Soothing Baby to Sleep

Amongst the most time-honored, parent-proven ways to calm a baby’s crying is the almost-never-fail breastfeeding and this is followed closely by holding and movement ala cradles, swings, car rides. A scientist in Japan, Dr. Kumi Kuroda of the RIKEN Center for Brain Science has looked at this closely. It was a very small study of just 21 infants but the sequence of comforting behaviors that she describes was successful in many of the couplets.

The special sequence is this: Hold baby and walk for about 5 minutes. Most babies settled within seconds. Walk smoothly with minimal abrupt movements. Then sit quietly, still holding baby for at least 8 minutes, allowing baby’s sleep state to lower to a stage where she is less likely to arouse when moved. At this point, there is a good chance that you can gently lower her to bed and she will remain asleep. I think the infants were all less than six months old.

This may sound easy but 5 minutes feels like a long time if your baby is crying or maybe even crying harder. I have not tried this but I would love to know if you have and what your results were.

There is some comparison to this “transporting” technique in other mammals, such as lions and mice, in which it becomes literally a matter of life or death to quiet their young.

I recognize that there is an advantage in simply choosing a specific behavior to soothe a baby and then sticking with it. (once again, easier said than done) Sometimes it takes an infant a bit of time to organize a response and/or to calm down. He might not yet be there when an eager parent may already be trying something new. If he has to cope with quick or multiple changes of position or energetic patting or bouncing or going into/out of the swing and music and toys coming into and out of his visual field, it surely will add to his distress. So whether you choose the walk and sit sequence of soothing or maybe just rocking, whatever you choose, try to sustain the support long enough for baby to trust it and allow himself to relax and recover his equilibrium.

Sweet Dreams!

this and related papers at: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23602481/

Kind Habits

I just discovered the wonderful Instagram account KindHabits. It was filled with inspiring thoughts about parenting with gentleness and respect. The author is Montessori certified and degreed in Child Education. There are classes offered, book and activity suggestions and a platform for connecting with other parents. I invite you to explore the many offerings in Katherine Perry’s creation. There’s a Spanish option, too.

Majority of US Hospitals fail to encourage breast-feeding

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that not even 4% of this country’s hospitals fully support breast feeding, which has been proven to be the most healthy start for babies. Breast feeding lowers the risk of childhood obesity, SIDS, diabetes and many childhood illnesses (respiratory and ear infections) as well as adult conditions. Mothers who breast feed have a lower risk of breast cancer. But despite these facts, nearly 80% of hospitals give formula to newborns, even when there is no medical reason to do so, which deprives the baby of the chance to have the first milk entering his digestive tract to be colostrum. Only a third of hospitals have “rooming in” policies that keeps baby with mother, promoting successful breast feeding. So two thirds of hospitals arbitrarily separate newborn from mother.  And only about 25% of hospitals provide follow up visits and phone calls to support the mother breast feeding after discharge.  Most hospitals abandon the new family when they leave the hospital, which often occurs before mother’s milk even comes in! As a result only 15% of mothers breast feed exclusively for six months which is the recommendation of the Academy of Pediatrics. They further recommend that breast milk be the main source of nutrition for at least the first year.

Knowing that our medical providers will not be there for you,  pregnant mothers wishing to breast feed may want to consider establishing other forms of support after baby is born such as educating themselves, having telephone support from LaLeche League and other successful breast feeding moms.

Half Baked

“Half Baked” is a memoir written by Alexa Stevenson. The sub-title is an apt description of the book: “The Story of my nerves, my newborn, and how we both learned to breathe”.  The author took me intimately into her experiences with assisted fertility, prematurity and all its attendant crises. As a NICU nurse, I found it to be a real page turner. I would recommend it to all NICU staff, as it portrays what we know so well as our routine, from the importantly different perspective of one mother. What a privilege and responsibility to walk that road with a family! It uplifts in that it shows us the subtle movement one makes in personal evolution as we face and cope with crisis.

The Chinese character for the word crisis is a double symbol, uniting “danger” with “opportunity”. So true.