his head was only slightly smaller than North Dakota. Despite his size, we always met parents with much smaller sons who would brag about their herculean boys.

Despite the temptation to one-up, one has to just play along and respond politely. 

In Rocky III, when Clubber Lang is asked to make a prediction for the fight, he answers, “Pain!”  Not that I enjoy quoting Mr. T, but he might as well be talking about babyhood.   Nobody likes pain, but you can’t always shield your baby from it.  No, you may not dress him in a Onesie of Armor; that type of knighthood is completely futile.  Although I do highly recommend a Diaper of Armor.

Pain is a common reason for a baby’s cry.  Sometimes your baby may have bumped his head or caught his hand in something while you were not looking.  Check to see if he has any red marks on his head or fingers.  A baby’s skin is so sensitive; you will usually see a mark left behind from even a minor injury. Don’t panic – babies have incredibly resilient skin, and a scratch or small bruise will probably be gone the next day. If it was a minor bump or bruise, he will stop crying on his own in a few minutes.

For minor injury tears, try using a Boo-Boo Animal for distraction.  Even though you can buy these in the store, you can also make your own by drawing a face on a washcloth and wrapping it around a small ice pack to make the head of a bear or bunny.  It’s not like your baby will be picky about the artistry.  (You call this a bunny?)  You don’t necessarily have to put ice on a minor injury; babies just like the special attention of receiving the “boo-boo” friend.  This is the emergence of a common behavioral technique known as Milking It, which will be further developed during toddlerhood.

Another great distraction from tears is a set of wind chimes.  The movement and sudden, soothing noise will startle your baby into a silent fascination.  Keep chimes in your living room and bathroom, and use them to calm your kids. (Be careful when you hold a baby up close to the chimes, as he may grab them and rip the chimes off one by one.)  Anything that causes a change in environment of sight and sound may be effective.

If your baby has been sleeping through the night and suddenly will not go to bed, it may be due to teething.  Review Teething in a Pit of Alligators for tips on how to comfort your baby through teething pain.

What if you have reviewed every possibility on the checklist, and you still can’t figure out why your baby is crying?  A pediatrician may diagnose colic if your baby cries for a minimum of three hours a day, three or more days a week, for at least three weeks.  Colic involves inconsolable crying, not just fussiness.  It usually begins during the third and sixth week and can last for a few months.  But ask any parent who has gone through it, and they’ll tell you it feels like years.

The most common sense remedy for colic seems to be for the mother to put in ear plugs, bury her head under the pillow, and come out six months later.  But hibernation is not very practical, is it?  You will have to do as much as possible to keep your baby comfortable.  Colicky babies typically like to be held on their bellies and require lots of extra soothing. 

There is a colic remedy out there referred to as Gripe Water, a seemingly rude name.  (If your friend started complaining about her menstrual cramps, would you offer her some Gripe Water?)   Most brands of this remedy, which has been around for over a hundred years, contain peppermint, ginger, and/or chamomile.  These ingredients have long been known as tummy soothers, and it probably wouldn’t hurt for mothers of colicky babies to have some as well!

If all else fails, one of the most common reasons for a baby’s tears is fatigue.  Moms can completely relate to this feeling, as they commonly burst into tears when they are awakened for yet another 2 a.m. feeding.  You have to realize that your baby is even more uncomfortable than you are.  Moms have to be completely unselfish and focus on the needs of others before their own. 

I always thought it would be fun to be a librarian, mainly for having the power to shush people.  Most new parents make the mistake of tiptoeing around their sleeping newborn, shushing everyone within a ten-mile radius.  You may be shocked to discover that is exactly the OPPOSITE of what makes a baby happy.  New parents are usually whispering to everyone, “Shh! Don’t wake the baby!”  The Shush is usually ten times louder than the actual conversation, but who is going to argue with a new mom?  No one wants to get whacked on the head with a breast pump or a jar of mashed peas.

It’s human instinct to believe that having a baby requires living in complete silence.  The baby, however, is used to a womb that is louder than a lawnmower.  Imagine going from the deafening noise of the womb to the shocking silence of our homes.  No wonder so many babies cry!

The only shushing a mother should be doing is in her baby’s ear.  When your baby is crying, try holding him by the sink and turning the faucet on full blast.  The noise might make your baby stop crying, go limp with relaxation, and fall asleep in your arms.  Another secret is to turn the radio or TV to a non-working station and crank up the volume of the static.  You can also shush loudly into your baby’s ear or even turn on the hair dryer.  Many people recommend that you should turn on the vacuum to stop a baby’s cries, but it’s not practical to lug out a heavy vacuum cleaner and plug it in while holding a screaming baby.  Besides, why give yourself a reason to do more housework?  The most successful endeavors are also the easiest and most convenient…shushing and turning on the sink or TV.

Some parents shove a pacifier into their baby’s mouth as soon as he begins to cry.  While this does work as an immediate fix, there is a better long-term solution.

