Infant

Breast Feeding Benefits

You may be well aware that breast feeding can be better for your baby but here are some of the benefits you may not have considered. Not only is it an excellent bonding experience, there are other benefits as well.

Health Benefits

There are many health benefits associated with a mother’s breast milk. For one thing, there is nothing on the market like it. There are plenty of formulas that do have similar attributes but natural milk is best if possible. There are antibodies in the mother’s milk that help your baby from a variety of illnesses and diseases. In fact, studies have shown that breast fed babies help the mothers too. Mothers who breast feed typically have lower rates of diabetes and breast cancer so not only are you helping your baby but you are helping yourself as well.

Cost Benefits

There is also the issue of cost. Breast milk is free while formulas can be very expensive.

Closeness and Bonding

One of the best benefits of breast feeding can be the bonding experience you develop with your baby. Even the baby’s father can grow closer to his baby by helping with bottle preparation and simply being near when the breast feeding is done.

Not every mother can breast feed due to a variety of reasons and that’s okay too. However, if you feel that breast feeding is right for you and your baby, you can certainly see the benefits of doing so. Breast feeding is universally accepted and you’ll love the benefits.

Filed Under: Child Development, Parenting Tagged With: Breast, Breastfeeding, Infant

Trying to Get Enough Sleep

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Once you bring that new baby home from the hospital, you find that your whole world changes. All of a sudden, that baby is making demands upon your time, your attention, and your energy. Nor can you tell that baby, “not now” like you can other people. Babies only know “right now” and expect everything they want at the moment they want it.

Unfortunately, those moments aren’t always when it is convenient for us. In fact, all too often, it seems like those moments are at the worst possible time for us. Take the middle of the night for example. Pretty much everybody knows that newborn babies don’t sleep all the way through the night. That’s such a big deal, that most couples are thrilled when their baby manages to sleep all through the night for the first time. We look at it as a major step in getting some normality back into our lives.

But, what about before that time comes where the baby actually makes it through the night, without waking us up? How can we manage that time, without pulling all our hair out or turning into zombies?

The reality is that most mothers of newborns don’t get enough sleep. They try and make it thought the night with the minimal number of interruptions, then get up in the morning and go through the whole day as if they had slept through the night. Let’s figure the math on this. You start out with your basic eight-hours-of-sleep night, then you subtract the time it takes to get the baby, change their diaper, feed the baby, and then try and get back to sleep yourself. That’s probably 45 minutes to an hour. Oh… and what if the baby gets up twice in the night? Now you’re losing somewhere between an hour and a half and two hours. Your eight hours of sleep just turned into six. No wonder you’re tired.

Just as babies need naps, mommies do to. In fact, I’d have to say that mommies need naps more than the baby does.

Filed Under: Child Development, Parenting Tagged With: Health, Infant, Sleep disorder

Stimulating Your Baby’s Awareness

Babies can be fun; it’s fun to watch them learn and explore. It’s fun to be part of the process of discovery. It’s fun and exciting to be there when they hit those milestones of development.

As parents, we have a lot to do with how our children grow and develop. While insuring a proper diet will help their bodies grow, insuring good stimulation for their brains is just as important. From the time your baby first opens its eyes, to the time it graduates from college, you need to be helping it learn about the world around it.

Babies learn by using their senses. They learn to move by feeling their body and experimenting with it, trying to copy what they see others do. They learn to talk by hearing the people around them talk and trying to mimic them. They learn what the world is like by seeing, touching and even tasting everything they can.

The first level of learning for a baby is by seeing, before they even know how to control their bodies. When they first open their eyes, a tape recorder turns on, working to remember everything seen through those new eyes. A computer turns on and works to analyze the images coming through those eyes, looking to find meaning in those images.

Interestingly enough, the first thing that a baby recognizes by seeing are human faces. It doesn’t matter whose face, whether it is in color or black & white, or even if it’s a very good rendition, they recognize it as a face. Shortly after that, they become attracted to colors, especially bright colors. That’s why so many things made for babies are bright colors; it helps stimulate them.

These visual stimulants are important for a baby’s developing awareness. It helps them learn to focus their eyes, and start recognizing things around them. Even from that first time that they open their eyes, they need this stimulation. Build them an environment that stimulates their mind, it’ll be worth it.

Filed Under: Child Development, Parenting Tagged With: Color, Infant, Stimulation

Making the Most of Visitors

Don’t feel guilty if you feel worn out and wish that someone would take your baby off your hands for a couple of hours. Every mother feels like they need a break now and then. Let’s be real here, babies are a lot of work. They can and will take every bit of time and energy you’ll give them.

