Tongue-tie

Over the last few years, there has been an increase in this diagnosis, which can make it very difficult for baby to breastfeed. I have met heroic parents who have struggled to nourish their baby as they waited to have this condition confirmed. It can be very challenging. But surgery is a serious choice and does not come risk-free. If there is a question of your baby having “oral ties”, I know you will want to do some research. Here are two sources to get you started.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17931-tongue-tie-ankyloglossia

Let’s talk Baby!

Class will be Wednesday January 13 from 5 to 7 pm at Beginnings Birth Center.

I hope to see you there.

Baby’s first weeks

Dramatic physiologic and developmental changes occur in a newborn’s first weeks and months. Some babies cope and adapt without much ado but some infants, especially babies who were born a little early, have a bumpier ride. But it seems that even the most “easy” baby will have an increase in crying and apparent discomfort starting at 3 weeks or so. The cause may be overstimulation due to an immature nervous system or immature digestive system, but whatever the cause, what is commonly seen is crying, squirming and fussing after feeding, spitting up, interrupted sleep and sometimes difficulty with feeding.

It may be that we overestimate baby’s ability to deal with sensory stimulation along with internal changes in circulation and digestion. Along with a thorough medical evaluation to rule out any serious problems, it may be helpful to reduce environmental activity, sound and light levels as well as handling baby slowly and smoothly. Attention to baby’s cues of impending intolerance such as yawning, sneezing, hiccoughing, gaze aversion, color changes toward pale or red give us an opportunity to intervene a little sooner to avoid a dramatic stress response resulting in “shut down”.

Christmas

The celebration of a birth. The Divine comes to us in a baby. Tidings of joy. Comfort and joy. Light. Love. What is peace if not the quiet sleep of a newborn? What is sacred if not her unblinking gaze as she drinks you in? O come let us adore each one.

Role of sleep

We’ve always been told that growth happens during quiet/deep sleep and indeed, levels of growth hormones during that time are elevated. But REM/active sleep has always been a bit more mysterious. Research has been investigating what happens during the active sleep state, sometimes referred to as REM (Rapid Eye Movement) or dream sleep. Newborns spend about 50% of their sleep time in REM and that diminishes to 25% by 10 years old. There is some evidence that in infants, REM is important for the development of the visual cortex. A recent study out of UCLA reports that during REM sleep, the baby’s brain is building and strengthening the synapses so neurons can communicate with each other. (This, I think is what the brain is all about!) At about 2 1/2 years old, the effect of REM changes from building connections to preserving brain function. Researchers consider this a major shift in brain activity, and it occurs at a very young age. If at all possible, try to let baby transition from sleeping to awakening on her own so all that important work of the two sleep states can take place.

Now, if we could only know what those little ones are dreaming about……

reference:

Unraveling why we sleep: Quantitative analysis reveals abrupt transition from neural reorganization to repair in early development

1. View ORCID ProfileJunyu Cao¹, 
2. View ORCID ProfileAlexander B. Herman², 
3. Geoffrey B. West³,⁴, 
4. View ORCID ProfileGina Poe⁵ and 
5. View ORCID ProfileVan M. Savage³,⁶,*

 See all authors and affiliationsScience Advances  18 Sep 2020:
Vol. 6, no. 38, eaba0398
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba0398