The use of nipple shields can provide relief and encourage nipple healing without having to express and bottle feed
Nipple shields are soft silicon covers that go over your nipple before your baby latches to feed. Do this by:
·Expressing a little milk into the shield and smear some on the outside to encourage attachment
·Hold shield in place with fingers as you wait for your baby to open their mouth wide
·Move your baby to the nipple when their mouth is wide
·Hold them firmly until they have a good latch
After one to three weeks of using the shield:
·Your nipples should be completely healed
·Breast milk flow and production is more established
·Your baby is bigger
·You are more comfortable with the feeding process
It is time to encourage your baby to feed without using the shields. Do this by:
·Removing the shield halfway through a feed. Try this during the mid morning feed first as you will usually have more milk and your baby is often more alert
·Continue to focus on removing the shield for all feeds
·Eventually your baby will attach to your nipple without using the shield
Below is a video to give you an idea of what a nipple shield looks like.
If you like to include this article in your newsletter or website; you can, providing you include the following blurb with it:
This article was brought to you by Jan Murray, Private Child Health Consultant who is an internationally renowned expert in her field. Jan encourages parents in the area of infant sleep, nutrition, activities and family balance. She publishes regular ezine and blog articles to provide free parenting tips, tools and resources to educate and support those caring for young babies and children. For more online resources visit http://www.settlepetal.com
Your aim is to have your baby not relying on sucking a dummy to sleep by four months. If after four months your baby still relies on it to get to sleep, you can get rid of this habit either slowly or abruptly. How you do this will depend on your baby’s personality, how much they are dependent on it, what you can handle and your environmental situation.
Slow withdrawal:
·Put their dummy in to settle them to sleep as usual
Watch them closely and slowly remove the dummy as your baby slows their sucking and gets sleepy
Put it back in if they start searching and mouthing around for it
Take it out again as their sucking slows
Put it back in if they start to look for it again, you may do this in and out process five or six times but this will slowly reduce as they get used to settling to sleep without it
Be persistent and consistent.
Quick withdrawal:
Before you take their dummy away, make sure they have been introduced to another cuddly toy at the same time as using the dummy. Use both for security for a few weeks before taking the dummy away
When it is time to free them from the dummy, do the same pre bedtime routine that they are used to but only give them the cuddly, not the dummy
Follow a settling strategy appropriate for your baby’s age group. This could involve leaving them to cry for a few minutes and going back to reassure them with a cuddle or a pat. Keep it up for an hour then just cuddle them to sleep. Give it a couple of days of consistency to work and seek further help if they are not settling
If you have a toddler who is still using a dummy there are a few other techniques you can try. Pick the one that you think would work best for your toddler:
Take them to a shop or zoo and use the dummy as currency (plus money of course) in exchange for a special toy
At Christmas or Easter Santa Claus or Easter Bunny can swap it for something special
Rub a little Tabasco sauce orfresh chilli or garlic (or similar) on the dummy tip
If your toddler relies on using a dummy day and night, take it off them for day time use for a few weeks and distract them into other activities before attempting the night
Always be encouraging that they are a big boy now and do not need it any more. Distract them into more fun activities involving you until the habit, insecurity and associations are gone. For a toddler this could take a few weeks and devoted time from you.
If it is time for you to get rid of the dummy then you may be interested inlearning more about this age group
If you like to include this article in your newsletter or website; you can, providing you include the following blurb with it:
This article was brought to you by Jan Murray, Private Child Health Consultant who is an internationally renowned expert in her field. Jan encourages parents in the area of infant sleep, nutrition, activities and family balance. She publishes regular ezine and blog articles to provide free parenting tips, tools and resources to educate and support those caring for young babies and children. For more online resources visit http://www.settlepetal.com
Baby poo is a good indicator of how a baby is tolerating feeding.
What can a normal baby poop look like?
A newborn baby’s first bowel movement will be greenish-black, thick and sticky. A good one for the dads to learn how to change!
These first poos consists of epithelial cells, lanugo, mucus, amniotic fluid, bile, and water which are intestinal substances that an unborn foetus ingests while in the womb.
As a newborn begins to ingest colostrum (mother’s first breast liquid), breast milk and or infant formula this poo will begin to change into a dark brown colour and be less sticky.
When a baby is breastfeeding the poo will progress to a more mustard colour with tiny, white, grainy seed like pieces in it. It will be a very loose consistency and can occur at every nappy change or every few days or even up to 14 days. Unlike a formula fed baby a breast fed baby does not get constipated.
