As I sit here repeating "there, there, there, there" in my crying granddaughter's ear, she is almost 7 months old, I find myself wondering what other words can be used to calm a baby? I have tried "shhhhhhh shhhhhhhhh shhhhhhh". Each time, she quiets for a few minutes, then I switch to the other. Any suggestions welcome!

Sorry, Morgan, I missed this post on Wednesday, and it is waaaayyyyy too late now. However, a pediatric nurse that I know has the greatest secrets for calming babies. One of my favorites: opening and shutting the refrigerator door; the baby is intrigued by the light going off and on. Sounds ridiculous, but it works when they are inconsolable (of course, with no other reasons, like hunger, dirty diaper, etc.)

As a "terminal Mother" (once a Mom, always a Mom till you die) (the telltale behavior is the reflexive head turn to any small voice in the grocery store calling "Mommy!" even tho yours is grown and gone a decade...) one good solver
is an old fashioned rocking chair, one that tips back and forth. (These modern 'gliders' or the spring-loaded ones dont do as well.) There's something about the heart-beat speed rhythm of the internal ear balance and belly fluids feeling the motion.

Another surprising method in a psychological way was discovered in an acoustics laboratory where a child's crying was electronically recorded and played back to the child with a two or three second delay. (High quality room speakers, not earphones.) At last report the reasons were still speculative, but total surpise and bafflement in the kid's "known" familiar rules of environmental physics may have had something to do with it.

I'm giggling uncontrollably at that last paragraph, epi.

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the telltale behavior is the reflexive head turn to any small voice in the grocery store calling "Mommy!" even tho yours is grown and gone a decade

And I thought I was the only mom to do that!