http://www.galenfrysinger.com/azores.htm
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/canary_islands.htm
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/island_of_jersey.htm
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/falkland_islands.htm
Friday, May 23, 2008
kalavathi
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/jaipur_palace_of_the_winds.htm
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/jaipur_textiles.htm
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/jaipur_textiles.htm
kalavathi
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/jaipur_hindu_temple.htm
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/jaipur_home_dinner.htm
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/jaipur_elephant_ride.htm
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/jaipur_jantar_mantar.htm
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/jaipur_home_dinner.htm
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/jaipur_elephant_ride.htm
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/jaipur_jantar_mantar.htm
Thursday, May 22, 2008
kalavathi
Baby Development
- A Trip at the Speed of Light!
Babies follow a quite predictable line of development during their first year. First they just sleep, then become a bit more awake, starts to smile, then talk etc.
It is fun to know what to look for and what you can do to encourage your baby.
But don't become competitive! Babies are different. If your baby rolls over early or late compared to the average says absolutely nothing about the prospects of him becoming a doctor or a rockstar or a happy person for that matter...
Our oldest son didn't walk until he was 20 months old. That is considered quite late by any time table. Was it a problem? No! Was he unnormal? No! He just liked crawling, I suppose!
Most kids are completely normal, whether they are early or late compared to the statistical development milestones.
Of course, if you are worried that something might be wrong with your baby, promptly talk to a pediatrician!
As a parent, if you are the one responsible for taking care of the baby all day long, it can become quite tedious to try to entertain the little one unless you know what to do.
Knowing a bit about baby development and what the baby might be interested in at different stages help.
Below you can learn about your baby's development month by month as well as find tips on what you can do to encourage your baby at different stages.
Baby Development Month by Month
Your Newborn BabyYour 1-Month-Old Baby
Your 2-Month-Old Baby
Your 3-Month-Old Baby
Your 4-Month-Old Baby
Your 5-Month-Old Baby
Your 6-Month-Old Baby
Your 7-Month-Old Baby
Your 8-Month-Old Baby
Your 9-Month-Old Baby
Your 10-Month-Old Baby
Your 11-Month-Old Baby
Your 12-Month-Old Baby
If you're wondering what clothes to buy to your baby, check out our tips for baby clothing gifts.
And if someone wants to buy a present for your baby, you'll find tips on baby toy gifts here.
Your baby's first year is so short! Before you know it, your infant will start moving around, trying to grab and taste everything. By then it is very important to start making your house baby proof.
kalavathi
Breastfeeding
How To Make It Work
-"What on earth do you do all day long?"
In the morning my husband left me breastfeeding our daughter, sitting on the couch in my dressing gown. In the evening when he came back home, he found me on the couch in my dressing gown breastfeeding. (Only some more nursing pads scattered around me..)
Do I need to say I was quite provoked by his question?
Your newborn baby will eat and eat and EAT.. Especially during the first 3 months, many babies are quite unpredictable and might want to nurse very often. One reason is that they grow so fast, another that the breast is also a place for security and comfort, a way to fall asleep.
Do you want to breastfeed your baby? At least give it a try?
As I'm sure you know there are loads of good reasons to breastfeed. It's good for your baby and it's good for you. If you're curious of what you are actually giving your baby when breastfeeding, click here to learn about the components of breast milk. So what can you do to help yourself make breastfeeding your baby as easy as possible?
Breastfeeding - Eleven Top Tips
- Get it right from the beginning
- If it hurts, don't wait to get help
- Watch out for lumps
- Don't go on forever
- A matter of mindset
- A nice place to sit (or lay down!)
- Water
- Practical clothing
- Watch out for thrush
- Too much milk?
- Too little milk?
Get it right from the beginning
This is definitely my top tip. The first time I was to start breastfeeding I asked a nurse every time at the maternity ward to make sure that I and my baby did it right. This way I didn't get very sore at all. I know it's not a guarantee, but if the baby does not suckle the right way, you can be sure to have problems so get help in the beginning!
And don't believe that you remember if you've done it before! Get help with every new baby!
If it hurts, don't wait to get help
If it starts to hurt when breastfeeding, don't wait to contact a lactation expert to make sure it's just teething troubles and not because the baby suckles the wrong way. It doesn't have to hurt in the beginning although it is very common during the first days and even weeks even if you do everything right.
If you've checked that you do everything right and you don't have serious problems - endure, the soreness should pass within a week or two.
