The Babysitting Lady's Blog

A baby’s continuous crying can make even the most laid back person frazzled.  The reason? It’s supposed to!  A baby can’t speak yet to tell you that she is hungry, needs a diaper change, or just wants to be held.  The only thing she can do is cry.  Nature made that sound irritating so it would get a response and the infant’s needs would be met.

In order to get a baby to stop crying, you need to know the reasons why a baby might be crying.  Below is a list of circumstances that may be the cause of a baby’s tears.  For more details on this list, please see my complete article at http://www.babysittingworld.com/cryingbaby.html .

• Baby is hungry
• Baby is tired
• Baby’s diaper needs to be changed
• Baby has gas/baby needs to burp
• Baby just wants to be held
• Baby is teething
• Baby is over stimulated
• Baby is bored
• Baby is uncomfortable

So once you’ve tried picking the baby up, giving her a bottle, pacifier or teething ring, changing her diaper, and playing with her  to no avail, what next?  Sometimes just simply picking the baby up isn’t enough, but she may quiet down if you walk around with her and bounce her very gently and maybe even sing quietly or whisper to her.  If she is old enough to hold her head up on her own, try holding her facing outward with her back against your chest.  Put one arm around her torso and the other through her legs supporting her bottom .  Babies are very curious and like to look around.

On the other hand, if baby has had too much stimulation, she may need to be rocked in a room with dim lights and perhaps a white noise machine or fan running on a low setting just for the sound.

Check to see if baby is uncomfortable by touching the back of her neck to see if she is too hot or too cold.  Try taking off all of her clothes including her diaper to see if any of them may be too tight or irritating her skin.  If baby is still crying and you have experience bathing babies, try a warm bath.

Newborns often like to be swaddled.  Being wrapped snugly in a blanket makes them feel secure and may calm them down.  On the other hand, some babies hate feeling confined and may need blankets or clothing loosened up.

Try a ride in the car or a walk in the stroller.  Most babies love the motion and quiet down shortly after you start moving.

If all else fails and you are feeling overwhelmed or getting extremely irritated, put the baby in her crib and go to another room so you can still hear her faintly through the walls or through a monitor but so you can relax for a moment and regain your composure.  If you are a babysitter, you can try calling the parents to see if they have any other suggestions.  NEVER shake a baby, no matter how frustrated you feel.  Shaking a baby can cause harm or even death.

Once you have regained your composure, you can pick the baby back up and start from the top of the list.  By now, baby might be hungry and want that bottle.   The most important thing you can do is to stay calm.  The baby will eventually stop crying.  While there is an exception to just about every rule, I don’t think there has ever been a baby that has cried forever!

Lisa McLellan

Child Care Expert

photo credit

At some point, if you babysit often, you will probably come across a child that behaves negatively for one reason or another.  If you yell and scream and get upset, you might make things worse.  Sometimes kids fight with another child over a toy, sometimes they are just tired and sometimes, they just want attention.  And to many children, it doesn’t matter if it is positive attention or negative attention, they are still getting attention.  So by getting upset and yelling, you are giving them just what they want.

If two children are fighting over a toy you can try a couple of different things to end the dispute.  First, you could try letting the child who had the toy first use the toy for 5 – 10 minutes.  Set a timer and let that child know that when the timer goes off it is the other child’s turn.  More often than not, the child using the toy will lose interest long before the timer goes off.  But if not, set the timer for the second child so the first one can have another turn with the toy after.  Go back and forth until they both lose interest.  No matter how special the toy, it isn’t usually long before they have both moved on to something else.

Another resolution would be to offer a reward to the one who gives up the toy and lets the other child use it.  Rewards come in all shapes and sizes.  A reward can be something like letting him pick the bedtime story, putting polish on her fingernails (if it’s okay with the parents), playing a card game with just him, or doing a puzzle with just her.

Though it sounds too simple, distraction is an amazing tool!  It works well for anything from school aged children arguing, to toddlers touching things they aren’t supposed to.  All you need to do is have something interesting to show them or let them touch or use.  Almost all children love flashlights!  Bring a flashlight in your babysitting bag not only to use if the power goes out, but to play shadow games when you need a distraction.  Other items that are great for distracting kids of all ages are tiny crank handle music boxes, kaleidoscopes, balls that light up when you bounce them, bubbles, magnets, and dominoes.

Instead of yelling “NO, NO,” or “Don’t touch that” to a toddler heading for a glass vase, pull out your flashlight or bubbles (etc.) and say “Hey, look at this!”  For older children, intervene by simply saying something like, “Hey do you guys want to make Oobleck?”  (Oobleck is made of just cornstarch and water and it is REALLY COOL!  Look it up on the internet.  It is easy to make and kids love it!)  You can also try asking if they want to play a game like Simon Says, Charades, or I Spy.  Break out the crafts!  You don’t need to spend money on craft supplies, just bring a bag of things like paper towel tubes, string, elastic bands, old greeting cards, all types of small boxes, dry macaroni, drinkable yogurt containers, paper plates, glue, tape, and some crayons.

Lisa McLellan

Child Care Expert

photo credit