the 5 s's from happiest baby on the block

[justice'smom]

My 7 wk old ds has recently wanted me to do the 5 s's, well 3 out of the 5 to calm him down. I have had to do it a few times today and I'm just curious when babies are usually done age wise needing the 5 s's. I think Dr. Karp says 3 months, but I can't remember for sure. Any ideas?

[javilu]

my 3.5 month old son is currently swaddled in my lap (sleeping), and he needs to be shushed most days during his fussy afternoon times. he's found his hands, so he can suck on those, thank goodness. what else is there? i bounce him daily, too, often while shushing. in other words...he still needs most of the Ss.

[Nikola's_Mommy]

I think his idea is to create a womb-like atmosphere for 3 months after birth (like a fourth trimester).

[Phoenix~Mama]

The 5 s's really helped in the begining, and I still use a couple of them now. We don't swaddle DD anymore, but she still loves to be cuddled close in a blanket and shh'ed while being lightly bounced and rocked if she is ultra tired/fussy.

I never really thought about an age cut-off for this and I just keep doing what helps DD relax.

It is much much less in a day that I need to do this... usually just at night when she is very tired and fighting sleep.

[Emily's Mama]

I cannot even remember what all the Ss are at the moment! But my DD is 9 m onths old now and she settles to sleep MUCH better if swaddled, shushed and rocked/bounced.

oh yeah, just remembered, is another one "suck"? Well, if it is, she has to do that too, she has a pacifier to go to sleep (doesn't usually like to nurse to sleep though for some reason)

[_betsy_]

DD, now 32 months, liked the 5Ss for pretty much her first year and a half. She just can't shut down on her own, she's just wired differently. DD2 could take 'em or leave 'em for the most part.

[1littlebit]

we did them for quite awhile with DS ... now at 16 mos he just needs someone to lay with him and sometimes shush or sing. if your not in the mood to swaddle, jiggle (or w/e he calls it) and shush you could try a ring sling or a wrap and go for a walk or vacuum or something.

we actually bought two blankets and the womb sounds CD from his website. ds was on the big side and i the blankets on his site were the only ones big enough to swaddle him in. i also like the swaddle me thing. the womb sounds CD was so worth it b/c sometimes you really get sick of shushing. we loved out swing too. DS had a bit of reflux for awhile and he was just a really high needs baby. the swing was a life saver for us.

oo side note though. dp really has sensitivities to some noises and the womb sounds drove him bat sh!t crazy. he absolutely hated them.. so we used the other white noise sounds on the cd when possible

[eewieew]

Originally Posted by JSMa

The 5 s's really helped in the begining, and I still use a couple of them now. We don't swaddle DD anymore, but she still loves to be cuddled close in a blanket and shh'ed while being lightly bounced and rocked if she is ultra tired/fussy.

I never really thought about an age cut-off for this and I just keep doing what helps DD relax.

It is much much less in a day that I need to do this... usually just at night when she is very tired and fighting sleep.

yes. this. dd is 15.5 wks old.

[marge234]

Originally Posted by Nikola's_Mommy

I think his idea is to create a womb-like atmosphere for 3 months after birth (like a fourth trimester).

My memory does play tricks on me (due in a week) but I did just see Karp's DVD. He talks about a 4th trimester I think says it's minimally 3-4 months before any babies are really capable of self-soothing. I gather that if they're calm before that you're just lucky. But I also had the impression that for some babies at least some of the Ss are helpful for much longer.

[1littlebit]

what is the S that means to jiggle? all of i can think of is shake and i know thats not the word he used.

suck
shush
swaddle

what are the other two?

[justice'smom]

Thank you so much for all your replies. The reason it is driving me crazy is because for one the swaddling blanket is driving me nuts. It is supposed to be such an amazing blanket, but if he's awake and fussing he can get it loosened and then it makes him made. The other thing that drives me crazy is that he needs the s's most of the day and for long periods. A lot of times he won't even eat until I do the s's. I am now keeping a log to see if maybe I can see a pattern of what is going on.

[1littlebit]

get a swaddle-me or a kiddapotomus.. or something... one or the other maybe.. its those velcro ones! we loved them

[honeybeemac]

The best swaddle blankets are from Aden & Anais-muslin fabric. They are large (works great for larger, bigger babies) and muslin is light and breathable and work great as a park blanket, covering the carseat, etc. They have lots of uses. They are pricey, but they made some for Target that are 29.99 for 4blankets that are slighly smaller than their normal version 44x44 vs. 47x47 inches. I highly recommend these blankets-they are great!

