Try these baby accessories & bring relief for colic baby
Finding accessories that will help to relax a colicky baby can be difficult. There are quite a few, so I have decided to add a section that will address this very thing. I mentioned things like vibrating seats and swings, so now we will use this section to look at these so that you can choose what is best for you and your baby. Let’s look at them now!!
A baby swing is a wonderful way to soothe a fussy or colicky baby. It is also a great way for the parent to hold an infant while mom or dad sneaks a quick shower. Before you buy a baby swing, you should look at this list of handy must-have features that will make your baby swing more useful and pleasurable for you and baby.
Stability & Safety First
Since baby's safety is naturally going to be your first priority, so you will have to check all swings to be sure they have a wide base and will not tip over on the baby should he to one side. You will also have to check to see that the swing has a safety belt system; especially if you have a smaller baby. Just like in car seats, you will want a 5-point harness system in your swings because it is safer. The shoulder and hip straps help to reduce the chance that baby will slide out of the swing or learn to climb out of it.
Battery & Wind-Up
Whether you choose to get a battery-powered swing or a wind-up swing is a matter of personal choice. Of course, batteries don't last forever, so it is reasonable to assume that these can be costly over time. However, battery swings will help to eliminate the need to keep re-winding every time the swing stops moving which is about every 15 minutes or so. The wind up for a manual swing is also quite loud. Battery swings also tend have more swinging speeds and music settings to meet baby's preferences.
Speed & Sound Differences
Some babies want to be rocked to sleep slowly, while colicky babies may like to be rocked with more force. For this reason, you must choose a baby swing that has several different rocking speeds. Your baby may also have strong preferences on music, so look for swings that play music at different volumes or with no music at all. Some babies just want peace and quiet!
Reclining
Small babies will not be able to hold their head up on their own or avoid slouching forward in an upright swing, so be sure your baby swing has at least two recline positions. It also helps to weigh down the swing with a blanket placed over the baby. One of the recline positions that will come with the swing setting should be a newborn recline that allows baby to lie back far enough to avoid slouching all together. The reclining feature is also handy when older babies fall asleep while still in the swing so that you don’t have to move him.
Open Top & Flip-Out Tray
You will want to have a flip-out or fold-up tray on a swing, so that a sleeping baby can be gently removed from the swing without going through a great deal of trouble. These trays are also more convenient for the parents. An open top swing makes it easier to lift the baby out of the swing without hitting their head on the swing's upper bar as well.
The best Swings
Two of the most popular baby swings on the market today are those that are made by Graco; which is an open top and the Fisher Price Aquarium Wonders Swing. The Graco Open Top Swing features a reclining seat, multiple speed settings and soothing music. It is also a 6 time winner of best swing.
The Fisher Price Aquarium Wonders Swing has an open side, and has soothing music, reclining seat and varying speeds & is a great way to bring relief for colic baby.
Vibrating Bouncer
Baby bouncers are called many different things: baby bouncer, jolly jumper, vibrating chair, rocker chair. When shopping for one it gets quite confusing. The most common type of baby bouncer attaches to the top of a door frame. You can also buy a bouncer that has its own, free-standing frame, and these are the ones that are called a vibrating chair.
It is good for me to tell you that with all types of bouncers, your baby sits inside a padded fabric seat which cradles and supports your baby’s body in a way that is a lot like a car seat. Doorway bouncers fit your baby like a diaper with a bungee cord on it. The seat is suspended from elastic straps which attach to the door frame. Free-standing bouncers are shaped a lot like a chair, with a sling style seat attached to a heavy-duty wire frame. They are very sturdy.
Babies should not use these types of bungee bouncers until they have full control of their heads, which is usually between three and five month’s years of age. Babies should stop using the bouncer when they hit 25 pounds.
Doorway bouncers should also be positioned so that your baby’s feet just touch the floor when they are sitting in the seat so that they do not propel themselves too high. They should be positioned in the center of the door frame, so that they don’t hit the door sides. If you have a wide opening between two rooms that doesn’t have a door, you should then attach your bouncer to that door frame. If you don’t have a door-less opening, you have to wedge open the door when you set up your baby bouncer. You don’t want the door accidentally closing on your baby while they bounce around.
Many babies love the sensation of gently bouncing up and down and this is very relaxing for them. They stay quite happy bouncing for a good 20 minutes, or in the case of my daughter an hour or more. Other babies are very unsure of the instability of the bouncer and will scream to get out. If your baby likes the bouncer, it’s yet another way of relief for colic baby on days when you need to give your arms a rest.
Bouncing or vibrating chairs are very soothing for colicky babies. Many babies find the vibrating seat lulls them off to sleep in much the same way a car ride or sitting on the dryer does. Excited babies will do well without the vibrating seat turned on because they can swing their arms around madly and bounce gently up and down in place. The vibrating chairs often have toys to help stimulate the baby enough to keep a colicky baby occupied during a colicky episode. The Fisher Price vibrating chair below is a good choice for young babies.
Vibrating Bassinet
While some parents, express concern about the use of vibrating baby equipment, referencing stories of babies becoming addicted to the motion, I found that the vibrating bassinet kept me from loosing my mind with my colicky daughter, and she loved it. The Fisher Price vibrating infant seat was a great start for traveling, but I needed something I could use at home.
That’s when I discovered the Fisher Price vibrating bassinet which helped her to sleep more than an hour at a stretch and in fact, it helped her transition to full night’s sleep faster. Neither of these items led to a vibration dependency.
Because my daughter didn't sleep much as a newborn was supposed to thanks to the colic, she was often overtired and fussy, needing to be held and cuddled. The vibrating car seat helped her to relax or sleep but still be with me. I found it especially handy when I wanted to take a shower or bath. The baby sat happily in the bathroom with me for 20 minutes and didn’t make a sound. It was also one of the few ways I could put her down so that I could do other things like cleaning etc.
She liked the seat so much that I decided to buy the vibrating bassinet for nighttime. Because the vibrating bassinet was so soothing to her, I learned that I could place her in a blanket and put her in it while she was still awake. She would fall asleep and stay asleep for 4 to five hours at first as she was 4 weeks old when I bought it, and as she got bigger, she slept for longer. That meant that she learned early on to fall asleep without my having to hold and cuddle her.
The bassinet runs on a single C battery, so you should be able to get a couple of nights before having to replace it. When it is running, the strength of the vibration will gradually decrease and then stop sometime in the middle of the night while the baby is in it. This was important to ensuring that the baby didn't become dependent on the vibrations for sleep. My daughter learned to sleep without problems, until the baby learned to sleep in the bassinet even after it had stopped vibrating.
When she was 3 months old, I was able to transfer her to a regular crib. She had no trouble falling asleep on her own in the crib and staying that way. I also loved the vibrating bassinet because it was very easy to bring around with me as it folded easily. I honestly think this was the best $50 I ever spent!!!!