Crying is a normal communication response that babies use but unfortunately, it can be hard for parents to listen to. A young baby’s cry tugs at a parent’s heart strings which can leave an adult feeling anxious, tense and guilty for not knowing why their baby is crying.
Should they be responding to their baby’s cry straight away?
Should they leave him or her to ‘cry it out’?
When a parent gains experience, coupled with professional knowledge and facts about why babies cry, it allows them to make parenting choices with confidence.
FACTS
Why do Babies Cry?
1. Hunger
2. Physical discomfort such as too hot, cold, abdominal bloating, pain, sick or wind
3. Overstimulated
4. Tired/overtired
5. Passing a bowel movement
6. In need of a reassuring cuddle
7. Colic
8. Release of accumulated ‘stress’
During a baby’s first 8 weeks of life they often experience a “fussy” period which can last 4 – 5 hours each day. This period is often known as the ‘witching or arsenic hour’ and usually occurs in the late afternoon from about 3 – 4pm. During this fussy period, a baby will cry fitfully and appear hungry, gassy and unable to sleep. Settling techniques and patience from parents will be needed to cope during this time. These settling techniques may include carrying your baby in a sling or carrier, a deep warm bath, an extra feed, a walk outside, cuddles, electronic swing or handing them to another carer.
Taking your toddler shopping can be a fun experience for some and a nightmare
for others. This can be due to different reasons
1. Are they tired?
2. Should they have been fed before they went out?
3. Are they unwell or teething?
4. Does their personality prefer the quiet and not the crowds, lights, noises and smells?
5. Have there been a lot of changes in their life lately such as starting daycare.
Whatever the reason for poor behaviour when you are out shopping it can be distracted with a little effort. Try and get them involved.
Perhaps you could help them to …
* pick a specific coloured item out
* locate a certain item on the shelf
* get them to pass things to you
* ask them to place things in the trolley (not the breakables!!)
* spot different shapes
* sit in the trolley and write their own list
For a toddler life is learning through play and your job can be a lot more fun if you get involved.
As a parent myself I know there is always a million things to do and never enough time to do them in but a useful bit of information that I discovered was…
“Don’t rush your toddler.
Give them time to complete whatever it is they are doing. They may be in the middle of solving something very important.”
Try slowing your life down today and see if it makes a difference to your toddler’s behaviour.
Has anyone experienced positive behaviour in their toddler when they slowed down and enjoyed their toddler’s play experiences?
“Toddlers are concrete thinkers, therefore for a toddler to be able to understand and talk about things, they need to physically see, touch and handle them.”
Encourage a toddler through all types of hands on play and discovery.
It is not through watching TV that they master their world.
Enjoy parenting today as tomorrow is not a promise it is only a chance.
When I take a closer look at society and especially preschool children, I see children that are often out of control. This I believe is not always the child’s fault but instead parents need to take responsibility.
I felt I needed to encourage you about the importance of setting boundaries for your preschoolers who are contantly learning about acceptable behaviours before they get much older like in the video clip above.
They will learn how to behave when they know what is expected of them. What they can eat and when they should go to bed are things that a parent can have control over, even if it causes some heated arguements. You just have to be the one who wins!
Be consistent with enforcing the boundaries you set, otherwise your child knows that they can push you further next time which only creates a more heated arguement that you still need to win.
Parents who are tired, find being consistent in reinforcing boundaries and behaviours much harder to do.
Therefore, look after yourself by finding ways to eat well, exercise and minimize your stresses.
Enjoy parenting today as tomorrow is not a promise it is only a chance!
Bronwyn has a Bachelor of Education and has taught P - 3 for 13 years, and has seen what works well when
children are learning to read. Bronwyn is now a new mum herself and has put together some great information for us.
Here are Bron’s Tips for Buying Books and Starting Reading with your baby…
1. Read. Read. Read. Immerse your children in books
and storytelling. Be a reader yourself.
Set the example and be their biggest role model.
2. The little cardboard books are great.
They have bright pictures and a few words.
They are little enough for kids to hold and carry around,
and if they chew on them that’s OK! They fit in your handbag
and are quick to read. Often the pictures are objects and items
that are in your homes or body parts and immediately identifiable
so children can start making links to their own knowledge,
which is important with pre-reading skills. You can pick them up
really cheap at bookstores and newsagents, etc.
3. Rhyming books – lots and lots of rhyme. Being able to rhyme
is something children really need when learning to read and write.
It’s all about building blocks and patterns in words. If they can
read and write “cat” then they can easily master “bat”, “mat”, etc.
And children love listening to the lyrical tones. It keeps their attention.
4. Colourful, interesting pictures that you can talk to your child
about what it is happening in them. Most of early reading starts
with pictures and using language, talking about what they see
and predicting what could happen next. It is not just about reading the words.
Children get a lot of their cues from pictures when learning to read.
5. Nursery rhymes and finger plays. They’re fun and kids can use
their bodies which helps them to link in with what is being read.
6. Browse. See what children’s books you like to read.
If you pick up a book and laugh at it or love the pictures,
you will enjoy reading it to your child and your love of
reading will come through, which is also really important.
7. Find an assortment of fiction and non-fiction books.
Road test a few. You’ll soon learn which ones your
child loves and what you love to read to them.
8. Lift-the-flap and pop-up books are great because
they are so interactive.
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
It is Easter here in Australia; a wonderful time to be celebrating life but unfortunately it is not always positive for breast feeding babies.
A mother who is breast feeding her baby and consuming hot cross buns and easter eggs can be contributing to the cause of an unsettled baby over Easter. For some babies the extra sugar in these foods can be difficult for a baby to digest. You may find that your baby is crying more and has a hard bloated tummy and/or runny and sometimes frothy poo. If these are symptoms that are showing up in your baby this is indicating they have a sugar overload.
To help them you need to cut out all dairy and sugar for a few days or weeks. After they have settled down you can then reintroduce natural sugars and carbohydrates slowly into your diet again. Watch to see how your baby copes.
Below are some ideas for comforting your upset baby:
Deep warm baths
Carrying them face down resting on your forearm
Clock wise tummy massages
sucking on a dummy or pacifier rather than an extra feed
Hang in there it will pass.
Read more about introducing foods and a child’s behaviour around food in “Introducing Solids and Food Antics” Children who consume chocolate at Easter and little other food will also exhibit hyperactive and irrational behaviours. The cheaper brands of chocolate are even more destructive as they have harmful preservatives giving your child headaches as well.
