People often call us baby whisperers during their newborn photo shoots. It’s because of all the baby soothing techniques used. PhotoBaby has been creating newborn baby photography for over fourteen years now. That’s plenty of time for reading and research and learning what babies need to feel calm and content during their newborn photo session.
Becoming a parent is the most amazing, wonderful, terrifying and exhausting thing you will probably ever do. That new baby certainly turns your world upside down! If you are anything like I was, you very quickly forget what you did all day before they came along!
Keeping baby content is the name of the game for those first few weeks. If sharing these baby soothing techniques can help ease your transition into parenthood, then all the better. I’ll be very happy to hear they helped!
Baby Soothing Techniques
Be Calm and Confident
Your newborn baby is taking their lead from you. To begin with they actually think that you are a part of them, which makes a lot of sense when they have just spent 9 months growing inside you! If you are nervous, they will pick up on this and become jumpy, their fight or flight protection will be activated. But if you are calm they will perceive everything as safe and be calm too.
White Noise
When you have been somewhere really loud – like a nightclub, once you get in the quiet, peace suddenly seems really loud. This is just what it is like for your baby. They have been listening to your heart beat for nine months and now that it’s not there the quiet can be very intense for them. White noise relieves this and is a baby soothing technique that gives them something familiar, helping your baby to relax. There are lots of ways you can access white noise, and my blog on the subject should help.
Cuddling and Swaddling
Your baby has spent nine months cuddled up close in your womb. It is very strange for them to now be out and free. A good cuddle or swaddle helps them feel back at home. I’ve found ways to incorporate both cuddles and swaddles into your photo shoots that look really beautiful and will be a reminder of reliant they were on you in these early days. These are baby soothing techniques from the Fourth Trimester Theory.
Pressure Points
A midwife first introduced my to magic of pressing on pressure points. Squeezing a baby’s feet will do wonders to calm them. I’ve since learnt that this technique comes from acupressure theory and now use two pressure points to help soothe baby: Tai Chong and Yin Tong which are both linked with relieving stress, irritability and anxiety. Tai Chong is the foot pressure point, located between the big toe and the second toe in the depression before the pad of the foot.. Yin Tong is also known as the third eye and located right between the two brows. To try this baby soothing technique, apply pressure to these points for four to five seconds.
Feeding
Sometimes, no matter what the chart says about feed time, baby is just hungry and a little top up of milk is all they need.
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