Support strategies for unsettled and crying periods
Babies do not function like clockwork, but that does not stop many parents from trying to develop a realistic plan to help them attain some form of organisation (be it even a little) in their day (and perhaps a more undisturbed night). In the first 4 to 6 weeks or so after the birth, most new babies will tend to demand that their needs be met immediately, with little to no obvious routine as to when they will want it! This is very normal. As your baby grows, you may start to notice their demands become less intense and immediate, with their feeding, sleeping and unsettled periods moving into a kind of routine, of sorts.
In the early weeks after the birth, both you and your baby will learn about sleeping and settling 'on the job'. Most parents need to experiment with various settling strategies, to enable them to work out the best way to comfort and soothe their baby. Most of this learning is done through 'trial and error', before you work out which particular methods seem to work for you and your individual baby.
You may already be relying on certain
cues, and/ or trying to implement some
sleep associations to help your baby to fall asleep. However, many parents find they can have difficulty calming and relaxing their baby before these can be used. This may be because your baby is overtired, upset or crying a lot for no apparent reason. If this is the case, you may also need to use some settling techniques.
Part of using settling techniques is being able to identify possible pre-sleep signs in your baby. When you notice these signs you can start to slow down, or stop, the settling technique. The aim is to settle your baby until they have calmed, or wound-down, so you can give them their 'cue' or 'sleep association', or simply put them in bed so they can drift off to sleep by themselves.
The 'pre-sleep' signs you may be looking for can include: