Here are a few more tips on baby care that I have learned over the years. I not only have training as a nurse I also have done much study in naturopathic answers to health and wellness. Here are some things I have learned and used practically with many babies.
Colic - Start with a chiropractor. Ask around your community to find the best one. You will find that adjustments to yourself in your last trimester can ease back pain and labor as well as shorten the length of labor and delivery. You also need to realize that your baby's spine gets a lot of twisting and trauma coming down the birth canal. This can cause colic. A chiropractic adjustment in their first week of life can stop that in its tracks giving a lot of relief to both baby and you. In addition, to resolve a colic attack try using the heat of your chest against theirs. You can also lay your child stomach down on your arm and swing them. Giving baby gas drops from the pharmacy or sweetened Catnip tea also releases the stomach pressure and cramps. DO NOT SWEETEN WITH HONEY!
Body temperature - Your baby may not be sleeping because they are too hot or too cold.
Hot - Body splayed out, sweating and restless. Take off all clothes except the diaper. Change the bed sheet if damp from sweat. You can also rub down the sheet with some ice in a ziploc bag for a few strokes. Cool it, don't make it cold. Set up a fan to move air in the room but DO NOT BLOW IT DIRECTLY ON THE CHILD. Wipe your baby down with a lukewarm to slightly cool wet washcloth. Put them back to bed, set a timer and check them in 10-15 minutes. If the baby is relaxed in body and asleep you got it right. If they are curled up they are too cool. Cover them with a light sheet or put a onesie on them, move the fan a little farther away from them and check again in 10-15 minutes.
Cold - Body curled up tightly. In addition to their night clothes add a stocking cap and socks. Body heat is expelled mostly through the head, hands and feet. A thicker blanket or P.J.'s may also be needed.
Always feel the bottom of the back of your baby's neck to determine their temperature. Use your wrist and not your fingers as your hand may be too warm or too cold.
Schedule - There are some false teachings that a child should determine when they eat, play and sleep. This only produces a fragmented fussy child and a worn out set of parents. Putting a child on a schedule actually brings peace and a quicker response to sleeping all night. You need to watch your child's weight gain to determine whether to feed every two, three or four hours. If your child cries before it is time to eat try playing with them to stretch their wait time. A larger faster growing child may need to eat every 2 hours whereas a smaller slower growing child can move to every 4 hours by the first or second month. Your schedule should include an eat time, a play time, (kick and exercise legs and arms on a blanket or the parent exercises the legs and arms moving the opposite leg and arm of the child together talking joyfully to the child) then there should be a sleep time with the last eating just before sleep at 8 or 10 pm. If your night messes up the schedule work to get back on time the next day. This will result in approximately two feedings at night working down to one then by two months or less an all night of sleep. Always check the temperature and diaper of a child who wakes up out of schedule they may not be actually hungry.
Bed Time - A child needs to be trained to go to bed and to sleep when they are told it is bedtime. Pick a phrase you use every time from birth on like, "Nite-nite" or "Beddy-bye" or whatever you like. Say it in a high, joyful tone, "Time to go nite-nite" as you lay the child down. If the child cries or fusses wait out of their sight, they may go on to sleep. If not, try patting their back and making low voiced sounds like you make after a hard day when you lay down and it feels so good; a low relaxed groan/sigh. This will usually solve the problem quickly. This will train your child so well IF YOU ARE CONSISTENT that when they are toddlers and you are visiting somewhere, you can actually find a corner in the room where you are, lay a blanket down and tell your toddler, "Go nite-nite" and they will, while you get to continue your visit.
Note: If you are traveling, making a bottle of sweetened Sleepy Time Tea is very helpful to settle restlessness in the car for babies and toddlers. My grandchildren were great travelers thanks to Sleepy Time Tea.
Many young couples don't want to have children because all they see are untrained brats in public, driving their parents to insanity. Children can be very delightful to everyone around them if they are secure in the boundaries that have been set consistently by their parents. Boundaries don't constrict creativity they give it greater power and direction like putting your thumb over the end of a hose.
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