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Sleep and the Young Infant
Lately, I understand, there has been a frisson of activity on a parenting page regarding a blog I wrote in 2014. In the blog about preventing sleep problems in six month olds I quoted from my book “Your Cherished Baby’ and suggested: Ideally, he should be put down drowsy but awake. If possible there should be minimal fussing after tucking in. Unless it is your choice and the baby’s habit, once down, avoid rocking, cuddling or patting to sleep. And if it is, you have a choice to gradually (step by step, night by night) wean the baby off such input [...]
Solid Data on Solids (3)
Fully breastfed infants start to need other foods at around six months. By then they have run their stores of iron down and also need to supplement the vitamin D in their diet. Also breastmilk (and formula) is relatively low in protein, which is suitable for babies, but the growing infant now needs more. Back in the day, the often-recommended first food was baby rice. We now recognise that early taste experiences program our babies’ food preferences for later, so processed refined rice flour, which is a world away from real food, and is now no longer recommended. [...]
Solid Data on Solids (2)
Children Eat What They Enjoy, and Enjoy What They Know.... Humans are omnivores – they’ll eat anything that looks nutritious, and therein lies a problem: they can also poison themselves in many different ways. So evolution came up with a solution. Make the young generally ‘neo-phobic’ (fear of new things’) that is, wary of unfamiliar foods. Another great strategy is to get them to copy their mother and only eat what she eats, as it’s should always be safe. So we copy our Mum. When we’re in the womb we swallow the amniotic fluid and learn the [...]
Solid Data on Solids (1)
The old fashioned ideas (pre-2008) were at six months of age a cautious, slow introduction of spoon-foods, limited variety and the avoidance of allergic foods until the infants were older. Nowadays, based on real information and studies, we know differently.
Sun and Bugs
With the return of the warm weather parents have started asking me what to do about their babies regarding insect repellants and sunscreens. Mosquitoes and midges agree that babies are delicious and will ignore the adults and exclusively hone in on the youngest human with the softest skin. Babies primarily need to be protected from contact with them by avoiding outside exposure in the evenings and sleeping with insect nets over their cots. The spray-on repellents should not be used at all under 2 months of age and after that, it should not sprayed directly on to the [...]
Do you have a good baby?
“Do you have a good baby?” Says the sweet-faced old lady to you in the shopping centre. Just to be clear, this is code for “Does your baby sleep for long periods of time and not feed too often or at inconvenient times?” How to answer? She means well, so perhaps “Yes, she is. She cries when she is hungry and sleeps when she is tired” is a bit abrupt. Instead how about giving her a short enlightening lecture? Here are the critical points: Babies are just foetuses who are outside the womb. In comparison to other mammal babies, [...]
Mouth to Mouth
I was bewildered by all the Internet chatter about the picture of Victoria Beckham kissing her children on the mouth. The horror and the outrage! That same day I was discussing feeding babies spoon foods, and a mother wondered what they did before blenders. Good question, because these two things are connected. Transitional feeding seems to be necessary for humans from around six months of age. It is a time when breastfeeding doesn't yield enough iron or protein to maintain optimal growth in babies. In many animals the mother prepares soft foods by chewing it herself and then transferring [...]
A Conversation about Childcare.
II had an interesting conversation with a friend a few days ago. He sighed “We are having such trouble getting our little girl into childcare – there are so few places available. We are feeling so stressed and guilty that she might not get the early education and sociability that she needs?” Time for a reality check. Humans are amongst the most social species on the planet. We have been honed by countless generations of ancestors who selected themselves to reproduce by their ability to socialise. It doesn’t need to be trained into us. It’s inherent. In our first [...]
Georgy’s Motherhood Musings [6]: Don’t Ask to Hold the Baby!
When visiting a new mother and baby there should be a rule. A principle that is common knowledge within the community and which no one questions and everyone respects. Don’t ask to hold the baby.
Travelling with a Toddler: It’s not all bad.
UUp at the crack of dawn to try and get the timing of the baby’s nap to coincide with the plane taking off. But she, like a pet dog, knows there is something big afoot. She would rather walk around than eat breakfast. At Sydney Airport: First send in handsome son-in-law to check-in counter. We get a big smile from airline lady and get assigned seats with lots of extra empty seats around us. Cool! Then when we hit the queue for border control with the little one in the lead, a nice official tickles her chin and hurries [...]
Breastfeeding to Sleep
Just lately I’ve had a question from a couple of mothers through email and Facebook asking me what to do as their babies are now 6 months old and they are still exclusively falling asleep at the breast. A paediatrician to one of them told her to stop this, and the other was told that ‘feed, play, sleep’ was some kind of gold standard to work towards as early as possible. It’s perfectly okay for babies to continue falling asleep at the breast if you are both happy with it. There is nothing essential about separate sleeping and nothing [...]
Christmas Colic Time Is Here!
OOh no, Christmas is coming! Too much food and drink, Jingle Bells, presents under the tree. And lots of unsettled, howling babies. Most babies loath Christmas. Too many turkeys (like old dear Uncle Tom), parties, noise and excitement with mother’s attention sadly diverted towards feeding everyone and what to buy Auntie Susan. New babies have emerged from a calm, dark womb where on a particularly interesting day, they will see the umbilical cord floating past. To a foetus that’s a big day! At birth they are suddenly ejected into a busy world of lights, faces, and strange objects; of sounds and [...]