All is normal if a breast fed baby’s poo is mainly mustard yellow and occasionally has green specks and streaks but then goes back to being like seeded mustard.
When a baby is regularly ingesting an infant formula their poo will be a pasty consistency and often green in colour. Each brand of infant formula creates a slightly different variation of the colour green.
Bowel movements may be less frequent than a breast fed baby but to avoid constipation a baby will need to be passing a poo every day or every second day.
A baby that is breastfeeding but has top ups of infant formula will have a variation in between these two poos depending on the ratio of breast milk to formula.
BABY POOP THAT IS NOT NORMAL AND INDICATES THE NEED FOR FURTHER ASSESSMENT BY A HEALTH PROFESSIONAL
Green frothy poo and possibly associated with unsettledness, bloating, wind and nappy rash
Very liquid consistency with no white seedy bits
A formula fed baby who cries when they poo and the stool is a pebble like consistency
A formula fed baby who has not passed a poo for 3 ormore days
A poo that has streaks of blood in it
A poo that is green with a stringy egg white consistency
Projectile vomiting after 3 consecutive feeds associated with no bowel movement
If you like to include this article in your newsletter or website; you can, providing you include the following blurb with it:
This article was brought to you by Jan Murray, Private Child Health Consultant who is an internationally renowned expert in her field. Jan encourages parents in the area of infant sleep, nutrition, activities and family balance. She publishes regular ezine and blog articles to provide free parenting tips, tools and resources to educate and support those caring for young babies and children. For more online resources visit http://www.settlepetal.com
No one prepares a mother sufficiently for the extreme exhaustion that a new baby brings if they do not sleep well. You have my empathy. I’ve been there!
Research has determined that humans must sleep and, in fact, people can survive longer without food than without sleep. We must sleep in order to function and live. Falling asleep and waking up is largely determined by your circadian rhythm, a day-night cycle which develops around seven weeks of age. If this rhythm is not encouraged or is inhibited for some reason, it can take a lot longer to establish hence erratic sleeping patterns continue. Once your baby is about three weeks old, your aim is to be encouraging them with regular and balanced feed, play, sleep rhythms, where they start to settle themselves to sleep and sleep through at least one sleep cycle. This can prove difficult for some babies during their first four months for a number of reasons:
Tired signs are ignored, resulting in overtired
Getting up at the end of one sleep cycle, preventing a longer sleep
No sleep cues or aids are used
Over stimulation from extra visitors, noise, outings, fluorescent lighting and TV
Hungry
Overfed or fed too often
Mother and baby emotional issues and mix; tensions mimicked
Allergies and intolerances through breast milk or from infant formula
Growth spurts not understood or managed correctly
Lower bowel, abdominal, oesophageal pain or discomfort
Illness
It helps to understand and allow your baby’s getting to sleep process to progress. For a baby this takes about 10-20 minutes. It starts with showing tired signs then if all is well progresses to a vacant stare, drooping eyelids, and shut eyelids.
At an early age babies are starting to learn consequences, love and security which lead to healthy attachments and relationships in the future.How your baby goes off to sleep is one of the first associations you are teaching them. They are learning what to expect when they wake, stir and need to go back off to sleep. Seek help or support early with sleep issues before your sleep deprivation becomes dangerous for you and those around you.
If you like to include this article in your newsletter or website; you can, providing you include the following blurb with it:
This article was brought to you by Jan Murray, Private Child Health Consultant who is an internationally renowned expert in her field. Jan encourages parents in the area of infant sleep, nutrition, activities and family balance. She publishes regular ezine and blog articles to provide free parenting tips, tools and resources to educate and support those caring for young babies and children. For more online resources visit http://www.settlepetal.com
I was speaking to Loraine, another mum of my vintage today, who has also raised 4 children (now young adults).
We spoke about how we would start our baby’s off on very small amounts of a variety of foods at a young age and we didn’t have near the amount of food allergies as there is today. Over the last 6 years there has been a 500% increase in food related allergies. What is going wrong?
There are many contributing thoughts and much research to back up why.
1. Holding off introducing foods for too long, beyond the window of opportunity when a babies immune system is being developed.
2. Not allowing your pet dog to come inside and dirty your perfectly clean home. A bit of dirt and bacteria about is again good to help the body fight against. That is what a body is designed to do and needs to do it.
