The best way to calm your infant is by mimicking his environment in the womb. Mothers have been doing this instinctively for years by rocking their babies, while holding them tightly next to their bodies saying "sh sh" in a rhythmic fashion. Others ways to mimic the womb include swaddling your baby, an infant swing, rhythmic and gentle rocking and bouncing, dim lights, limited inconsistent sounds, and your soothing voice.
Keeping these ideas in mind lets address night time routines. Getting your newborn to sleep for longer stretches of time at night is a parents dream and actually a necessity for sanity sake. Don't wait for your baby to do this on his own but rather help facilitate this happening. When your baby is about 4 to 6 weeks and older try to help him stay up in the evening. You do this by keeping your baby in a brightly lit noisy room and changing his position frequently. If your baby doses off don't transfer him to a his quiet crib or basinet keep him in the busy environment you set him up in so his snooze will be a short one.
When you decide it is time for you baby to go to bed for the night start his routine. The routine should begin apporoximately 30 minutes to 1 hour before his next feeding is expected. The routine should consist of a physical activity, cognitive activity, massage, and music. An example of the routine I used with my babies is starts off with tummy time while listening to the music of the mobile. When the baby tires roll him onto his back and do some toy tracking activities. Use a black and white or bright object, rattles that make gentle sounds are recommended. Have your baby track the object, about 8 inches from his face, to the right and left, up and down, in circular and diagonal directions, slowly and carefully. Follow this up with a nice full body massage. Make eye contact and sing to your baby through out the massage. A consistent song or two at this time is recommended. Your baby will begin to relax and calm down from the massage, the expected song, and sound of your voice. Following the massage you can do some gentle moving of your babies arms and legs such as bicycle feet riding and arm lifting and clapping. Your baby will have worked hard and will be ready for his nice warm bath. Encourage your baby to kick his feet and splash his hands in the tub and just enjoy the warmth and feeling of the warm water surrounding his body before you wash him. Following the bath and pajama time your baby will be ready for his bedtime feeding. This feeding is the most important feeding of the day since you will be wanting your baby to fuel up for his long sleep stretch. Swaddle your baby dim the lights and get ready to settle in for the last feeding of the day. Your baby should be tired and might have difficulty finishing the full feeding at this point. Wiggle, jostle and talk to your baby as necessary to ensure that he eats as much as possible before he falls into a deep delicious sleep.
Feel free to mix this routine up to fit your baby's needs.
After you do this with your baby for a few nights he should begin to sleep for longer and longer periods of time.
Good luck, and let me know how it goes!
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Teaching Very Young Children to Share
This topic really hits home for me since getting my 2 and 3 year old to share is challenging. As we hit the holiday season this topic is relevant since it can be hard to share new and very desired items. Here are some tips to help deal with this important issue.
First of all we really need to understand and respect our child's difficulty with sharing. Very small children are just learning about themselves and the world around them. They can become very territorial about their own items as they view there things as extensions of themselves. They are also organizing their world and can become stuck on this is "mine" as well as this is "yours". My 3 year old becomes agitated when one of her older sisters uses the item of another sibling. This difficulty under standing that an item can "belong" to someone when someone else uses it will come with time and patience.
Some ways to facilitate sharing are:
Introduce the concept of turn taking. Use a simple game that does not require a long wait for each turn to come. You can use block stacking, doll feeding, or a similar simple task to talk about "your turn, my turn". Once this topic has been taught you can then use it for when it counts and your young child can understand that it will the her turn very soon.
When your child is having trouble sharing verbalizing and labeling their emotions around this challenge can be helpful. Letting them know that you understand how they feel and giving their feelings words will go a long way toward helping them through the process.
Provide a lot of positive feed back every time your young child shares something or takes turns nicely. She might not mind sharing her snack but might have hard time sharing a toy. The positive encouragement she received from the "easier" sharing experience will help to reinforce her sharing with the "harder" expereince
Be prepared for play dates and neighbor and family visitors. If you know that your child is attached to one or two particular items respect that. Remove highly desired items from the scene. This will make sharing less challenging and easier to do.
Good luck to everyone and HAPPY SHARING!!!!
