What’s the healthiest way to calm your baby?

Following the birth of our beautiful second son Jasper, I thought this article and study was quite interesting. If you are feeling stressed and need to calm down how about just jumping into your mums arms!

Researchers show that human babies and mouse pups alike automatically and deeply relax when they are carried

Parents know that crying babies usually calm down when they are picked up and carried, but why is that? Researchers from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Japan show that human babies and mouse pups alike automatically and deeply relax when they are carried. Publishing in the journal Current Biology, the team led by Dr. Kumi Kuroda demonstrate that the infant calming response to maternal carrying is a coordinated set of nervous, motor and cardiac regulations.

The scientists propose that it might be an evolutionarily conserved, and essential, component of mother-infant interaction. “This infant response reduces the maternal burden of carrying and is beneficial for both the mother and the infant,” explains Dr. Kuroda.

In a series of experiments involving electrocardiography (ECG) measurements, the team observed that the heart rates of babies greatly slowed down immediately after they were picked up and carried. But this was not the case if they were simply held. Using a very small ECG system on non-anesthetized mouse pups, they were able to observe the same phenomenon in mice.

Both human and mouse babies calm down and stop moving immediately after they are carried, and mouse pups stop emitting ultrasonic cries. Mouse pups also adopt the characteristic compact posture, with limbs flexed, seen in other mammals such as cats and lions.

The researchers determined that in mice this calming response is dependent on tactile inputs and proprioception, the ability to sense and understand body movement. They also report that it is mediated by the parasympathetic nervous system and a region of the brain called the cerebellum.

These findings have important implication for parenting and could contribute to preventing child abuse. “Such proper understanding of infants would reduce frustration of parents and be beneficial, because unsoothable crying is major risk factor for child abuse,” says Dr. Kuroda.