How do you wean a child from your hands?

Before weaning a child from being held, you need to ask yourself: in what cases does a baby ask to be held? Because not in all cases does a child need to be weaned from being held, sometimes mom's or dad's hands are a real salvation for a baby. For example, when a child is sick.

Reasons why a child asks to be picked up

A child may ask to be held for five reasons: hunger, wet diapers, uncomfortable air temperature, pain, and a thirst for communication.

Hunger

If the child is hungry, he just needs to be fed. Until the child is one year old, he can eat a lot and often, especially in the first month, when the baby's eating habits are just forming. But if the child is full during feeding, he may want to eat no earlier than 2.5 - 3 hours - this is the interval between feedings, which must be observed, at least in the first six months of the child's life.

True, if the mother has little milk or the baby is not sucking, he may ask to eat every hour. And then feeding can help wean the baby from hands - after all, the main goal, satisfying hunger, is accomplished.

Wet diapers

Here it is enough to simply change the nappies or diapers. And then the child will simply not cry anymore, ask to be picked up - he will have no reason to do this. When changing nappies, you need to pay attention to whether the child has diaper rash, which bothers the baby's delicate skin. After each change of diapers, the baby needs to be washed and wiped dry so that the skin does not get irritated and does not turn red. It is advisable to lubricate each fold on the baby's legs with baby oil or baby powder. Then the child will not be bothered by pain and will have no reason to ask to be picked up.

Poor temperature conditions

Due to temperature changes, a baby, especially a baby, may often cry and ask to be picked up. This happens especially often due to overheating. For a baby in the first year of life, overheating is much more uncomfortable than hypothermia. Many grandmothers and mothers do not understand this and wrap up the baby too much or raise the temperature in the house to unthinkable numbers. Their goal is to prevent the baby from catching a cold or getting sick. But they achieve the opposite effect. The baby overheats, cries because of discomfort and then gets sick for a long time. Increased heart rate, difficulty breathing, nervous overexcitement of the baby - this is what parents achieve by overheating him too much.

Therefore, there should be a thermometer in the baby's room, and on it - no more than 25 degrees for a child up to a month old, and no more than 24 degrees - for a child up to three months. This is during the day. And at night the temperature in the newborn's room should be no more than 22 degrees.

If the temperature in the baby's room is normal, he will not cry and ask to be picked up, unless there are other reasons for concern.

The baby got sick

If this is the case, the baby will cry continuously and even picking him up may not help. In this case, the baby should not be left unattended. Hold him in your arms as long as necessary so that the baby feels protected. In this situation, a doctor's consultation is necessary. If it is not there, the parents may not be able to navigate the situation and deprive the baby of timely help.

Need for communication

If the baby wants to communicate more with adults (as a rule, this happens starting from three months of age), you need to support him in this. But this does not mean that you do not need to let the baby out of your arms and run to his every cry. It's just that the child is sociable, and for parents there should be no more important activities than communicating with their baby.

You can hold him in your arms for a few minutes. And then, if the child is well-fed, dry and not sick, he can play next to you, crawling on the floor or be nearby, in a stroller or playpen. If the child sees that mom or dad is nearby, he will not worry and will gradually learn to play independently.

The baby should have entertainment and games that are appropriate for his age. For a baby, these can be bright toys hanging above the crib. For an older child, dolls, rabbits, and so on - something he can play with with interest. Independent play can begin in a child after 4 months, before this period, as a rule, a child can ask to be held only due to physiological needs.

Mom and dad who want to wean their child from being held should take into account his age characteristics (a child under 4 months requires more physical care). It is also important to talk to the baby more, sing songs to him - then he will need to be held less.