My Baby

Part 1

“A baby is born with a need to be loved – and never outgrows it” ~Frank A. Clark

I just read a new research study and cannot wait to share it with EVERYONE! It is thrilling to me every time we have additional scientific research demonstrating how important love and nurturing is to the brain….. and how important those early months after birth are!

More than four million babies are born in the United States every year. Of those, 13 percent will be born prematurely. For these infants, their time spent in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is critical to the future of their well-being.

The highest temperature I ever saw was in Norfolk, Virginia. “110 degrees fever at home” the triage paperwork said. I looked over the chart to the smiling bouncing toddler trying diligently to dismantle our counter drawer. I asked how the temperature was taken and the grandmother said, “I put my hand on his head and said, ‘Woo, that’s hot! That must be 110!’” She explained smugly, “I had six kids.”

First there was the airbrushing of babies in magazines and now parents are starving newborns so they don’t become “fat babies”. What is this country coming to?

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which is the leading cause of death for infants between 1 and 12 months old in the United States, has long mystified doctors and researchers.

Now, after more than 20 years of research, researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston are taking the next step and have linked SIDS with low production of serotonin in the brainstem. The findings, published in the Feb. 3 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association, may give a concrete approach to identifying babies at risk for SIDS.

Some parents tend to worry about their babies sucking their thumbs. But there are some good things to be said about thumbsucking.

Babies can make themselves content when they suck their thumb. There is no need to hunt all over for a lost pacifier. And with all the worry about BPA and unsafe plastics, a thumb is probably much safer and healthier for your baby.

So, don't push the pacifier on your baby, especially if the thumbsucking isn't a constant solution for baby.

Babies are so curious. They get into everything and try to touch anything they can get their hands onto. Why is this?

Babies learn by exploring. They learn what their world is about by feeling textures, tasting objects and even throwing things. Have you ever noticed how some babies seem even more curious than others? I've watched a baby examine one object for a good 10 minutes, trying to discern absolutely everything he could about that one toy. Feeling it, tasting it, turning it over and over again.

Most babies love baths. Sometimes if you have a cranky baby, just giving them a nice luke-warm bath will soothe them. You know how relaxing a bath can be for adults? Well, the same is true for babies. Think about it ... babies have been floating around in the womb for 9 months ... so having a bath is very natural for them.

Just never leave a baby, even a toddler, alone for even a moment while they are bathing, no matter how safe it might seem. Also, always make sure the water is only slightly warm. Hot water, even momentary, can be fatal to an infant.

In many cultures, around the world, parents and babies sleep together in one bed or in close proximity. For approximately 90% of the world's population, cosleeping is just simply the "norm" and has been for thousands of years. That is, except for some areas of Europe and also in North America. In industrialized countries, particularly in recent years, sleeping has become more of a private thing. Many babies, in the United States, sleep in their own crib, in their own room, from the first week of their birth.