Shush Pat
The Shush Pat
Time and time again i’ve heard the same situation happening and parents struggle with finding the right solution to go about solving it.
Your newborn is all swaddled up, you have the white noise going, they are fed, and ready for sleep. You’ve spent the past 15 minutes bouncing them in your arms and your little one is finally settled and seemingly fast asleep. You slowly ease them down into the bassinet and BOOM, your baby is wide-eyed staring right back at you and MAD. Now you have to go and pick them up and start this process all over again. This can be so frustrating and beyond exhausting for parents who already haven’t slept all night.
So what now?
I have an excellent method that I use for settling newborns, called ‘The Shush Pat’.
The Shush Pat helps with settling your baby in their own sleep space and transition away from being held, rocked, or fed to sleep.
You start by swaddling your baby, have the white noise machine going, and hold them in your arms patting their back rhythmically. Once they’re nice and drowsy, place them in their bassinet with their feet towards your stomach, and roll them onto their side supporting them with one of your arms. With the other arm you are going to rhythmically pat their back. Increase the intensity and speed of your patting to match your baby’s crying to try and help calm your baby. Persevere for 3-5 minutes with the patting and shushing before picking your baby up for a big cuddle to help them get calm and ready for sleep again. Place them back in their bassinet when they are calm and drowsy again and continue with the patting. Frequent picking up and putting down is very stimulating for your baby to try and avoid yo-yoing them between your arms and the bassinet. Stay calm and persistent, it works!
Once your baby is asleep, continue patting for 7-10 minutes and slowly reduce the amount of patting and your pace. Stopping too soon could undo all your hard work.
Try using The Shush Pat for 30 minutes before going to a back up method to settle like wearing them in a carrier, or putting them in a swing, and try again at their next nap!