During this time, express a few drops of breast milk to each nipple after every breastfeeding (it will make them heal faster) and air dry your nipples often.
Lumps in the breasts, especially sore ones may mean that you might be at risk of getting mastitis. at risk of getting mastitis. Not fun, I can guarantee you that! It's very painful and you might get quite a high fever. To reduce the risk, stay away from cold drafts. (That is, protect your breasts.)
If you feel lumps, take a really hot shower and massage the lump.
More ways to prevent and treat mastitis can be found here. I'm sure you already know - but new lumps that don't go away may need to be examined by a doctor. You know.. breast cancer..
Each time, I mean. Even newborns usually don't need to nurse as much as an hour a time. After a while you'll recognize the difference between an eating baby and one that just uses your nipple as a nice pacifier.
Try to release the baby from your breast after 20 minutes or so. You can do that by carefully inserting a clean finger into his mouth to take the vacuum from the suction away. If he gets real fussy, let him eat some more, but try to avoid becoming his pacifier!
But don't give the baby a real pacifier until the breastfeeding has started to work smoothly, to avoid confusing your baby.
From what I've heard recommendations vary from the baby being one week to one month before introducing a pacifier. Check with your nurse at the maternity ward.
I waited all between one week and 1.5 months with my kids. No problem in any of the cases. For more tips on pacifier usage, click here.
Prepare for many hours on the couch, 30 hours a week or so if you only breastfeed. It might seem very boring if you're used to be active, but it can be quite nice too. Watch the TV, surf the internet, solve a Sudoko, read a book, talk with friends on the phone, sleep or whatever. It can be really nice to just relax if you decide that this is your job right now.
Personally, I’ve read a lot of magazines while breastfeeding. It’s a nice thing to do, you get a bit of entertainment and it doesn’t really matter (as with a book) if you get disturbed.
If you feel like subscribing to a new magazine, check out the great magazine offers at MagazineDealsNow.Com. They have a large selection of both baby, family and women related magazines (as well as most other topics you could imagine.)
And remember that breastfeeding is practical in the sense that you to have the food readily available all the time. No sterilizing bottles, heating water, buying formula etc.
So think positive! It helps.
A nice place to sit (or lay down!)
Whether you sit or lay down, make sure you're comfortable. It might seem unimportant in the beginning, but the longer you breastfeed and the heavier your baby gets, the harder it will be for your back if you don't breastfeed in a good position.
For some people, a nursing pillow is a real relief. But if you want to buy one, try it out first. There are different sizes and styles and all might not work for you. I personally like the ones that are soft.
Keep a burping cloth, some water, some entertainment (book or magazine for example, maybe the telephone, remote control etc within reach.
And if you want to lie down, be sure to be relaxed. Use a pillow, experiment with lying on your side without tensing your back or neck and put the baby below your breast so that he has to look up to nurse. If he's too close to your chin, you won't be able to relax your back and neck.
And don't follow all advices you see to stuff pillows behind your back! I don't know who got that idea, I've tried it, it was a hassle and it didn't help! Find a way to relax without the help of pillows. Again, ask at the hospital before going home after giving birth.
Drink a lot of water or I can almost guarantee that you'll get a headache.
Being at home I find it easy to forget to drink water. My tip is to fill a large can in the morning and make sure that you empty it during the day.
Also prepare a big glass of water right by your bed or chair where you plan to breastfeed at night before you go to bed.
If you go outside, bring a bottle of water.
This way you won't become desperate for something to drink, your milk will be of better quality and you won't get a headache as easily. For more tips on what to eat when you nurse, click here!
You need a good nursing bra! Or actually several of them. But don't buy them immediately. Wait a week or so (or at least buy a cheap one at first) because that's when the breasts get the size they will have during your period of breast feeding. Before that, they tend to be quite swollen and you risk buying a too big bra.
For more tips on how to choose the perfect nursing bra, click here.
Practical nursing clothes are also nice. I personally love the tops produced by the company Boob, but they aren't available in all countries.
As nursing tops can be quite expensive, it is good to be able to use some of your regular tops as well. A tip is to wear a very low-cut undershirt under the top. Then you can pull the top up, the undershirt down over the breast and breastfeed without showing your stomach.
This means you can breastfeed in public in a discrete way. Nice!