[RoseDuperre]

Originally Posted by 1littlebit

what is the S that means to jiggle? all of i can think of is shake and i know thats not the word he used.

suck
shush
swaddle

what are the other two?

Swinging is the jiggle one. I found this:

* Swaddling - Tight swaddling provides the continuous touching and support the fetus experienced while still in Mom's womb.

* Side/stomach position - You place your baby, while holding her, either on her left side to assist in digestion, or on her stomach to provide reassuring support. Once your baby is happily asleep, you can safely put her in her crib, on her back.

* Shushing Sounds - These sounds imitate the continual whooshing sound made by the blood flowing through arteries near the womb. This white noise can be in the form of a vacuum cleaner, a hair dryer, a fan and so on. The good news is that you can easily save the motors on your household appliances and get a white noise CD which can be played over and over again with no worries.

* Swinging - Newborns are used to the swinging motions that were present when they were still in Mom's womb. Every step mom took, every movement caused a swinging motion for your baby. After your baby is born, this calming motion, which was so comforting and familiar, is abruptly taken away. Your baby misses the motion and has a difficult time getting used to it not being there. "It's disorienting and unnatural," says Karp. Rocking, car rides, and other swinging movements all can help.

* Sucking - "Sucking has its effects deep within the nervous system," notes Karp, "and triggers the calming reflex and releases natural chemicals within the brain." This "S" can be accomplished with breast, bottle, pacifier or even a finger.

I'm curious about the swinging one - could this be accomplished in a sling/wrap? It seems more comforting to me than being in a mechanical swing or a car seat. (Or just holding and swaying/jiggling.)

I love the overall approach here, because so much of it is instinctive/intuitive! My only question is about the swaddling. My focus when Lily was a wee newborn was on skin to skin as opposed to swaddling, but then again we were having nursing issues. Did anyone else feel conflicted about this? If I did one, I felt badly that I wasn't doing the other. Does anyone kind of alternate between the two as needed?

[1littlebit]

the sling and wrap worked for ds... esp. outside or w/ the vacuum on

[leila1213]

I agree with PPs and just wanted to add that IME the more time the baby is worn during the day (do it when happy instead of waiting till cranky), the less work it is to keep her calm. Just my two cents.

[1littlebit]

Originally Posted by leila1213

I agree with PPs and just wanted to add that IME the more time the baby is worn during the day (do it when happy instead of waiting till cranky), the less work it is to keep her calm. Just my two cents.

:

[runningmommy08]

DD is 6.5 months and she still loves to be shushed, jiggled, and nursed to help her relax and/or fall asleep. And we have a white noise machine in the bedroom so that is shhh'ing too, I guess.

We swaddled until just after 4 months when it seemed like she didn't need it anymore. I felt like it was actually disturbing her somewhat because she'd stir and it was an interesting project to figure out how to free herself!

Holding her in the side-lying position didn't seem to be necessary after about 3 months or so.

On the swinging...we had a mechanical swing that DD absolutely loathed. She much prefers being bounced or jiggled in arms or in a sling. I have read that some babies like to swing and some like to bounce. I definitely have a bouncer.

[Phoenix~Mama]

Yes I definitely think the wrap works for the swinging/jiggling motion.

We have a swing, but if DD is upset to the point of incorporating the 5 s's there is no way she is going to dig being put in the swing. We usually just hold her swaddled in a blanket, tummy-to-tummy and rock, bounce with her while shushing and this works so good!

It took us a little to get the sling down, but now that we do, times that she starts fussing, if I pop her in the sling and walk around she usually calms right down!


The most amazing thing! My sister didn't really by into the calming affect of the sling til this week when she was watching DD and DD was upset and my sis couldn't figure out what else she could want, so she decided to try out my sling and low and behold DD calmed right up and fell asleep! lol My sister was amazed, and I think when she finally has a LO of her own she will be asking me where I got my sling. hehe

[IlluminatedAttic]

I haven't tried the muslin blankets mentioned by the pp, though I'm going to go google them right now, but we loved the SwaddleBaby blanket. DS liked being swaddled much longer than most babies I have know, regularly until about nine months and still frequently for a few months after that, and these worked great from day one. They are HUGE but the fabric is lightweight and the contoured shape made wrapping the babe easy. Even after all the use and washings they have held up great and are ready for use with #2.