Few parents of babies have hours to spend reading any book from cover to cover, so I’ve designed this one for people who have only five minutes a day to concentrate on anything but their fussy babies. The book contains brief, comprehensible explanations and plenty of charts to speed up your search for answers. In the margins you’ll find comments from other parents about their fussy babies, and some wise words from medical researchers and practitioners on every aspect of babies’ crying and sleeplessness. The last two chapters are meant to help you sustain yourself through what may well be the most challenging time in your life.

One mother told me, “If my baby is going to suffer, I don’t want him to suffer alone.” Your baby shouldn’t suffer alone, and you shouldn’t, either. May this book provide the knowledge and solace you need so you can in turn help your baby to feel pain-free, comfortable, and well-loved. 

Tips For Handling Your Newborn

If your baby is sucking his fingers or fist, he may simply be hungry. Try feeding him.

Move your baby slowly to allow him time to adjust to changes in position.

Talk to him in a gentle, slow voice, as though he understood exactly what you were saying. Tell him when you plan to pick him up, and ask him if it’s all right before you do it.

Hold him so that his face is about 8 inches from yours when you want to talk with him. This is the distance at which his eyes focus best.

If your baby isn’t hungry, but he’s a little fussy, try putting him up to your shoulder. He may stop fussing to look around.

Be alert for your baby’s cues that he has had enough socializing. He may hiccup, turn his head to the side, sneeze, or begin to grimace.

Most babies don’t like to have their heads controlled, so don’t try to force him onto your breast by pushing him on the back of his head, and be sure to stretch the neck of T-shirts before pulling them over his head.

To avoid exposing your baby to sudden temperature changes, unwrap him slowly. Keep a warm blanket over him when you change his clothes or diapers, especially if the room is drafty.

If your baby startles easily, wrap him firmly in a light blanket so that his arms and legs are restrained. It may help him to feel like he’s back in the womb, which was home such a short while ago.