Now what's this...? Well, if your baby seems to have very sticky milk on his tongue or inside his lips, which doesn't go away within half an hour or so after feeding him, he might be suffering from thrush. This is a yeast infection that small babies often get. It's not harmful, but if it spreads to the baby's whole mouth and down his throat it might cause him discomfort. It an actually spread through his body to result in a diaper rash! Also, it can spread to your nipples and into the milk ducts. That's painful!
The thrush may be treated with some sort of antifungal crème. Ask a pediatrician. If it hasn't yet spread to you, it may also go away without doing anything, if it's not too extensive. It did with my kids, but I knew I was taking the risk of being infected.
There are also several alternative methods to treat thrush. Follow this link for more baby thrush remedies.
Can you have too much milk? Yes, you can actually. It may result in a few problems. First of all, your baby might not be able to empty a whole breast at one feeding occasion. This means that the infant don't get the fatter milk that comes the last. The very sweet and thin milk that comes in the beginning then makes your baby gassy and soon hungry again. If your baby is gassy, maybe has greenish stools and you think you have a lot of milk, try nursing him twice or more from the same breast before switching.
A lot of milk can also mean that it comes out with great force, which makes your baby swallow more air and also choke. To slow down the speed, you can press a finger or two against your breast above the nipple for a minute or two at the beginning of the feeding.
It is very common to worry about having too little milk. And in a sense all moms do from time to time. As your baby grows, he will require more food.
With my daughter I noticed her growth spurts very clearly. She became dissatisfied, wanted to eat all the time and didn't sleep well. This went on for a few days and often I started to worry about having too little milk. Then she calmed down and things went back to normal for a while. And then it started again..
My midwife's advice is to pick two days and feed your baby every second hour around the clock. This will help the milk supply to adjust to the baby's increased need. This is a great tip, despite that I really don't know how to "pick a day". My children certainly decided by themselves when it was time!
But the truth is, if your baby gains weight as he should, you have enough milk. Check with your child's doctor if you're the least worried! And if you do have too little milk, there are good substitutes. Follow this link for tips on bottle feeding.
Other common nursing problems may be that your baby falls asleep, bites you or wants to eat all the time. For solutions to these and other nursing problems, click here.
That was it! I hope these tips will help you get a great period of breastfeeding your baby! And before you now it, it will be time to start weaning your baby from breastfeeding.
There's a long list, check it out!
kalavathi g
Baby Sleep - the Big Hunt!
"Does your baby sleep through the night already?! What did you DO??"
Recognise the situation? Chances are that the lucky parents didn't do anything, if the infant is still really young. There are actually babies that sleep through the night already at the age of 2 months without any help at all.
If your baby is like that - well, congratulations! Head on to other parts of this website – or better still – immediately share your tips with all other mothers hungering for sleep.. Drop me an email and I'll post your tips right here!
For the rest of us – things do get better. 50% of all babies sleep through the night at the age of 1. Ehh, wait, 50%.. What about the rest..?
Yeah, there are definitely good reasons to learn some about baby sleep patterns and how you can help your baby sleep through the night. What you do as well as where the baby sleeps might have a real impact.
There are also safety issues to think about, to decide where the baby sleep as well as in what position. As I'm sure you've heard, babies should sleep on their back. But wait, won't they get a flat head? Or choke? Click here for answers.
Our oldest child slept through the night at the age of 4 (years!). My second when she was one year old and my youngest at 4 months old. But then he started waking up again as many do at around 4-5 months old. A few months later he slept through the night again with no problems at all.
The big difference between how we acted with our kids is when we started helping them to sleep better. Still, I now think I started way too late with our girl - when she was 10 months old. In just a few days she went from waking up every second hour to twice a night. Two months later she slept the whole night.
With our youngest baby, we gently started his baby sleep training when he was two months old.
So what's the clue?
Well unfortunately there is no magic key that will solve all your baby sleep problems. The goal is though to teach the infant to fall asleep by himself and to get to used to eat only at day time.
Before listing the tips, here are a few words about baby sleep patterns. Would you want to sleep like a baby..? Probably not!
Babies, especially really young ones have much more light sleep than adults and older children. This means that they have more opportunities to wake up and when they do, many infants need help to get back to sleep.
Think about it, while in your stomach, the baby's "bed" was in constant movement, rocking him gently back to sleep. Food supply also never stopped. Quite different from a steady, roomy crib and no food for many hours..
Follow this link to learn some more about your baby's sleep pattern. So other then biding your time, waiting for your child to get older, the key is to teach him to self-soothe and go back to sleep on his own.
