Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/B1fm8Emghm4

 

Walking with your crying baby will induce calm and promote sleep better than merely sitting and holding the child.  Japanese social scientists report this conclusion after studying the responses of 21 infants as their moms tried to calm them and induce their sleep by either walking them, sitting with them, or placing them in a crib with or without rocking.

 

Walking the babies calmed them and induced slower heart rates within 30 seconds, and the effects worked best when the holding and walking continued for 5 minutes.  Almost half the babies fell asleep.  Problem is, if the baby is laid down in the crib or bassinet after the 5 minutes, one-third awaken.  By holding the babe for another 8 minutes after the 5 minute walk, they will fall asleep and stay that way.

 

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(22)01363-X?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS096098222201363X%3Fshowall%3Dtrue#%20

 

#infants #sleep #parenting #walking #5to8