Japanese scientists discover what we do wrong to put babies to sleep

A baby yawns in his crib. Getty Images Rocking and walking with the baby is essential to calm the little one Another key point is to keep him on your lap once he has fallen asleep After five minutes of walking in the arms all the children in the study stopped cryingWalking the baby in arms to stop crying is as old as the world. Now a Japanese scientific study corroborates it and improves it. The work published in the journal Current Biology and carried out by the RIKEN center in Japan finds the key for the little ones to calm down and sleep. The formula is to walk with the baby in your arms for five minutes and once calm, do not leave him in the crib if not sit with him on your lap for another five minutes at least, before leaving him in his bed. The study ensures that this is the first phase of sleep, in which it is easier to wake up, so keeping the baby together until you sleep soundly is essential. The system, according to the researchers, would ensure that 65% of the children did not wake up after leaving them in the crib. The movement calms Four modalities were investigated: walking with them in your arms, putting them in a rocking chair, sitting with them on your lap, or letting them in a crib The first options proved to be the most effective. This indicates that movement is essential to calm the little ones. After that walk, almost half of the little ones had fallen asleep and all had stopped crying. Kumi Kuroda, the person in charge of the study, assures that the children fall asleep independently if they are walked by their mother, father or another caregiver. “The important thing is that it is a person with whom you feel safe,” she assures the newspaper El País. But walking is not enough. To help them sleep soundly, the study says you need to hold them for at least five minutes once they’ve fallen asleep. The study has been carried out on 21 babies up to 7 months of age. A figure that the researchers themselves admit is small and will need to be expanded in future research. In addition, the experiments were only carried out on babies who were crying, their effectiveness has to be tested in other circumstances. The scientific discovery clashes with pediatric theories that recommend not sleeping babies in arms.