If you're wondering ow much your baby "should" be sleeping day and night, click here for a sleep schedule per month.
Now to the tips. I've tried all of these tips, although not all of them with all my kids. Pick and choose depending on your situation. So, here we go:
Ten Top Tips to Help Your Baby Sleep
* A bedtime routine
* Put the baby in bed while awake
* Rock your baby's bed
* A lot of eating in the evening
* Stuffed animal or blanket that smells MOM
* Put a light cotton cloth over the eyes
* Slowly shorten nighttime feeding length
* Introduce a pacifier
* A sleep bag
* GET DAD INVOLVED!
1) A bedtime routine
This may seem as a laugh when your child is newborn. And it is. But at around two months according to my experience, it is possible to get into a routine that makes your baby want to go to sleep at around the same time every night.
Depending on how much time you want to allocate to this, you could give your baby a bath and a massage or both before putting him to bed. Or you can sing lullaby or read a story.
With three kids to put to bed, my routine for our baby was merely to wash him (no bath), put on a new diaper and a pyjamas, put the lights out and put him to bed with his stuffed animal and pacifier. I swaddled his lower body and one arm untli he was a few months old. I might have to go in and give him his pacifier a few times before he falls asleep, but that I can handle while helping my other kids to get ready for bed.
You need to introduce a morning routine too, getting up at about the same time every day, to make this work smoothly.
Do you think your baby wakes up too early in the morning? Here's some advice.
Other than having some free time in the evening, there is another great advantage with having your child falling asleep in his bed - he will not become terrified waking up in the middle of the night! If your baby always falls asleep in your arms, he will start believing that this is his bed, everything else must be terribly wrong.
Would you go back to sleep if you found yourself on the floor instead of in your bed waking up in the middle of the night? Probably not. The same thing goes for a baby.
To help your baby accept sleeping in a crib, click here.
Back
2) Put the baby in bed while awake
Yes, they can go to sleep by them selves if not hungry!
This you should do both at night and every time your baby takes a nap at day time. During his first weeks your baby will probably fall asleep at your breast every time he nurses. Don't worry about it. When he is a little bit older, at two months or so, you can feed him while he is still not too tired and then put a tired, full baby to bed half an hour later.
Back
3) Rock your baby's bed
This one is not new to you, I'm sure. This is what all parents do, right? But to remember how much it helps is good when deciding on where the baby shall sleep during its first months.
Two of my kids slept in a cradle during their first four months. Our youngest now is sleeping in a regular crib. Not good. How do you rock a crib?? Well, you could buy Vyssanlull feet (See the picture to the left) to the bed, a great Swedish invention.
You just put them onto the crib's legs and - ta da - you have a rocking crib. Great help.
If you can't find any of these in your country, and you don't want to invest in a cradle, you could use your stroller. (Although, there might be safety issues involved. For example, the baby could fall out.) If you use your stroller I suggest that you only use it when you are awake.
My last suggestion, is to put your baby in his crib on a flat pillow (again, check safety issues), not only his head, but a large part of his back. When he starts waking up, gently rock his upper body by slightly lifting the pillow up and rock it gently.
It is of course not ideal that the infant needs to be rocked to go back to sleep, but as a means to lengthen the time between his nursing moments, I think it is a great method, at least it has worked for me!
Back
4) A lot of eating in the evening (for the baby that is..)
This may also help a hungry baby sleep better. Feed him until he doesn't want more. Do it ever second hour or even more often in the evening.
Back
5) Stuffed animal or blanket that smells MOM
Mom and milk is usually what babies want the most waking up. With a stuffed animal with your smell on it, he might not feel as lonely waking up in the middle of the night.
Put the animal close to your body for a few day and nights and then give it to your baby every time he goes to sleep.
However, you need to use a small stuffed animal, to make sure that it can't cover your baby's face.
Back
6) Put a light cotton cloth over the eyes (not nose)
I know many babies that fall asleep almost instantly if their face is cover by a very thin cotton cloth. I suppose it helps them shutting out distracting visual impressions.
Try this for naps rather than falling asleep at night, and don't leave the cloth with the baby out of your sight (for example at night) if you think there is even a remote risk that the baby could be suffocated by it, or that it could impact his oxygen uptake, and increase the risk for SIDS.
Back
7) Slowly shorten nighttime feeding length
Do you have a very enthusiastic night time feeder? Try reducing the length (hence the amount) of every occasion, there by slowly teaching him to eat less at night.
