Handling Baby/Toddler Problems

 

Calming tips for a Crying Baby

 

As a mother of a baby, I have faced lot of problem during the early stages trying to calm, soothe and put my baby to sleep. Infact during those days I have researched a lot for tips that would help calm my baby when she was upset or irriated (happens a lot during the first 6 months when they can't express themselves at all)

I selected those points which i felt worked with my child well. Since I have benefited from these calming tips, advise all new born baby mothers to try out some of these tips. Who knows your baby might really like them!!

•Wearing baby in a sling
•Dancing with baby
•Swinging baby
•Car rides
•Pushing baby in a carriage
•Taking a walk
•Nursing while walking with baby
•Comfort sucking: nursing, sucking on the move
•Try Instrumental soft music or even soft bollywood music would do
•Tape recordings of baby's own cries
•Singing lullabies or bhajans. Even chanting mantras can sometimes calm the baby.
•Running water
•Tape of environmental sounds
•Show baby a mirror
•Watching television or video
•Infant massage
•Nestle nursing
•A warm bath
•Eliminating bothersome foods from mother's diet if breastfeeding, or changing formula
•Eliminating loud sounds at home and creating a soothing atmosphere

Tips for Putting a Child to Sleep

Most mothers today are faced with an issue of putting their child to bed on time. But everyday is a war for them as children today are too addicted either to television or computers and do not habitually sleep within the given time, resulting in poor sleep, drowsiness and tiredness the next day; not to say the fight over waking them up in the morning for school.

Try some of these tips to create an environment for putting your child to sleep

•Be sure your child is tired. You may have to omit or shorten the afternoon nap or take it earlier.

•Replace before-bed activities that rev-up a child (e.g., scary or stimulating TV, wrestling, sugary snacks) with wind-down interactions (for example, a warm bath, stories, quiet games, or a nutritious snack).

•Reasonably consistent bedtimes are healthful for children of all ages, and a sanity saver for tired parents. The child over three can understand the concept of bedtime. Children under five usually can't understand actual time, but can relate time to events: "When the video is over," "After you've had your bath and a snack." If you don't take charge of your children's bedtimes, they will often drag it out until midnight.

•Bedtime routines are essential in getting children to sleep at an established hour. It should be fairly simple, for example, a snack, brush teeth and put on pajamas, a story, a prayer, and lights out. Do this every night and sleep will inevitably follow. This requires a commitment from you, but it's well worth it to know that in twenty or thirty minutes, start to finish, your child will be asleep.

•Remember, children want to have fun. If it's more fun to stay up, they'll fight sleep. They don't want to miss anything. Try making bedtime special and fun -- in a quiet way.

•Reserve favorite stories just for bedtime with the condition that you will tell the story only if your child is in bed at the appointed time. Alternate homemade stories with those in books. The most sleep-inducing stories are those that involve counting or repetition and lull the child to sleep.

•Take your child's favorite story characters and spin a long tale: Tom and Jerry went fishing, and they caught one blue fish, two red fish and three green fish. Of course, don't just count -- embellish each "catch" with the sequence of getting in the boat, getting out the bait or lures, baiting the hook, casting the line, etc. Tom & Jerry will be lucky if they catch more than a half- dozen fish before the child is asleep.

•A bedtime ritual conditions children to form a mental picture that sleep is soon to follow. The ritual helps them relax and get used to the idea. Before you begin the story, tell the child that he has to lie still for you to start the story. (Be sure the child is tired already.) Special bedtime rituals come with strings attached. "No backs rubbed after 9:00 o'clock." Use whatever enticement your child likes. Nighttime obedience has its rewards.

 

SAFE CO-SLEEPING FOR BABIES

(Research Article—ww.askdrsears.com)

 

Should babies sleep with their parents or should they be allowed to sleep alone in their cribs? This topic has been a quite discussed topic of baby care and development. Presenting a research on this topic which will help mothers understand it better.

" On September 29, 1999 a major news report entitled "Hazards Associated with Children Placed in Adult Beds" was carried in nearly every major newspaper and many national television programs, putting fear into parents. The day before this study broke I was interviewed by The New York Times, The Washington Post and several other major newspapers. CNN even sent a camera crew to our home for comments on this new research. Do parents who sleep with their infants need to worry? No! Here's the scoop. This study appeared in the October issue of The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Researchers at the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission reviewed death certificates from 1990 through 1997 and found 515 deaths of children under two years who were placed to sleep on adult beds. Of these deaths, 121 were reported to be due to overlying of the child by the parent, other adult, or sibling sleeping in the bed with the child. 394 deaths were due to entrapment in the bed structure, such as wedging of the child between the mattress and side rail or wall, suffocation in waterbeds, or head entrapment in bed railings.

Most of these deaths occurred in infants under the age of three months. Like so much research, this was a good news/bad news scenario. The importance of this research is that it calls attention to parents who choose to sleep with their babies—and many do—to please do it safely. The problem with this study is that it caused unnecessary fear in the millions of parents who safely and responsively sleep with their babies. While the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) made a valid point that parents should be aware of the potential dangers of unsafe sleeping practices, they went too far in issuing a blanket statement that parents should not sleep with their babies under two years of age.

When science and common sense don't match, suspect faulty science. Co- sleeping itself is not inherently dangerous. The CPSC sleep study estimated that 64 deaths per year occurred in infants sleeping with their parents. The fact is that many more infants die when sleeping alone in a crib than when sleeping in their parents' bed. While the authors of this study indicated that their conclusions were not statistically valid, it would have been helpful if the authors made the point that the great majority of SIDS (remember it used to be called "crib death") occurs in infants sleeping alone in cribs. Instead of making parents afraid to sleep with their babies, a more contemporary approach would be to teach parents who choose to co-sleep to do it safely.

Here are the precautions for safe co-sleeping:

•Always put babies under six months to sleep on their backs and not their tummies.

•Don't sleep with your baby if you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol or any substance that could diminish the awareness of your baby.

•Don't sleep with baby on soft surfaces, such as bean bags, water beds, and couches.

•Avoid crevices between mattress and wall or mattress and side rail.

•Avoid side rails, head boards, and foot boards that have slats that could entrap baby's head.

•Avoid putting your bed nearby curtains or blinds that have dangling strings that could strangle baby."

 

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