First of all we really need to understand and respect our child's difficulty with sharing. Very small children are just learning about themselves and the world around them. They can become very territorial about their own items as they view there things as extensions of themselves. They are also organizing their world and can become stuck on this is "mine" as well as this is "yours". My 3 year old becomes agitated when one of her older sisters uses the item of another sibling. This difficulty under standing that an item can "belong" to someone when someone else uses it will come with time and patience.
Some ways to facilitate sharing are:
Introduce the concept of turn taking. Use a simple game that does not require a long wait for each turn to come. You can use block stacking, doll feeding, or a similar simple task to talk about "your turn, my turn". Once this topic has been taught you can then use it for when it counts and your young child can understand that it will the her turn very soon.
When your child is having trouble sharing verbalizing and labeling their emotions around this challenge can be helpful. Letting them know that you understand how they feel and giving their feelings words will go a long way toward helping them through the process.
Provide a lot of positive feed back every time your young child shares something or takes turns nicely. She might not mind sharing her snack but might have hard time sharing a toy. The positive encouragement she received from the "easier" sharing experience will help to reinforce her sharing with the "harder" expereince
Be prepared for play dates and neighbor and family visitors. If you know that your child is attached to one or two particular items respect that. Remove highly desired items from the scene. This will make sharing less challenging and easier to do.
Good luck to everyone and HAPPY SHARING!!!!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Communication and Mirror Neurons
Communication and language is not just about words and building your child's vocabulary it is also about gestures and expressions. The development of your baby's communication skills are aided by tiny brain cells that fire not only when they complete an action but also by seeing an action, gesture or expression. This concept is known as mirror neurons. This means that a baby's development is not just influenced by personal experiences we help the babies to engage in but also by the many experiences they view other human beings completing. In fact a newborn as young as two weeks old can imitate and adult opening their mouth or sticking their tongue out. Our babies are learning by observing. We can now prove how significant it is for us to engage with our infants in face to face dialogue with much facial expression. They will learn how to move their mouth and lips to make words, how to use their bodies to gesture reinforcing their needs, and the difference between an angry, sad, tired, or happy face. When helping children learn a new skill watching the task completed will aid in the learning process.
Monday, December 5, 2011
How Does Your Baby's Visual System Develop?
Sense of sight develops gradually from birth until about 6-8 months. By 8 months your baby sees just about as well as you! When first born your newborn will only be able to seee as far as your face when you hold him. Clarity and distance will grow from month to month until your baby has their full visual system in place.
1-2 months- Your baby will begin to track moving objects and recognize the contrast of your face. Your baby will respond with visual interest to complex patterns.
* Your moving face is the most interesting thing your baby can track.
2-3 months- Tracking has become stronger and your baby is now interested in colors and patterns. Introduce new and interesting items to your baby to help build his visual attention and awareness.
* Place pictures with contrast patterns at the side of the crib for your baby to gaze at.
3-4 months- Your baby will begin seeing things as objects. As he learns to use his hands to reach for the objects he now sees offer him rattle and items to grasp for.
* Now is the time for an overhead gymini toy.
4-8 months- Your baby will start to recognize people and objects across the room.
* Enjoy your baby's smile as he recognizes you as soon as you enter the room.
DON'T FORGET, a mobile is the most important toy you can offer your baby during this stage of visual development.
1-2 months- Your baby will begin to track moving objects and recognize the contrast of your face. Your baby will respond with visual interest to complex patterns.
* Your moving face is the most interesting thing your baby can track.
2-3 months- Tracking has become stronger and your baby is now interested in colors and patterns. Introduce new and interesting items to your baby to help build his visual attention and awareness.
* Place pictures with contrast patterns at the side of the crib for your baby to gaze at.
3-4 months- Your baby will begin seeing things as objects. As he learns to use his hands to reach for the objects he now sees offer him rattle and items to grasp for.
* Now is the time for an overhead gymini toy.
4-8 months- Your baby will start to recognize people and objects across the room.
* Enjoy your baby's smile as he recognizes you as soon as you enter the room.
DON'T FORGET, a mobile is the most important toy you can offer your baby during this stage of visual development.
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