Back
8) Introduce a pacifier
Small children usually have a strong need to suckle. Both my youngest kids did not, however, accept a pacifier until they were 2,5 months old. So hang there! And try some different kinds.
Some children need some help to learn how to use the pacifier. Having learned, it might be a lot easier for the baby to fall asleep in his bed instead of at your breast.
As an important bonus, recent research indicates that a baby sleeping on his back, using a pacifier runs an extra low risk of SIDS. Check this with your care provider!
Back
9) A sleep bag
Babies who are too warm or too cold wake up more easily. Some sort of sleep bag might be of great help, as it keeps the baby warm: Also, there is no risk that the baby either kicks off the blanket or pulls it over his face.
I can truly recommend a grobag!. This particular sleep bag is quite expensive in my view, but is really good and has won several awards for best nursery product in the UK.
Actually, even if your baby doesn't sleep better in a sleep bag, you might!
At least I did when I could stop worrying about my baby pulling the blanket over his face. Some babies tend to start doing this when a few months old.
Back
10) GET DAD INVOLVED!
Ahh, I almost forgot the most important point!
To give you an example - ten months old my daughter still woke up every second hour to nurse. We decided that we had to do something drastic. Starting a Friday night, her dad took her up when she started crying at night. He rocked her in his arms, gave her the pacifier and - believe it or not - she fell back to sleep.
After only three nights, she only woke up twice a night. At these occasions, we let her eat, because she wouldn't settle easily with dad. One month later she only woke up once and at the age on one, we did the procedure one more time to take away the last night time meal. It also only took a few days. WHAT a RELIEF ! So WHY didn't I try earlier???
Don't do the same mistake! Work as a team with your spouse to improve your family's nights. Babies weighing more than 10 pounds (don't they all, almost?) and at least at 6 months don't really need to eat at night. (As always check your specific situation with your care provider).
"Does your baby sleep through the night already?! What did you DO??"
Recognise the situation? Chances are that the lucky parents didn't do anything, if the infant is still really young. There are actually babies that sleep through the night already at the age of 2 months without any help at all.
If your baby is like that - well, congratulations! Head on to other parts of this website – or better still – immediately share your tips with all other mothers hungering for sleep.. Drop me an email and I'll post your tips right here!
For the rest of us – things do get better. 50% of all babies sleep through the night at the age of 1. Ehh, wait, 50%.. What about the rest..?
Yeah, there are definitely good reasons to learn some about baby sleep patterns and how you can help your baby sleep through the night. What you do as well as where the baby sleeps might have a real impact.
There are also safety issues to think about, to decide where the baby sleep as well as in what position. As I'm sure you've heard, babies should sleep on their back. But wait, won't they get a flat head? Or choke? Click here for answers.
Our oldest child slept through the night at the age of 4 (years!). My second when she was one year old and my youngest at 4 months old. But then he started waking up again as many do at around 4-5 months old. A few months later he slept through the night again with no problems at all.
The big difference between how we acted with our kids is when we started helping them to sleep better. Still, I now think I started way too late with our girl - when she was 10 months old. In just a few days she went from waking up every second hour to twice a night. Two months later she slept the whole night.
With our youngest baby, we gently started his baby sleep training when he was two months old.
So what's the clue?
Well unfortunately there is no magic key that will solve all your baby sleep problems. The goal is though to teach the infant to fall asleep by himself and to get to used to eat only at day time.
Before listing the tips, here are a few words about baby sleep patterns. Would you want to sleep like a baby..? Probably not!
Babies, especially really young ones have much more light sleep than adults and older children. This means that they have more opportunities to wake up and when they do, many infants need help to get back to sleep.
Think about it, while in your stomach, the baby's "bed" was in constant movement, rocking him gently back to sleep. Food supply also never stopped. Quite different from a steady, roomy crib and no food for many hours..
Follow this link to learn some more about your baby's sleep pattern. So other then biding your time, waiting for your child to get older, the key is to teach him to self-soothe and go back to sleep on his own.
If you're wondering ow much your baby "should" be sleeping day and night, click here for a sleep schedule per month.
Now to the tips. I've tried all of these tips, although not all of them with all my kids. Pick and choose depending on your situation. So, here we go:
Ten Top Tips to Help Your Baby Sleep
* A bedtime routine
* Put the baby in bed while awake
* Rock your baby's bed
* A lot of eating in the evening
* Stuffed animal or blanket that smells MOM
* Put a light cotton cloth over the eyes
* Slowly shorten nighttime feeding length
* Introduce a pacifier
* A sleep bag
* GET DAD INVOLVED!
