<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/for-parents-stressed-by-a-crying-baby-help-is-on-the-way/>
"British comedy writer Emily-Jane Clark is best known for penning the BBC
sketch “Women have told everyone to just f**k off.” But that sharp humor is a
world away from her experience of motherhood 10 years ago — when her baby’s
continuous crying had her in a “constant state of panic.”
“The sound of my daughter crying filled me with anxiety, and all these horrible
thoughts would come into my head,” Clark says. Her newborn daughter went
through a stage of waking up crying at night every half hour, she recalls,
compounding the sinking sense that she was a terrible parent that simply wasn’t
up to the job.
“I was overwhelmed by the idea that this is it forever now, and it’s all down
to me to keep this baby alive, but I couldn’t do it. It was confusing, because
you think, ‘am I feeling like this because I’m exhausted and sleep deprived, or
am I depressed?’ I couldn’t work out what was causing what.”
Eventually, Clark was referred by a health professional to Home-Start UK, an
organization that offers weekly home visits to struggling parents for as long
as they need it. That face-to-face support, Clark believes, “saved my sanity.”
Organizations like Home-Start are often little known and underfunded, but
provide an essential service. They give reassurance, advice, more specialist
support, and sometimes, just a break while a stressed parent takes some time
out. Many are available to anyone, regardless of income level or background.
Cry-sis, a volunteer-run UK hotline is available from morning to late evening
for a small per-minute fee (to help cover their costs). Also in the UK, infant
crying resource program ICON helps educate health professionals across the
country on what information to give to new parents. In Germany, Austria,
Switzerland and Luxembourg, the “Schreibaby Ambulanz” — which translates to
“Crybaby Outpatient Clinic” — offers phone support and a home visit within 48
hours.
Likewise, the Fussy Baby Network in the US, which runs in Chicago, Denver,
Phoenix, Seattle, Berkeley and Oakland has infant specialists who take calls
via a “warmline” between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays, promising a call back
within 48 hours and a home visitor soon after if needed."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
