Calming a Crying Baby Using Dr Harvey Karp’s 5 S’s Imagine if in five steps you could calm a crying baby? It's true and these steps are called the 5 S’s.

Invented by American pediatrician Dr Harvey Karp, the 5 S’s are five easy steps you can take to calm and soothe even the fussiest of babies. What Are the 5 S’s and How Do They Work? Dr Karp noticed that parents all around the world were using many strategies to help settle their babies.

He put these all together for easy reference and the 5 S’s were born! They are Swaddle, Side-Stomach Position, Shush, Swing and Suck.

1. Swaddle –babies love feeling snug and cosy. Swaddling recreates the feeling of being in the womb. When their arms are swaddled, there is less startle reflex. They also respond better to the other remaining S’s. Our Miracle Blanket makes swaddling simple. It’s soft, stretchy and so easy to use.
2. Side Stomach Position – while babies should sleep on their backs, gentle pressure on their tummy or side helps to settle them quickly. Make sure you pop them back on their backs for sleep.
3. Shushing – The womb created a whoosh noise as loud as a vacuum cleaner! So babies enjoy hearing noises which replicate this sound, like our Baby Shusher. It has two timing options, as well as volume control to let you customise it for your baby.
4. Swinging – when baby was inside the womb, they were jiggled and moved about all over the place. This helped encourage them to sleep and is why they were most active at night time when there was no movement! Slow rocking helps to keep babies calm, while faster small movements help calm a distressed baby. 
5. Suckling – babies love to suck, with thumbs and pacifiers being the most popular choices. Our Sleepytots help baby to find their dummy quicker, saving you the need to do dummy runs in the middle of the night.

Other great ways of helping baby to calm quicker and sleep better include keeping the room dark (and our blackout blinds are perfect for this), using a consistent routine and avoiding eye contact.

Our Facebook Support Group is also full of fabulous Mums and Dads who have been exactly where you are now. Come and join us for some great non-judgemental advice and support.

You can also see Dr Karp in action in this clip from the on YouTube skip to 14.10 for the 5's. Tell me in the comments what methods you use to calm your crying baby.