Baby Care

Archive for January, 2010

No-one told you but the first few months are tough. Rest assured they get easier but our survival tips for new mums will speed up the process!

Round-robin dinners
If your friends ask what they can do for you in the early days, get them to do a round-robin of dinners for the first couple of weeks. It’s so exciting waiting for the dinner to turn up and people usually prepare their most decadent meals. It’s better than eating in a restaurant every night. And you’ll find even if your baby has been an angel all day, from 5 – 7 is witching time for many newborns.

Power naps
Business people may think they are the ones who invented these but new mothers have always done them. Don’t always do chores when the babe goes down. Have a rest and don’t feel guilty about it. If you’re not the type to nap during the day just read a book but give yourself a break. It is not a luxury, it’s an investment. Remember they are here to replace you!

Get a house clean
If you don’t normally have a house cleaner, get one for the first three months (they may never leave) – hire a local teenager to do it, they are much more affordable. It will help your sanity. There is nothing more annoying than nursing constantly on the sofa and having to stare at un-vacuumed rug and stains which never go away. You immediately forget about them, the moment you get up.

It takes a village
Do hand your baby over to a trusted family member or friend from time to time and go for a walk or do something for yourself, have a massage or just go to a cafe and stare into space for half an hour. You will return SO much better off, again in love with your baby with energy to spare.

Get out of the house!
Take advantage of all the baby-friendly activities out there and get out the door! A walk is one of the best things you can do for everyone’s health. One of the best inventions in recent years are mother and baby cinema outings. No one minds if a baby is crying because they all will at some point and the movie is loud enough to drown out most of it. Heaven.

Travel the world
This may sound like madness, but in the early days, especially if you are nursing, your baby is incredibly mobile. Don’t take much with you – they no doubt have babies where you are going – just get on a plane and make that visit to relatives. Things like jetlag don’t affect the babe at all, your hours are up the spout anyway. Once your baby is more mobile, grabbing at every passing ornament at granny’s house, that’s a bad time to travel. Then you get people to come to you, because you have the place all set up and you don’t have to worry about any breakages.

What you wear matters!
Do invest in a new interim wardrobe after the baby is born. Nobody wants to see those maternity trackies ever again. Okay it may be sacrilege to buy some size 16 outfits, but look on the bright side, you can wear them early on in your next pregnancy! And you’ll feel like a new woman.

Lighten up!
If you were a perfectionist before, give it up. You have lost certain control of your life for quite some time to come. Yes, you can have a routine, and babies by and large respond well to routine, but there are times when they literally spit the dummy and decide it’s a good idea to wake at 2, 3 and 4 am – a growth spurt we like to say – and there’s not a darn thing you can do about it.

A non-baby task
Do take on a bit of work: it may sound crazy but take on a work project with a long lead time and it gives you a point of focus. The upside is you are earning some money again so you can buy that much lusted over pair of jeans for your new post-baby body. There is no downside.

Remember to enjoy your baby!
Remember to take time to enjoy the baby – this may be tricky in the first few weeks but you will regret it if you don’t take time to just play with the baby every day. Don’t set off in the morning with a long list of things you want to achieve. If you can get one thing done in a day you are doing well, give yourself a big pat on the back.

Anyone who’s sat with a teething baby can tell you there’s no surefire way of helping a baby go to sleep. For exhausted parents during the day, getting a child to sleep through the night is vital. After months of nursing, you can begin weaning your child at night, but if you start before your baby is ready, you’ll be waking to the hungry screams of an infant. Experiment with sleeping habits and routines to find what works. You can’t make schedules for sleeping babies, but you can note patterns in the times your baby is most likely to be sleepy.

After the first six months, night weaning is an option. Check with your pediatrician.

Create the Right Environment
You can’t train a child to sleep through the night, but you can make sure conditions are right for sleeping. The room should be quiet, dimly lit, warm enough but not stuffy. You may unwind by rocking, singing, a warm bath or by lying together on your bed or couch. Modern toys and bed options promise to put the baby to sleep for you, but you also need a loving routine. You can incorporate the breathing or singing teddy bear into your child’s nighttime, but first create the security and calm that helps your infant sleep.

Change Your Own Plans before Trying to Change Your Child
Sometimes a baby won’t go to sleep because he just isn’t tired! Parents may try to get a baby to sleep because they’re wiped out, or have a meeting or need to take an important call, but these attempts will fail if the baby isn’t sleepy. To maximize your child’s chances of sleeping through the night, arrange your own schedule around the times your baby sleeps naturally. If you’re breast feeding, you may find you child dozes off after the second feeding of the day, but is wide awake for the third. Plan your free time after the second feeding. Change your own plans before trying to change your baby’s instincts: you can reason and plan, but your baby can’t.

When Do Babies Sleep through the Night?
Some babies start sleeping all night at around five or six months: others will wake frequently even once they’re toddlers. The child’s temperament has something to do with it: some kids are more restless and more easily awakened than others. Some children always struggle with sleeping, and unfortunately, the more stressed parents become by not getting any sleep of their own, the more turmoil is created in the child. Get as comfortable as possible, and wait it out.

Routines and Crying It Out
Creating habits around bedtime helps your child learn to wind down: a routine of a snack, a story, a cuddle and a song sets the expectation that now is the time for resting. Taking turns with your partner to put the baby to bed means you can spell each other from night to night, and your child won’t associate only one of you with going to sleep. The more people who can successfully put the baby to bed, the better!

Some experts have advocated letting the baby “cry it out”, and for some babies, this works. You put the child down and leave the room; the baby cries for a few minutes and then drifts off to sleep. But some children become more and more upset: when this happens, he can work himself into a rage. If your baby cries for more than ten minutes after being put down to sleep, you will have to try another tack.

All parents need a little time off now and again.

In order to feel comfortable about leaving your baby you need to choose a good babysitter that inspires your confidence.

Many parents rely on family members to care for baby when they will be gone, but you can’t always depend upon your relatives. How do you choose a person to look after your baby?

The Interviewing Process

One of the first steps in choosing a person to watch your baby when you are not at home is the interview process. Be sure you ask for references and follow up on checking them.

You should rely on your instincts when it comes to feeling comfortable and secure in your choice of a babysitter.

You want someone that is warm, caring and flexible. What are the prospective babysitter’s views on discipline? Is the person comfortable and happy around children?

You also will need to discuss the babysitter’s rates. Another factor to consider is the babysitter’s transportation. Will they need to be picked up and dropped off or will they be using their own steam to get to and from your home?

Explain thoroughly what you expect the babysitter to do in case of an emergency. You should provide them with contact information for you, your pediatrician and perhaps another relative that can be reached in case of an emergency.

Tell the sitter about your routines with baby. Do you read to baby at bedtime? Convey your feelings about television shows that you want or don’t want your child to be exposed to.

Discuss your disciplinary measures and consequences that will ensue from disobedience.

What to Provide for Your Babysitter?

In order to perform duties to the best of their ability you must provide your babysitter with specific information. You want to leave your phone number, address and full name.

Though this may seem obvious, if an emergency should occur your babysitter may blank out on this information. Leave the telephone numbers of the fire and police department as well as your pediatrician’s telephone number.

Don’t forget to leave information about where you will be so that you can be reached. The address and phone number should suffice.

If you want a family member, friend or neighbor to be contacted in case of an emergency, leave the names, addresses and telephone numbers of those people. Finally, tell the babysitter when to expect your return.

Having someone dependable, fun and creative watching your baby will give you some degree of security when you are going out whether for business or for pleasure. A good babysitter is worth their weight in gold.