Comfortable babies are happy babies. They tend to sleep better and fuss less when their stomachs are full, diapers are clean, clothes are soft, and blankets are cozy.
Comfort and Communication
When babies are uncomfortable, they let their caregivers know. They cry, fuss, whimper, and whine until someone comes along and provides comfort. It’s nature’s way of protecting them. An infant’s ability to communicate her discomfort allows her parents to provide timely care, which promotes trust and helps prevent illness and
injury.
While parents want their babies to let them know when something’s wrong, most would probably prefer to prevent their children from becoming upset in the first place. This isn’t always possible; babies are going to wet their diapers and get hungry.
However, parents can sometimes ward off fussiness and upset by dressing their babies in snug clothing and using soft, cozy blankets. A baby’s skin is delicate, so it’s important to use fabrics and materials that won’t irritate it. Itchy, inflamed skin will keep an otherwise happy baby fussy, sleepless, and miserable.
Organic Materials
It’s smart to use blankets and clothing made from organic cotton.
Organic cotton is breathable, soft, smooth, and pure. Organic fabrics may help alleviate eczema symptoms and other skin conditions.
Choosing organic fabrics is environmentally responsible. Many of the pesticides and fertilizers used to treat cotton pollute the air and water supply. Organic cotton is grown without the use of these pesticides and fertilizers. This helps sustain a healthy environment. Buy baby comforters and other items made from organic cotton to help ensure a healthy future for your child.
Self-Soothe
Infants don’t have the ability to self-soothe when they’re born. They’re reliant on their caregivers to help them settle. As they grow older, they learn ways to calm themselves. Some of them suck their thumbs. Others rely on a comfort object, such as a favorite blanket or stuffed animal, to relax.
Gaining the ability to self-soothe is an important developmental milestone, and it gives parents a much-needed reprieve because it helps babies put themselves back to sleep at night.
Comfort Objects
There’s a surprising amount of controversy surrounding the use of comfort objects. Some people believe young children shouldn’t use them at all. They fear they’ll become too reliant on them. Others think they should only be used at home and not at daycare or in other social settings.
However, there’s plenty of research that says there’s nothing wrong with allowing children to use a blanket or stuffed animal to self-soothe. In fact, children that use a comfort object may be better able to self-regulate even when they don’t have access to the object than children that don’t use one.
Takeaway
Keeping babies comfortable isn’t always easy, but there are things you can do to help them stay happy and calm. Other than making sure their diapers are clean and stomachs are full, you can supply them with blankets and clothing free of chemical irritants that may aggravate their skin. Encouraging them to carry a small, soft blanket can help them learn to self-soothe, which is an important developmental milestone.
Providing babies with the care and tools they need for healthy development leads to a strong child that will thrive in almost any environment.
