5 Ways To Deal With A Whiny Baby

Up to the age of three years, babies do not have the reasoning abilities. They are purely driven by the needs and emotions and need the parent’s support to manage any feelings that overwhelm them. Usually, they whine to express themselves.

Babies tend to whine often and that can be testing for your patience. But why do babies whine? And how should you respond to it as parents? A whining baby can test your patience, especially when you do not see a reason for it. The following tips should help you the next time your little one whines.

* Stay calm, be patient

If your baby whines, then it is for a reason. Do not let the whining annoy or anger you, no matter how difficult it gets. You are the only one who can understand your baby’s whining. Also, you will not become a bad parent just because your baby whines frequently. Therefore, take deep breaths, stay calm, and be patient. If the situation is exhausting you, take a break. Give the baby to your partner or any other caretaker, go for a walk, and come back. Even a 10-minute break would bring back your sanity.

* Breastfeed for relief

Breastfeeding not just provides the much-needed nourishment to your baby but is also a time of bonding between the mother and baby. The next time your baby whines, just hold them in your arms and feed. Skin-to-skin contact and your heartbeat can calm your baby’s whining.

* Teach your baby basic yet useful communication

You can make your baby learn simple sounds or expressions to convey specific emotions. For example, when the baby whines, you can show the milk bottle and ask, “Are you hungry?”. If the baby stops crying and reaches out for the bottle, then you just fixed your baby’s whining!The baby will eventually connect hunger with the bottle and understand that the solution to his hunger is the bottle. You can teach your baby about such object-cause-effect relationships through simple words and sign language.

* Eliminate the probable sources of whining

Does your baby always whine if a sibling or playmate takes their toys away? If yes, sort the matter by getting your elder child a new toy. Does your baby whine when being held by a certain family member? Let that member keep away from the baby. Check for such inconspicuous stimuli for your baby’s whining and eliminate them to mitigate whining.

* Rock your baby

It is a time-tested trick that works so well that experts recommend it for crying and whining babies (6). Hold the baby on your shoulder, and rock them back and forth. You can also hold your baby in your arms and sit on a rocking chair or put them in a rocking cradle to subdue the whining.