Try to tough it out and make it through the first eight weeks without giving your baby a pacifier.  By that time your baby will most likely be able to keep a thumb or finger in his mouth.  The alternative involves parents who have to keep getting up in the middle of the night to find their baby’s Binky.  If a baby’s pacifier falls out of his mouth, he does not have the ability to search around in the dark to retrieve it.  He will then cry frantically until you come rescue him.

You have to remain strong to refuse your baby a pacifier, but the final result is well worth the temporary torture.  When he can keep his thumb in his mouth, he may start sleeping 8-10 hours straight through the night.  If he wakes up in the middle of the night, he will simply suck his thumb until he falls back asleep.

Some people fret about how hard it might be to get a child to stop sucking his thumb.  Have you ever seen someone still thumb-sucking in college?  Kids usually stop on their own by age six.  Everyone is afraid to tell a mom who keeps a Binky in her kid’s mouth that her child really looks like Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs.  But don’t throw away those pacifiers; they will really come in handy when your child learns to talk back. 

By the end of their first year, most babies have discovered a lovey, an object of affection to cling to while sucking their thumb.  This beloved object can at times become the family Stealth Bomber, demonstrating an uncanny ability to disrupt your life by disappearing whenever it is time to leave the house or go to bed. Do yourself a favor and buy many duplicates of whatever he chooses,  just in case he loses one.  Otherwise, you may have to put a pacifier in your own mouth and go back to bed.

The first day I returned to work after maternity leave, I had not even said “hello” to my boss yet when my newborn spit up all over his desk.  Did I mention that it was also his birthday?  “Happy Birthday,” I said, as he stared at his puke-laden papers.  “I thought I’d save you from having to do all of this work so you could leave early today.”  Fortunately, my boss had a great sense of humor.

Over the past several weeks, we have been exploring possible reasons for baby cries. By now maybe you are still trying to discover what is bothering your precious, albeit screaming, baby.

Acid reflux scores high on the Baby Cry Checklist.  The good news is that this messy problem usually disappears by 9-10 months of age.  In the meantime, you will have more wardrobe changes than an Oscars host.  To alleviate some of your baby’s discomfort, never lay a baby down flat immediately after a feeding.

After the burp, you should try to hold your baby upright for at least one half hour.  Some doctors recommend elevating your baby’s head in the crib, but most babies roll around too much for this to be effective. And no, you may not use Velcro or duct tape.

All three of our babies had acid reflux and taught me the true purpose of the burp cloth, which many parents believe protects their clothes from spit up.  The burp cloth actually gives a GPS (Gastrointestinal Positioning System) signal that tells your baby the one place to AVOID while spitting up.  You can wear a burp cloth over your shoulder, but you’d be better off wearing a giant bull’s-eye somewhere else on your body.  On the positive side, you’ll get to buy a new wardrobe once your baby grows out of this stage.

Stimulation. Another reason your baby may be crying is if she is over or under stimulated.  Many parents have more baby toys than a Babies R Us stock room. The Spartans of ancient Greece didn’t have time for toys; they were too busy training to be soldiers.  What kind of champions could your kids become if you don’t over-stimulate them hundreds of toys?

When you are alone with your baby all day, don’t feel as though you have to constantly entertain her.  No one cares if there is an awkward pause in the conversation – you are the only one talking.  There is no need to take it to the extreme, performing show tunes  and even hiring Paula Abdul for the choreography.  This behavior is usually more for the mom’s entertainment than the baby’s.

If you are in the middle of a rousing rendition of “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music, don’t be surprised when your baby starts to cry.  When you stop singing to wonder if she simply does not appreciate the greatness of Julie Andrews, she will stop crying.  That is your lesson entitled “Babies Do Not Like to Be Over-Stimulated.” The tell-tale signs include: turning the head or eyes away, crying, and of course, pulling the microphone out of your hand.

Babies may also cry if they are too bored from a LACK of stimulation.  This does not mean, however, that you should run out and buy all of the latest fancy toys. Babies love the soothing sound of your voice, so read books and sing lullabies (not show tunes).  They also prefer packaging over actual toys, as witnessed by millions of parents who spend their savings on a present, only to have their baby eat the wrapping paper and play with the box.  And then eat the box. If they paid attention, Gerber could have a very popular new baby food flavor:  Cardboard Box. 

If only babies could learn to write while still in the womb.  Glow-in-the-dark pens might work, or maybe even a Lite-Brite.  That way when they finally arrive, they could eliminate all of their cryptic cries with a simple note:  Dear Mom, you haven’t changed my diaper in several hours.  Please clean up this mess. Love, Junior.

Alas, we’re left with our continuing checklist to discover what is bothering our little one.

