More help for Norfolk Parents with Crying Babies and Safer Sleeping

This week is national safer sleep week and the Norfolk Safeguarding Children Partnership is sharing its latest initiatives to help the families of Norfolk.

‘Safer Sleep’ and ‘All Babies Cry’ are two closely linked campaigns specifically created to provide simple, easy advice for new parents in Norfolk. Both initiatives have been created with the help of local NHS services, Norfolk Constabulary, Norfolk County Council and families.

Safer sleep week is promoted each year and this year the initiative has a refreshed look offer clear advice all year round. Put babies on their back to sleep. Make sure babies have their own clear, flat space to sleep in. If you’re considering co-sleeping, speak to a health professional for advice and keep babies in a smoke free environment. More information is available on: JustOneNorfolk.nhs.uk/SaferSleep.

‘All Babies Cry’ launched at the end of last year to help support the many families with new arrivals during lockdown. Most babies will cry more often from 2 weeks old and cry most when they are around 6 – 8 weeks old. All babies are different and some cry more than others, which can be hard to cope with.

Ellie and Jack Luther from Attleborough became new parents during lockdown and shared their experiences over the past few months, after finding the campaigns when looking for help. 

“All Babies Cry has been really useful. I learnt that I can put Isla down in a safe place, step out of the room for a minute, breath, ground myself and then walk back in. Although I didn’t put everything I’ve learnt into practice straight away, it’s definitely stayed with me. I’ve realised its ok for Isla to be upset, it’s ok for her to be irritated. It’s difficult when you’re in the heat of the moment to do something about it, unless you’ve had a look at the information beforehand.”

New dad Jack added:

“We’re not the only people in this boat; we’re not on our own. We might be in the house on our own, but all families are going through something similar, if not the same. The crying used to make me think I’m a bad dad, because I thought I should be able to get her to sleep or I should be able to settle her. It’s actually really not the case. It’s just the situation I was in at that time.”

The main points for families to remember are; all babies cry. Sometimes you can try everything and they will still cry. You can put your baby down in a safe place – it’s ok to take a minute. Never shake your baby and speak to someone if you need help.

‘All Babies Cry’ is launching its second wave of promotion, which includes a dedicated online forum to give families the opportunity to speak to other families in similar situations. The online community is a moderated by professionals and can be found on JustOneNorfolk.nhs.uk/AllBabiesCry.

Chair of Norfolk Children Safeguarding Partnership, Chris Robson said:

“We are delighted that these initiatives are popular with families and we will continue to build on these resources with the help of the Norfolk community. We are now including Norfolk professionals as part of each campaign, by hosting themed training sessions to support the sharing of information. This is all part of larger ‘protecting babies strategy’, which aims to offer families more support and consistent advice as a Norfolk-wide system.”

For any families needing help and advice with their baby, they can call 0300 300 0123, text 07520 631 590 or visit JustOneNorfolk.nhs.uk