As a mother, especially the mother of a newborn, it can be hard to get that break. Your baby needs you there to feed it, hold it, change it’s diapers, and watch over it. The constant need for vigilance, in and of itself, can wear you out. But, if you don’t get a break, you can burn out. That isn’t good for you or for your baby.

Here’s a way of getting a break, without having to leave your baby behind. Actually, you don’t even need to leave your house in order to get this break. Ready? Okay, here’s the idea. Have your friends come over to visit. Hold on a minute! Before your mind starts going a hundred miles an hour, thinking of all the extra work that having friends over entails, hear me out.

I’m not talking about having your friends over as in entertaining them. You don’t need to clean the house, fix a meal, and make sure everything looks like you belong on a magazine cover. Your friends know you’ve had a baby. Many of them have, or have had babies, so they know how much it can wear you out. They know how much extra work you’re doing. They understand if the house doesn’t look like a magazine cover and you don’t look like a supermodel. They even understand how appetizing a bologna sandwich can be, just because it is easy to prepare.

What I’m trying to suggest is that you let your friends come over and help you out. If nothing else, having them hold the baby for a while gives you a break. You need a break, let them do what friends do and give you that break.

Filed Under: Child Development, Parenting Tagged With: Baby, Infant, Wear

Infant Skin Issues

Infants have very sensitive skin. The environment that they are in during gestation is completely sterile. This is how they are able to avoid illness while in utero. In fact, many new parents notice that their newborns develop, what appears to be, baby acne. This usually happens within hours of birth, and can last a couple of days up to a month. The onset of baby acne is merely the effect of being exposed to a non sterile environment, and your new little ones skin is just not able to deal with the environment that, as adults, have become accustomed.

Baby acne is not the only skin issue that infants deal with. Remember, their skin is extremely sensitive. Which means that harsh cleaners are harsh on their skin. This would include detergents, shampoos, soap, lotions, oils, and even air fresheners. When using products on your newborn, it is wise to make sure that they state they are intended for use on a baby. Otherwise they can create rashes, hives, and cause extreme dryness. The other tip is that once you use a product that has no issues with your baby, continue to use the same product. Your baby does not care about scents like you do, and what is more important is that there is something that is safe being used on your infant.

One of the biggest culprits of skin rashes with infants is through their clothing. The detergents that you use leave a residue on your clothing, which in contact with your skin for hours at a time. If a baby has a sensitivity that is present with cleaners, it is best to stick with products like Dreft, or Snow. These are hypoallergenic products that guarantee that your baby’s soft skin will not be harshly affected like that of detergents that more mature skin can handle.

Filed Under: Medical Care Tagged With: Infant, Skin

Different Medical Issues That Can Arise With Infants

Having a baby that does not feel good is a tough thing for a new parent. In fact, many new parents are unsure what to do when their new baby sneezes, and are rushing the infant to the pediatrician. There are some sure tell ways to know if your baby is just sneezing, or if you baby truly needs medical help. This is by no means to replace medical advice from a doctor, so be safe, and when in doubt call your doctor.

Here are some old time and tested things to do when your baby does not feel well. For a cold, allow your little one to rest, drink plenty of fluids, and if available, to sleep near a vaporizer. This will help clear your baby’s congestion up, and help them to get feeling better faster. If at all possible, keep your infant away from other children to prevent the spread of the cold. For a fever, the rule of thumb is to allow a little one to fever until they hit 102 degrees before giving them any medication. The reason for this is because a baby’s body is programmed to fight illnesses, and anything up to 102 degrees is the body’s natural way of eliminating pathogens.

Croup cough is another scary illness that many babies suffer. Many parents tell the Doctor when they get to the emergency room, that as soon as they left the house, it stopped. The reason for that is the cold air. As soon as cold air hits the lungs of your baby, it constricts the tubes in the lungs, making it easier to breath, and clearing the air ways. If your child is experiencing an episode, try placing them in front of an open freezer, this will give your baby a rush of cold air and break the croup.

Filed Under: General Care, Medical Care Tagged With: Infant

Holding And Handling Tiny Babies

Newly born babies are so small when they are born, and most mother are grateful for that, but with that comes some extra caution when holding and handling them. Case in point, their little neck muscles are not that strong, and will not be strong for some months. It is important to always hold the back of their head to it, because if they lean back, they will not be able to pull themselves forward again. As they get a little older, say two or three months, they begin to jerk backwards in an effort to look around. This is a scary new phase because it happens so suddenly. While baby is getting stronger, and jerking back is a way of working out those little neck muscles, they still have no control over where there head goes. If doing that while being held, they can actually fall out of your arms backwards if you are only supporting them with an arm under their bottom. It is important that until they can balance on your arm, that you either lean back to force them to rest on you, or that you always use two arms to support them with.