The Diaper.  Check for a wet/dirty diaper or a rash. Sometimes the diaper is too TIGHT, so try loosening the tabs slightly.  Of course, you don’t want the diaper to be too loose either, as Mt. Vepoovius may erupt and leak down your baby’s legs and back, causing more crying. (And it’s never easy to clean up the volcanic lava of baby poop.) Some babies pull off their own diaper by prying on the tabs, so always put pants on a baby during crib time.  Maybe we need to rethink diaper tabs and consider metal safety locks.

Hair. Sometimes a mother’s long hair can get wrapped around her baby’s fingers or toes and drive him crazy.  You can’t figure out what is causing the tears until you finally discover an entangled hair.  Your hair can also get stuck in your baby’s mouth, which can understandably be irritating.  Since he has no teeth yet, he can’t even use it for dental floss.  It is a good idea to keep your hair tied back when you are holding your baby.

The Clothes.  Some babies become extremely irritated by the tags on their clothes.  It never hurts to remove tags just to see if that was causing the crying.  (I know that when I get irritated by a tag on my clothes, removing the tag always makes me stop crying.) You can completely avoid this problem by only buying TAGLESS clothing.  In rare cases, babies can be allergic to the materials in their clothes, such as cotton.  This condition would manifest itself by an eczema-like skin rash. 

The Burp.  Gas is a common reason for fussiness in babies.  Burping a baby is not just an “old wives’ tale.”  Let me assure you, babies do need to burp, and sometimes this causes ear-piercing screams. 

To measure the State of Burposity of your baby, determine how many burps make him happy.  You don’t have to stop at just one. Nitrogen Babies are gassier than others and require five or more burps. (Warning: Do not light a match near one of these babies.) If you burp your baby and he is still fussy, keep going.  

Sometimes your baby will need to be burped much later after you already fed and burped him.  When a baby is sleeping peacefully after a feeding and wakes up suddenly crying, it usually indicates a gas bubble.

While there are many useful burping techniques, I only found one to be fail-proof with my own children. As soon as you are done feeding your baby, support his neck and chin (to keep the head upright) while gently lifting him up in the air over your head.  This move may seem strange, but it causes the air bubbles to rise to the top quickly. Bring him back down to snuggle towards your body.  Now repeatedly pat the middle of his back in the rhythm of a heartbeat.  Many moms are too afraid to pat hard enough.  You shouldn’t whack your child, but the pat should be firm enough that you actually hear a thumping sound.  If your touch is TOO light, you will be tapping until he leaves for college.

Check back next week for even more help with baby cries…

If you are trying to figure out why your baby is crying, consider whether he is more like a football or a koala bear. It takes a mom a long time to discover her baby’s preferred hold.  (Moms are the only ones who worry about it; Dads just go for the football.) Some babies like snuggling toward Mommy’s heartbeat, while others are only happy facing out to observe the world.  You have to keep trying different positions until you find one that works for you and your baby.

The Cradle Hold:  Place your baby’s head in the crook of one arm and wrap your other arm around the baby.  This hold is the most natural; even little girls hold their dolls this way.  If only every baby preferred this one, we could solve most of the world’s problems in one day.

The Snuggle Hold: Place your baby’s head close to your chest so that he can hear your heartbeat.  Hold him under his bottom and keep him close to you.  This hold is usually the most comforting and reassuring for a newborn.  Who wouldn’t want to snuggle?  Well, as Mommy’s Law would have it, probably yours.  So read on and try some more.

The Kangaroo Hold:  Pretend your baby is in your “pouch” facing outward and support his bottom with one arm. You will also need to use your other arm to support his upper body. Note:  Resist the temptation to hop around the house and call everyone “mate.” 

The Belly Hold:  Lay your baby face down across one of your arms, and use your other arm to support his back.  This hold is very effective for a gassy baby.

The Shoulder Hold:  Place your baby’s tummy up on your shoulder and support him under his rear end.  This adds another great pressure to a baby’s tummy that helps to release gas.

If your baby consistently needs the Belly Hold and Shoulder Hold, consider investing in a gas mask.

The Hip Hold:  Once your baby has full neck control, you can start resting him on one of your hips. Now you have a free hand!  Just remember that your baby is hanging off your side when you walk through doorways and around corners.

The Clueless Hold: There is one hold that is almost guaranteed to make your baby fussy.  The many people who are clamoring to hold your adorable baby will naturally hold him in a “cradle” position, which puts the baby’s mouth right near their chest.  This is like holding a fudge-laden brownie in front of a dieter and not letting him taste it.  In other words, why torture the baby?  Most moms and caregivers are not even aware of this.  When someone wants to hold your baby, always request that they hold him facing AWAY from their chest. 

The Handoff:  Pass your baby to anyone else and go take a nap.

If you have tried everything else and still cannot get your baby comfortable, try passing him to someone else.  It may sound crazy, but many times this works because the baby needed a change of scenery.  It almost startles him into silence.

Notice the name of this hold.  Do not try to get fancy and attempt a Hail Mary, Bomb, Flea Flicker, or any other football pass.  A Pump Fake is okay. 

Check back next week for more help with baby cries…