1) A bedtime routine
This may seem as a laugh when your child is newborn. And it is. But at around two months according to my experience, it is possible to get into a routine that makes your baby want to go to sleep at around the same time every night.
Depending on how much time you want to allocate to this, you could give your baby a bath and a massage or both before putting him to bed. Or you can sing lullaby or read a story.
With three kids to put to bed, my routine for our baby was merely to wash him (no bath), put on a new diaper and a pyjamas, put the lights out and put him to bed with his stuffed animal and pacifier. I swaddled his lower body and one arm untli he was a few months old. I might have to go in and give him his pacifier a few times before he falls asleep, but that I can handle while helping my other kids to get ready for bed.
You need to introduce a morning routine too, getting up at about the same time every day, to make this work smoothly.
Do you think your baby wakes up too early in the morning? Here's some advice.
Other than having some free time in the evening, there is another great advantage with having your child falling asleep in his bed - he will not become terrified waking up in the middle of the night! If your baby always falls asleep in your arms, he will start believing that this is his bed, everything else must be terribly wrong.
Would you go back to sleep if you found yourself on the floor instead of in your bed waking up in the middle of the night? Probably not. The same thing goes for a baby.
To help your baby accept sleeping in a crib, click here.
Back
2) Put the baby in bed while awake
Yes, they can go to sleep by them selves if not hungry!
This you should do both at night and every time your baby takes a nap at day time. During his first weeks your baby will probably fall asleep at your breast every time he nurses. Don't worry about it. When he is a little bit older, at two months or so, you can feed him while he is still not too tired and then put a tired, full baby to bed half an hour later.
Back
3) Rock your baby's bed
This one is not new to you, I'm sure. This is what all parents do, right? But to remember how much it helps is good when deciding on where the baby shall sleep during its first months.
Two of my kids slept in a cradle during their first four months. Our youngest now is sleeping in a regular crib. Not good. How do you rock a crib?? Well, you could buy Vyssanlull feet (See the picture to the left) to the bed, a great Swedish invention.
You just put them onto the crib's legs and - ta da - you have a rocking crib. Great help.
If you can't find any of these in your country, and you don't want to invest in a cradle, you could use your stroller. (Although, there might be safety issues involved. For example, the baby could fall out.) If you use your stroller I suggest that you only use it when you are awake.
My last suggestion, is to put your baby in his crib on a flat pillow (again, check safety issues), not only his head, but a large part of his back. When he starts waking up, gently rock his upper body by slightly lifting the pillow up and rock it gently.
It is of course not ideal that the infant needs to be rocked to go back to sleep, but as a means to lengthen the time between his nursing moments, I think it is a great method, at least it has worked for me!
Back
4) A lot of eating in the evening (for the baby that is..)
This may also help a hungry baby sleep better. Feed him until he doesn't want more. Do it ever second hour or even more often in the evening.
Back
5) Stuffed animal or blanket that smells MOM
Mom and milk is usually what babies want the most waking up. With a stuffed animal with your smell on it, he might not feel as lonely waking up in the middle of the night.
Put the animal close to your body for a few day and nights and then give it to your baby every time he goes to sleep.
However, you need to use a small stuffed animal, to make sure that it can't cover your baby's face.
Back
6) Put a light cotton cloth over the eyes (not nose)
I know many babies that fall asleep almost instantly if their face is cover by a very thin cotton cloth. I suppose it helps them shutting out distracting visual impressions.
Try this for naps rather than falling asleep at night, and don't leave the cloth with the baby out of your sight (for example at night) if you think there is even a remote risk that the baby could be suffocated by it, or that it could impact his oxygen uptake, and increase the risk for SIDS.
Back
7) Slowly shorten nighttime feeding length
Do you have a very enthusiastic night time feeder? Try reducing the length (hence the amount) of every occasion, there by slowly teaching him to eat less at night.
Back
8) Introduce a pacifier
Small children usually have a strong need to suckle. Both my youngest kids did not, however, accept a pacifier until they were 2,5 months old. So hang there! And try some different kinds.
Some children need some help to learn how to use the pacifier. Having learned, it might be a lot easier for the baby to fall asleep in his bed instead of at your breast.
