CincyBabies

The first 3 months following birth are a sensitive period in which you and your baby are uniquely primed to want to be close to one another. A close attachment after birth promotes the natural, biological attachment-promoting behaviors of your infant and your intuitive, biological, caregiving qualities to come together. “Attachment” is a special bond between parent and child; a feeling that draws you magnetically to your baby; a relationship that when felt to its deepest degree causes the mother to feel that the baby is a part of her. This feeling is so strong that, at least in the early months, the mother only feels complete when she is with her baby. Parenting is too individual and each baby too complex for there to be only one way to parent. The important point is to get connected to your baby. Once connected, stick with what is working and modify what is not, regardless of how others might feel about your choices. You will ultimately develop your own parenting style, one that feels right for your family.

TOPIC: Advice for New Moms
I have a friend who is about to have a baby, and although I have only been a mom for 4 months now, I feel like I have a wealth of information to share with her, and thought that this may be a good place to share.

1)  It is OKAY to ask for help.
2)  What works for one mom may not be what works best for you.
3)  You don’t have to be Supermom! inside secret: she doesn’’t exist.
4)  You are always going to forget something, or inevitably it will get hot      when you have dressed baby for winter, etc.  Pre-pack your car with  extra diapers, blankets, burp cloths, etc.
5) YOU know what is best for YOUR baby (see #2)… Everyone will have  theories on what you are doing or not doing to screw up your baby…!
6)  Enjoy every cry, every spit-up at the worst time, every sleepless night  the best that you can. It goes by way too fast!
7)  As soon as you think you have a handle on one stage, they learn  something new and you are back to square one.  Just go with it.
 Take all of this advice with a grain of salt.  Each kid and experience is  different. Just enjoy it!

Have some advice you’d like to share?  Submit it!

TOPIC: Swaddling

After 9 months of warmth and security, a baby can have a difficult time adjusting to the huge amount of activity present in life outside their mother’s womb. Dr. Harvey Karp, author of Happiest Baby on the Block believes that babies need at least 3 months to begin adjusting to their new world.

Why Swaddle?
1. It helps babies sleep longer and sounder.
2. It is proven to reduce colic and fussiness.
3. It recreates the warmth and security of the mother’s womb.
4. Swaddling limits the startle reflex, which wakes babies during their    sleep.
5. Properly swaddled babies sleep longer.
6. It reduces the risk of SIDS.
7. Swaddling helps a newborn focus on mastering the breastfeeding skill,  leading to more efficient and effective feedings.
8. It enables the “dream feed” – the ability to pick up a sleeping baby, feed  without fully waking them, and easily put them back down to sleep.
9. Swaddling provides a tool to more easily wake and energize a sleepy  baby to nurse by the process of unswaddling. This can be helpful with  sleepy babies who in the early days of nursing need to be woken or  encouraged to nurse in order to ensure the establishment of a healthy  milk supply.

Swaddling Myths
1. It’s too late to swaddle.
False! It’s never too late even if your baby is already 2 or 3 months old.  Many mothers swaddle their baby until 6 months of age.
2. Swaddling is primitive
So is sex!
3. Babies feel trapped.
False! Newborns love being confined and are soothed by being tightly  swaddled.
4. Babies will overheat.
False! In warmer weather babies can be swaddled in a onesie or just  their diaper.
5. Swaddling takes too much effort.
False! After a few attempts you’ll be an expert. Dads tend to make the  best swaddlers!
6. Babies will become dependent on it.
False! You can’t spoil a newborn! Say it with me 3 times, “I can’t spoil my  newborn!”, “I can’t spoil my newborn!”, “I can’t spoil my newborn!”. After 3  months you can start gauging whether they’re ready to sleep swaddle- free by leaving one arm out, then the other over a period of days.

**Learning to swaddle is a skill and a technique that too many parents pass up for lack of guidance or knowledge about the benefits. Enroll in a local Happiest Baby on the Block workshop for hands-on guidance. You can register at www.trihealth.com .