3. Cleaning products on the market today are formulated to kill 99.9 % of bacteria and germs. Why!!! We need to build up our child’s natural immunity to be able to fight against illness and disease that they will come across as they get older. A little bit of everyday dirt will not kill you it will make you stronger. A poor ability to fight illness because the immune system has not been given the opportunity to develop at a young age will lead to a slower recovery from disease or illness. With many children attending day care facilities and being in contact with other disease carrying children it puts a child at a greater risk of catching something. Do your child a favour and help them to build up their ability for fighting disease at a young age. You won’t have to watch them suffer as long when you do.
I am about to launch (or maybe by the time you read this it will be launched) an easy to read and understand baby and toddler recipe book with professional child health advice on the introduction of foods based on the most current based research findings. I think it is great for babies and mothers to be able to continue to breast feed as long as possible and slowly introduce solids. It works well.
Eating behaviours and food choices are a vital link to a healthy future.
Other topics that are important in child health that are touched on in my book include:
1. Reducing the risk of obesity
2. Avoiding slow speech development from poor facial muscle development
3. Helping parents and children enjoy the culture of eating and not have it as a battle ground that has the potential for eating disorders as an older child.
I know there are many parents out in the community tired due to their babies or toddlers not sleeping and stretched financially due to our economic times and I would like to help.
The CD “Putting them to Sleep” provides a stack of useful information (60 minutes worth) about sleep and how you can get more.
I am providing a massive clearance price of this CD as my way of contributing to the community.
Why not take advantage of this generous offer while it lasts, if not for you for a friend or neighbour who may be struggling and in need of some sound advice in the area of sleep and settling.
It is recommended that solid food not be given to a baby under 17 weeks old as studies have shown that a baby is not developmentally ready to tolerate solids at this age; Greer FR, et al. Effects of early nutritional interventions on the development of atopic disease in infants and children. Pediatrics 2008; 121:183-91
If your baby is younger than 17 weeks and they are hungry and not gaining weight, provide them with extra breast feeds or introduce an additional bottle of infant formula.
A baby who was born prematurely is ready to commence solids midway between 16 weeks post birth and 16 weeks post due date. Depending on how prematurely they were born these babies may show facial defensiveness where they reject objects near their face making a spoon coming towards them a fearful experience?
Sometime after your baby reaches 17 weeks of age they will begin to show signs that indicate they are ready to start the adventure of solids.
The signs of solid food readiness may include:
•The ‘tongue thrust’ present in younger babies is gone. This reflex has allowed for sucking, but is now ready for the next stage of chewing and swallowing
•Your baby is able to sit in a semi-controlled, upright position. Not being able to sit will prevent them focusing on eating
•Your baby’s weight gain has slowed down
•Your baby is waking at erratic times overnight when previously they had been sleeping through
•Your baby is constantly dissatisfied when being breastfed (pulling off and on the nipple etc)
•They are wanting to breastfeed more regularly during the day instead of spacing feeds out to every 4 hours
•They are watching you eat with greater interest and could even be trying to take the spoon or food from your hand
When a couple of these signs are evident then it will be time to get a few things organised. You will need equipment to cook & puree food, eating utensils and suitable food.
1. Saucepan with lid and steamer insert or multi-tared steamer or glass jug or dish safe to use in a microwave
2. Sieve to push cooked food through using the back of a wooden spoon or a food processor, blender or ‘Mouli’
3. Small container to feed your baby from
4. Soft long handle plastic coated spoon
5. High chair or similar
6. Bib and face washer
Their sweet taste buds develop first therefore; try cooked and pureed sweet potato or pears as a first food which will increase your chances of the first mouthful being enjoyed. You can gradually bring in the bitter flavours once they are enjoying the concept of eating.
Ensure the very first mouthful of food is semi liquid by adding breast or infant formula, is delivered with a soft spoon, not too hot, not too cold, they are sitting in an comfortable upright position facing you at your eye level and they are not tired. Speak quietly and smile.
The word ‘Colic’ is a broad term used to label an unexplainable unsettled period that babies can experience. It is a time when all the techniques that had been working or could work to settle your baby are not working anymore.
Your baby is pulling their legs up and crying a desperate sounding cry. They may stiffen their back and not want to be cuddled. All the usual comforting measures are not working and your baby is getting more desperate.
This is a difficult time for most parents and not for just first time parents. You feel useless and hope that you aren’t missing something serious.
Often there is an explanation for pain but if it is misdiagnosed it can be just labelled ‘colic’.
Some causes of misdiagnosed ‘colic’ include:
* An overtired baby
* A growth spurt
* General evening ‘witching hour’ when your baby’s nervous system has been overstimulated with experiences during the day. This can occur until they are 9 weeks old
* An overfed or underfed baby
* No routine or satisfactory space between feeds to allow for digestion, activity and sleep.
