At times, a newborn baby will be unsettled and cry to communicate. This is normal. Adjusting to hearing your baby cry can be hard, and it can take some time to get used to knowing how to respond.

Bella's baby settling checklist

Bella, a new parent, found it helped to have a baby settling checklist. She put her checklist on the fridge where she could refer to it regularly, especially when she was home alone with her daughter after her partner went back to work.

“So rather than having that anxiety led response, my husband's been really good in working at a bit of a checklist. You know? Like, is she hungry? No, we just fed her. Is she potentially cold? Do we need to change her nappy? Is it uncomfortable for her? Yeah, so it's just trying to work through the crying checklist of things that it could possibly be, rather than "I'm a terrible mother and it's all my fault." No, there's actually just a physical reason that she is upset, and we can work out what it is pretty quickly,” says Bella.

When her baby was crying, she followed the steps to help settle her daughter. Making a “Crying Checklist” might be a good way to help you feel grounded when your baby’s crying makes it difficult to think.

Here are some suggestions from Bella’s checklist for her daughter:

• Remember your husband loves you
• Remember the checklist has worked every time
• Change her nappy (even if you just did it)
• Do the burping routine
• Pat her to sleep in the cot
• Feed her a bottle

What might you put in a baby settling checklist for your baby?

Make my own baby settling checklist

We have prepared a baby settling checklist template that you can tailor to suit you and your baby.

Step 1: Download the template

Step 2: Type in the boxes to personalise and tick the boxes that apply to you

Step 3: Save to your device

Step 4: Print and display it where you will see it

More information

• Autistic Parents UK shared a blog about solving the sensory challenges. There is a great section on managing noise, specifically crying:
• Do you want more information about settling a crying baby? See NSW’s Crying Baby Factsheet
• Some babies cry more then others. This can be called PURPLE Crying.