As an important bonus, recent research indicates that a baby sleeping on his back, using a pacifier runs an extra low risk of SIDS. Check this with your care provider!
Back
9) A sleep bag
Babies who are too warm or too cold wake up more easily. Some sort of sleep bag might be of great help, as it keeps the baby warm: Also, there is no risk that the baby either kicks off the blanket or pulls it over his face.
I can truly recommend a grobag!. This particular sleep bag is quite expensive in my view, but is really good and has won several awards for best nursery product in the UK.
Actually, even if your baby doesn't sleep better in a sleep bag, you might!
At least I did when I could stop worrying about my baby pulling the blanket over his face. Some babies tend to start doing this when a few months old.
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10) GET DAD INVOLVED!
Ahh, I almost forgot the most important point!
To give you an example - ten months old my daughter still woke up every second hour to nurse. We decided that we had to do something drastic. Starting a Friday night, her dad took her up when she started crying at night. He rocked her in his arms, gave her the pacifier and - believe it or not - she fell back to sleep.
After only three nights, she only woke up twice a night. At these occasions, we let her eat, because she wouldn't settle easily with dad. One month later she only woke up once and at the age on one, we did the procedure one more time to take away the last night time meal. It also only took a few days. WHAT a RELIEF ! So WHY didn't I try earlier???
Don't do the same mistake! Work as a team with your spouse to improve your family's nights. Babies weighing more than 10 pounds (don't they all, almost?) and at least at 6 months don't really need to eat at night. (As always check your specific situation with your care provider).
kalavathi g
Taking care of a new little person can seem scary at first, when you know nothing about baby care. Or you feel like you have forgotten everything.
Are they really this tiny..?!
Newborn babies seem easy to break. But if you think about how most babies enter into this world, you'll see that they are not all that easy to break after all...!
At the hospital, the midwife advised me to "just put the baby under the tap and wash her off" when changing the diaper. No need for expensive baby wipes loaded with chemicals.
Just wash her off under the tap... Ehh, you mean without dropping her...?
I let my husband "just" wash her off during the first days before I had the guts.
Well, at home I did manage to put the diapers on the right way. (Quite different from my mother in law who put the diapers on backwards all the time in the beginning..)
There is so much to learn about baby care in the beginning that it might seem impossible. And in my experience it's so easy to make things more complicated than they actually are.
Check out our tips and you won't go wrong!
Taking Care of Your Baby
* Bathing Your Baby
* Constipation in Babies (Baby Help Line)
* Cradle Cap - Cause and Treatments
* Diapering Tips
* Diapering Rash - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
* Newborn Baby Looks
* Pacifier Usage
* Weaning the Pacifier (Baby Help Line)
* Baby Skin Care
* Soothing a Crying Baby
* Swaddling Your Baby
* Teething Symptoms
* Teething Remedies
* Thrush in Babies - Causes and Treatment
* Trimming Baby Nails
* Umbilical Cord Stump Care
* Why is My Baby Crying?
Was this overwhelming?
No?
There you see - infant care is no rocket science!
Are they really this tiny..?!
Newborn babies seem easy to break. But if you think about how most babies enter into this world, you'll see that they are not all that easy to break after all...!
At the hospital, the midwife advised me to "just put the baby under the tap and wash her off" when changing the diaper. No need for expensive baby wipes loaded with chemicals.
Just wash her off under the tap... Ehh, you mean without dropping her...?
I let my husband "just" wash her off during the first days before I had the guts.
Well, at home I did manage to put the diapers on the right way. (Quite different from my mother in law who put the diapers on backwards all the time in the beginning..)
There is so much to learn about baby care in the beginning that it might seem impossible. And in my experience it's so easy to make things more complicated than they actually are.
Check out our tips and you won't go wrong!
Taking Care of Your Baby
* Bathing Your Baby
* Constipation in Babies (Baby Help Line)
* Cradle Cap - Cause and Treatments
* Diapering Tips
* Diapering Rash - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
* Newborn Baby Looks
* Pacifier Usage
* Weaning the Pacifier (Baby Help Line)
* Baby Skin Care
* Soothing a Crying Baby
* Swaddling Your Baby
* Teething Symptoms
* Teething Remedies
* Thrush in Babies - Causes and Treatment
* Trimming Baby Nails
* Umbilical Cord Stump Care
* Why is My Baby Crying?
Was this overwhelming?
No?
There you see - infant care is no rocket science!
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