Your own wellbeing matters a lot when you have a fussy baby
This page belongs to collection of short articles and videos in plain language, called When baby cries a lot in the first few months of life. Together, these articles and videos will give you a brief and simple summary of the Possums 5-domain approach to the crying baby. For comprehensive information on this topic, please consider reading The discontented little baby book.
Because having a crying baby impacts our own well-being, you’ll need support from both family and friends (if this is available), and from your own GP or qualified health professional.
It is also incredibly important to be very kind to yourself. This is something you can start doing, right away. Here are a few ideas.
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Take time to enjoy things that you can see, hear, feel, smell or taste. Pay careful attention to each experience: a cup of tea or coffee, a walk outside, your favourite music, good food or a treat, the scent of flowers, the scent of your baby.
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Place your hand on your heart and imagine healing light flowing into your heart.
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Imagine you are bathed in a waterfall of healing light and protection. Talk to yourself in your mind (or even out loud!) as if you are your own best friend. (I’ve found this takes practice, but the more I do it, the better I get at it.)
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Talk to yourself as if you are a very loving parent comforting the child part of you who is upset and worried.
You might like to read or listen to the collection called Caring for you, starting here.
Acknowledgements
I'm grateful to Professor Sophie Havighurst, Ros June, and Caroline Ma at Mindful, The University of Melbourne, for their feedback on the articles and videos in When baby cries a lot in the first few months of life. They helped me keep the language plain and the concepts as accessible as possible, for this brief and simple version of the Possums 5-domain approach to the crying baby.
Recommended resources
Three things to know about your brain's thinking processes after you've had a baby
How to work out what really matters when you have baby or toddler sleep problems
