KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasTechnique Helps Sooth Crying Babies

Technique Helps Sooth Crying Babies

Newborn twins Emma and Amelia are resting peacefully now, but life is anything but peaceful for their parents with days and nights filled with crying.

Britt Paxton, mother of the twins, said, "They're the bosses. They run the household. We've gotten four to five hours of sleep and then there's days when we only have two hours a night."

In the hopes of salvaging some sleep, Britt and Craig Paxton are taking a new class at the University of Michigan Hospital using a doll.

Registered Nurse Jennifer Zeman is teaching parents how to quiet crying babies.

Zeman said, "Just that light constant jiggling they love it."

The techniques were formulated by Doctor Harvey Karp in his book The Happiest Baby on The Block.

Dr. Mallika Marshall, with CBS News, said, "The idea is to simulate the sounds and feelings newborns had in the womb. That's done with a series called the 5 S's."

The first "S" is tightly swaddling the baby in a blanket; next "S" is to hold them on their side.

Jennifer Zeman explained the third and fourth "S", "They're screaming, you turn them a little down to their side and they calm right down. If they're not calm at this point, you want to do a gentle swing and a gentle jiggle. You can use your thumb for sucking or you can use a pacifier."

And the final "S" is sushing -- simulating the sound of the womb.

Zeman said, "Remember you want the sushing to match the loudness of their cry so very, very loud down in their ear -- shhhhhh."

It doesn't work every single time but nurses say the techniques are effective.

The bleary-eyed Paxtons just hope it will help the twins sleep a little more so they can too.