When they are first born many doctors provide suggestions on how to hold them without causing undo stress on your back or neck. This is especially true if you have had a Cesarean and you need to watch the amount of weight your are carrying or holding. The recommendation is that you hold your baby like a football, with their head in your hand, and the rest of then on your arm, and tucked in between your arm and your body. You will be able to spot a mom who has done the before because they have a tendency of holding regular objects that while doing, what appears to be, a million other things.

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: Infant, Mothers

Time Management With New Borns

When it comes to time management with a new born, you will find that the newly born baby will no doubt dictate the schedule of the household. During the first few weeks, while you are recovering, many newborns are already dictating the type of feeding, sleeping, and waking schedule that they will have. Many parents do what they can to get the schedule to something that fits in their lives, but quickly realize that this is a much harder task than it appears to be in the beginning. The best thing that a new parent can do is simply adjust to the new pattern. If you are wondering where your baby developed this personal clock think back to when you had the most activity while pregnant, with kicking and moving. Now think about your baby’s schedule, they are probably close to the same schedule.

Some of the ways that you can adjust is by planning outings, or errands around the baby’s feeding schedule. As far as sleeping goes, baby is going to sleep no matter where you are. Their little bodies are changing and growing so fast, that exhaustion is the main sensation, other than hunger, that a baby will feel. The biggest key is making sure that baby is fed during the scheduled feeding times, or you will have one unhappy baby to deal with.

The other strategy that many parents begin to incorporate into their daily life with baby is by having a certain level of noise on in the house. By training the baby that silence is the only environment for sleeping, you will find that if you want to dishes, vacuum, or have a friend over, the baby will wake up, and be frustrated. The concept comes from realizing that while you were pregnant, the baby was surrounded for noise around the clock. This noise includes your voice, heartbeat, body functions, and yes, baby slept while developing.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Infant, New Born

Infant Care

After having a brand new baby, there are safety and health concerns that need to be addressed right away. For example, a new mom will need to be attentive to feeding schedules, amounts to feed her baby, and if the baby is handling feeding alright. The next thing to address is sleeping. The old rule of thought was that if you place a baby belly down, then when they spit up, they will not choke on their own spit up. Then it changed to having babies on their backs because there were so many cases of SIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, as a result of suffocation from being on their bellies. Today, it is encourages that babies be laid on their side.

In fact, there are special pillows made that help to have the baby laying up, partially on their side, while laying on the back on a wedged shaped block of foam. The thing to remember with newborns is that they are so weak, that whatever position you place them in for sleep, is the position they will stay in, until you pick them up again. Another pillow that has made things more comfortable for babies is the boppy pillow. This should be used during supervision, but this allows for a baby to sleep nearly sitting up. While your baby is sleeping, it is important that you either watch them, or have a monitor set up in their room for listening. This will allow you to see or hear if there is any movement, or if the baby needs your attention.

For feeding, it is best to follow your pediatricians guidance. Most recommend either breast milk or formula for the first six months. This is due in part because baby’s stomach cannot handle semi solid foods at this point in their development.

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: Infant

Breast Feeding

Breat feeding is an exciting event that mother and child can experience together. It is incredibly bonding, and according to most experts, is the single biggest thing you can do for your child’s health. However, some new mothers need help with this exercise, because babies are not always as cooperative as they need to be. Some of the issues that new moms deal with is the baby grabbing onto the nipple, instead of the areola. This can be very painful if done too often, and as a result lead to cracking and bleeding around the nipple area. To get your baby to latch onto the full part of the breast, try placing your nipple into the babies mouth, so that it rubs along the roof of his or her mouth. This creates a reflex from the baby to reach out and grab the breast to suckle. Another issue that mothers experience is preferential treatment. One breast tends to have a firmer nipple than the other, and the baby prefers the firmer or softer, and develops a pickiness for the other. This can be frustrating at times because lactation occurs equally, and the baby will not fully nurse one side. This is a good time to try a pump. Pumping can help release pressure so that the milk is released, and you can avoid a breast infection.

Some mothers find that using lanolin cream after breast feeding helps to decrease sensitivity and cracking. Pumps are always go to have, but be wary of nipple confusion. This is when a baby confuses a bottle for the breast, and then refuses the breast. If there are any questions about breast feeding, hospitals have a La Leche League foundation, where trained nursing assistant can answer questions and provide tips so that your breast feeding experience is a wonderful one.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Breastfeeding, Infant