Since Baby cannot talk, it can be very hard to figure out what they need or want.
For a little help in reading your baby’s face, take a look at these babies and see if you guess right about what they are trying to say.
See whether their eyebrows are raised or lowered or pinched together. Is their nose wrinkled or not? Is their mouth open or the corners turned down?
Have some fun and maybe learn a little bit more about what your baby is trying to tell you.
Baby sleeping at night means everyone in the family sleeps better. Having a baby that doesn’t sleep well calls for action. Our grandson cried non-stop every time he was laid down for months. At night one adult swaddled him, walked him, rocked him, and prayed for him to sleep. Whenever he nodded off, he was gently laid in his car seat (the only place he sometimes slept). Within a short while he was crying again and the whole process began again. He was finally diagnosed with GER and medication was prescribed and the whole family began to get sleep at night.
Most babies don’t have such a severe problem with lying down and sleeping. Here are some ways to help your baby be able to sleep well at night. Starting early might help you avoid some bad habits that will make your child’s falling asleep a chore every night for years.
Here are some articles on Your Child’s Journey about sleep:
Here are some reliable resources on this topic:
If you have questions or comments about this article, please email me.
With the growing number of stresses on new moms, it seems a good time to revisit the topic of baby blues. In the first few weeks after giving birth up to 80% of new moms experience some degree of depression. It can be as mild as just being teary for no apparent reason to thoughts of hurting the baby or yourself.
The causes are usually a combination of hormonal, biochemical, environmental, psychological, and genetic factors. There are some predisposing factors like previous bouts of intense anxiety or depression, financial or marital struggles, or inadequate social support. But many moms have one or more of these factors and never experience depression. These negative feelings don’t make you a bad mom nor come because you are a bad mom.
Some of the major symptoms of postpartum depression are: irritability, hypersensitivity, loss of concentration, crying, anger, hopelessness, guilt, difficulty sleeping, change of appetite or eating habits, and aches and pains.
Postpartum anxiety is experienced by about 10% of moms. The symptoms include extreme anxiety or irritability, restlessness and agitation, shortness of breath, chest pains or discomfort, sensation of choking or smothering, dizziness, faintness, hot or cold flashes, and fear of dying or going crazy or of losing control.
Another less common, but recognized problem is postpartum obsessive-compulsive disorder. Moms may have recurrent disturbing or violent thoughts or images that center on harming their baby. They may have some of the more common symptoms of obsessive-compulsive behavior like hand-washing or ritualistic behaviors. But they may also hide the knives or avoid the kitchen in an effort to ward off thoughts of harming the baby or refuse to bathe the baby for fear they would drown their baby.
If you experience any of the more severe of these symptoms, get professional help as soon as possible. If your symptoms are less severe, here are some things you can do to help yourself overcome the baby blues.
For a more in-depth article about more severe postpartum depression see: Not What I Expected
An excellent resource with tons of information, see- Postpartum Progress
If you or a friend is suffering with postpartum depression, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive disorder, don’t ignore the symptoms or feel ashamed of them, but seek good, reliable medical or psychological help as soon as possible.
Babies are born curious. “Where do I end and the world begins?”
During the first three years of life, children are curious about everything. Whatever they see, they want to touch, turn over, stroke, taste, and throw. They want to figure out all they can about everything within reach.
Curiosity is the anticipation of learning. Curiosity urges your child to learn about what is in their world. When they are curious, the hippocampus, a part of the brain stores the information in long-term memory. Without curiosity and the testing your child does, they would be short on memories.
These memories will be tapped later to learn more about these subjects. All these memories are like hooks that they can hang need information on. Without a rich store of memories, your child would have a hard time learning in school.
Curiosity releases the pleasure chemical, dopamine, in their brain. This is the chemical that is related to reward and pleasure. Just being able to explore and satisfy their curiosity gives them pleasure. That’s why they find it so hard to leave one thing they are playing with to do something they think is less interesting.
Parents and child-minders can do much to help your little one prepare for later learning.
During these early years, curiosity is natural and leads to learning that provides the basis for all learning throughout life.
Have fun watching your baby’s curiosity!
Do you want to childproof your marriage? You are invited to The Couple and Baby Class! Whether you are pregnant or you have a baby already, you and your spouse would benefit by taking this class.
Couple and Baby is an free online course for you and your spouse to take together to help strengthen you marriage for parenting. This is a very stressful time for every couple. There are tried and proven ways for you to ensure the best possible marriage and parenting experience.
Visit the Couple and Baby Class and learn more about the course and sign up to begin.