EBYX Center

Recreating the “whoosh” in the womb.

The crying - oh, the crying. A colicky baby can really
drive you to the edge. Failed attempts to soothe her crying may
leave you wondering if you are cut out to be a parent after all.
But, don’t worry, you are. You just need to arm yourself with
some tools to battle each colic-crying outburst. But, first,
let’s define why your colic baby cries. The most popular theory
from scientists lately is an underdeveloped and immature nervous
system. I know all women who have given birth can attest to the
fact that a baby has a big head. Right? Wrong. Actually, a
baby’s head isn’t big enough to house a brain that is mature
enough to have all the survival tools a human infant needs.
Their brain is only the size of an apple. The birth canal cannot
handle a bigger head (thank God). So, when a baby is born, the
only inherent survival skills are sneezing, sucking, swallowing
and….CRYING! Most babies (80%, that is) are capable of crying
for a reason, and then calming themselves down. These are
usually what I call “the good sleepers” or “easy babies”. They
are awake for awhile to learn and accept stimuli. Then they
sleep to recover and awake to take in more stimuli.
Unfortunately, a colicky baby is usually NOT a “good
sleeper” or an “easy baby”. They are high-maintenance. Their
nervous system is overloaded with all the sights and sounds of a
new world. And by about dinner time, they’ve had it. The crying
begins. Once they start crying, they lack the mechanism to calm
themselves down. In my experience, most mothers with colicky
infants tell the same story. Their baby fights going to sleep.
They won’t take a nap. They won’t stay asleep once they do
finally go to sleep. These poor babies never take the time to
recover from all the stimuli they have taken in over the course
of a day. So this is where you, as a parent, step in. Reduce the
environmental stimuli and recreate the feeling your baby had
while in the womb. Remember, in the womb, your baby was packed
in tightly. It was dark. It was warm. And the prominent sound
she heard was the “whoosh” of blood flowing through the
placenta. This “whoosh” is a little louder than the noise of a
vacuum cleaner running. Of course, a
vacuum cleaner white noise cd can be purchased to
recreate this “whooshing” sound for your baby. They are
effective for extreme colic cases. However, there are other
items you might have around the house that can lull your over
stimulated colic baby to sleep. Most babies can be soothed by
rhythmic, monotonous, low-pitched, humming sound that repeats at
60-70 pulses per minute. Here are 10 such items for you to try:
1.A shower running 2.A fan 3.A running dishwasher 4.A running
washing machine 5.A very loud, ticking clock 6.A bathroom fan
turned on with the light off 7.A metronome set a 60 beats per
minute 8.A radio tuned to static 9.A tv tuned to static
10.Smooth jazz or easy listening stations While listening to
these rhythmic sounds, it is best to lower the lights, and make
your baby comfortable. Remember, we are trying to recreate the
feeling of being in the womb. Finally, it is true what you read.
Baby colic does eventually come to an end. As your baby grows,
and their brains increase in size, all of the circuits mature
and they learn the survival tools necessary to cope. It only
takes about three to six months. In the meantime, when you feel
a crying outburst about to happen, turn off the lights…and turn
on all your household appliances. Just kidding!