'Smart crib' can soothe baby with sensory stimuli

A combination of sensory stimuli -- by way of swaddling, sound and movement -- can effectively help parents to soothe their crying babies, according to a study.

Researchers, including those from the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in the Netherlands, discovered an immediate calming response, irrespective of whether the infant was soothed by its parent or a 'smart crib'.

A frequently crying infant can have a major impact on both the infant itself and its parents, according to the study published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Parents of excessively crying infants are often exhausted and experience symptoms of depression, researchers said.

Excessive crying is even associated with infant hospitalisation and shaken baby syndrome, they said.

There are, however, no proven effective prompt soothing methods for excessively crying infants under the age of six months.

Researchers from SEIN, the expertise centre for epilepsy and sleep medicine, and the UvA investigated whether the combination of ...