Do I let her cry or always pick her up to comfort her?

[sarahlou31]

My daughter is 5 weeks old and is really fussy in an afternoon. She will play happily in her bouncy chair or play mat and then all of a sudden will start to cry for no apparent reason. Generally I think she's crying because she wants picking up but also specifically by me as the only way to calm her down is by picking her up and rocking her. She doesn't calm down for my husband even when he does exactly the same rocking as me. I've been always comforting her rather than letting her cry but I have tried a couple of times to see if she'll calm herself down but she seems to get more hysterical and I can't bear it do pick her up. Is this ok at this age or should I leave her for longer to see if she'll calm herself down. My gut feeling is she's too young to calm herself down but I've read that much conflicting advice that I don't know what the best thing is to do. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Pick her up every single time, she is tiny and needs her mummy! I've never left my children to cry, they've napped in my arms, the whole caboodle! And I have lovely secure children now who love their own beds and who I have to pin down for a cuddle! Honesty, in the first few years of a baby's life, they should be cuddled and loved. It make secure babies. Stuff all the rod for your own back nonsense

Your daughter is 5weeks old she has spent the last 9months inside you, all she wants and needs is to be close to you. Google the 4 trimesters, I found it an easy was to understand what they need in the early weeks.

Please don't let her cry, babies this young can not self settle. She becomes more hysterical the longer she's left because she needs YOU. She is not being needy or clingy she needs physical contact.

It really does worry me how many of these threads pop up, I think our culture expects too much of young babies and are not giving new monthers the right information or support.

I had the exact same experience as you OP only a couple of months ago. Every time I put my lo down even to go to the loo she would start crying, I asked my HV about this at my 6 week check. I got told I was spoiling her, she'd never get used to being on her own and just to let her cry. She's now 12 weeks old and is far better at sitting in her bouncy chair for up to half an hour or so - as others have said, she's still so little, it's natural. I was so upset with my HV and I'm glad I ignored her.

I picked up my gigantic 9 year old today when he cried after he got pushed over by an older kid and hurt his elbow (quite badly, too). There's no way on earth you can spoil your children with too much contact at that early stage, pick her up and enjoy the cuddles.