Guest Beatrix123 Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 Please can anyone offer advice for a baby who will not settle. She is now 15 months and has been with us for 3 months and still becomes distressed for most of the time. No amount of cuddles and distraction will pacify her. Her keyworker is starting to become rather demoralised and although we encourage other staff to give her breaks throughout the day, she says she can still hear the crying. I have found singing to her and looking out the window helps. Any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated. Beatrix123
Stargrower Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 What do her parents say? How to they comfort her at home? She started with you at around a year which can be an incredibly clingy age as she would have already started to become aware of strangers and needing the comfort of familiar adults. Did her parents spend time settling her in to nursery and getting to know her key person? Does she bring comfort objects from home? We make Family Books for our little ones. We ask parents to bring or email photos of family, pets, favourite toys etc. and we make these into a little book which children love to look at while they're at nursery. The other thing you could consider is changing her key person. Not that I'm implying that she's done anything wrong, but sometimes the relationship just doesn't evolve as we'd like it to. Is there anyone the little girl seems more settled with? I think more important than anything is keeping communication going with parents and making a plan with them to help her settle. Good luck! 1
SueFinanceManager Posted December 2, 2013 Posted December 2, 2013 Hi Beatrix123 Welcome to the forum and congratulations on making your first post If she can be mollified by singing then although you might look a little odd why not sing your way around the setting.... Choose a tune in your head or make one up and sing "we off to read a story book a story book etc"and then sing a story and when she is calm stop singing it and read it Again, sing you way to a tactile activity like playdough etc and make up a song or choose a song that pits...it your makig a cake shape sing pat a cake etc Maybe she needs that soothing sing song sound to help distract her. Also have another chat with mum and dad as maybe they just left her a bit soon Good luck Sue Admin team
Upsy Daisy Posted December 2, 2013 Posted December 2, 2013 I have had a child a little like this and I found it helped if I asked his mother to provide a top each day that she had worn or slept with. I would then put this between my clothes and the child when cuddling him and the familiar, comforting smell seems to help.I also asked for some of her washing powder to use for washing the bedding he used for naps. 2
Panders Posted December 2, 2013 Posted December 2, 2013 I have had a child a little like this and I found it helped if I asked his mother to provide a top each day that she had worn or slept with. I would then put this between my clothes and the child when cuddling him and the familiar, comforting smell seems to help. I also asked for some of her washing powder to use for washing the bedding he used for naps. I used to do the clothes thing with mine as babies anything with my "scent" on it ( bit primeval I suppose ) 2
Guest Beatrix123 Posted December 6, 2013 Posted December 6, 2013 thank you very much for the replies, sorry not to have got back sooner, been a very busy week, but have got today off. She does bring comfort items, from home, and we increased her number of settle ins at the beginning,(had about 10 visits) when we realized she was not settling well. I will ask her key worker, to try the photos, although i have in the past found that seeing a photo of mummy can make the situation worse. I believe her mother would rather not change her key worker. I was very interested in the idea with mothers clothing, and her key worker will discuss this with her mother, also the washing powder. We do sing songs re routines already, ie going in the garden, wash hands, coats on.....etc. we will discuss taking this further. She does seem to prefer more traditional songs, which are more familiar to her. We try to sing the ones her mother sings. Thank you once again everyone who replied.
Upsy Daisy Posted December 6, 2013 Posted December 6, 2013 Do you have a tv or a laptop? I've just remembered using BBC iPlayer to play the child's favourite tv programmes to help him calm down. A good tactic was getting him involved in the tv then, just before the programme finished, getting some interesting toys out and playing with them in front of him. He then engaged with the toys while still calm from the tv.It wasn't a miracle cure but it sometimes helped.
Recommended Posts