* Smothered with love or over handled
* Suffer from allergies or intolerance to their diet (even if they are breast fed)
* Misread personality needs such as always holding them when they would like some space sprawled out on the floor.
How to help them:
Use ‘other methods’ of settling (see below) Relax in the thought that they will grow out of it. If the unsettled behaviour continues think about the list above and consider having your baby checked by your GP or other Child Health Professional as medication may be required for relief from Reflux.
‘Other Methods’ for settling:
* Use the pram to rock them off to sleep
* Use an electronic swing or a carry sling
* Give them a relaxation bath either on their own or in a deep one with you. Try putting a cup of camomile tea in the bath water and a warm washer over their tummy
* Extra breast feed or suck on a dummy
* Go out and meet someone or take a brisk walk with them in a stroller or sling
* Lay down with them and hold them tight
* Loud ‘white noise’ or music playing
or whatever else you might think would work for your baby, making sure to take their personality into consideration?
Try and stay calm yourself and always give your baby to the one who is the calmest. If you have a network of friends and family around you, don’t be too proud to ask for help. You will benefit from a break.
As a Midwife and Child Health Nurse who works closely with babies and children from birth to 5 years old, I have some useful insight into the use of dummies for babies that I would like to share with you. The decision to use one or not will be up to you. Not all babies take to sucking a dummy but there are certainly babies in the world who do benefit from sucking one. Once you have heard my findings the decision to use one or not will then be up to you.
Six positive reasons for a baby to use a dummy
1. Babies who are three to four weeks old who have learnt to attach and feed well from the breast but think they should feed constantly. In this situation, the breast feeding mother and her nipples could do with some relief and possibly repair from constant sucking. It is however, important not to substitute a breast feed for a dummy as this can reduce milk production resulting in an undernourished and unsettled baby
2. A baby sucking a dummy can reduce tummy discomfort, cranial pressure and wind pain until the cause of the pain and discomfort is diagnosed and relieved. However, by aiding the digestive process this then can cause them to become hungrier earlier
3. Sucking a dummy can reduce the pain of oesophageal reflux allowing for a bit more sleep!
4. Recent knowledge indicates a baby sucking a dummy can reduce the incidence of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). This is thought to be due to a baby being in a more alert state of sleep and having their airways in a more open position allowing for better air entry. There are also other factors relating to the reduction of SIDS
5. Premature babies are given dummies to help them suck when they are fed via a tube and to stimulate their suck before they are able to breast feed efficiently
6. A baby who settles to sleep best with a sucking action. Commonly, a baby who is fed either breast milk or infant formula from a bottle requires a dummy to build up the length of sucking time they require in a day
Seven reasons why a baby is disadvantaged using a dummy.
1. There is an increased risk of bacterial infections from dirty dummies. Sterilise them regularly and throw out any that have cracks or worn areas where bacteria can settle
2. The continued use of a dummy after three or four months can set up strong sleep associations that can lead to unsettled sleep in the months that follow
3. The regular and frequent use of a dummy has been shown to decrease the length of time a woman will continue to breast feed
4. A young baby who sucks too often on a dummy can be too tired for nutritional breast feeding
5. The use of a dummy after nine months can not only disturb good sleep patterns but it can also interrupt speech development
6. Choking hazard from faulty or worn out dummies
7. Sucking on a dummy when your baby could be awake and babbling restricts the natural development of language
Which dummy do we choose?
There are many dummies on the market and it can be difficult to know which one is best. Consider one that closely mimics your breast nipple.
1. Look for the dummy that is soft and supple. The brown latex rubber is usually the softest
2. Choose a shape that is similar to your nipple, this is usually the round cherry or bulb shaped dummy. Large or small
3. It needs to be large enough to reach back into the back of your baby’s mouth. This will depend on the size of your baby
With the above information in mind, I believe there can be a place for dummies for some babies, providing that it is an appropriate dummy used at an appropriate time and only for the first three to four months of life when a baby’s strong sucking reflex is present. After this age they discover other ways to soothe themselves and dummies can be discarded.
If you like to include this article in your newsletter or website; you can, providing you include the following blurb with it:
This article was brought to you by Jan Murray, Private Child Health Consultant who is an internationally renowned expert in her field. Jan encourages parents in the area of infant sleep, nutrition, activities and family balance. She publishes regular ezine and blog articles to provide free parenting tips, tools and resources to educate and support those caring for young babies and children. For more online resources visit http://www.settlepetal.com
