Common Health Problems with Newborn Babies
Newborn babies seem like little miracles. They are tiny, perfect, innocent and beautiful. Naturally, newborn health problems are a source of immense concern for parents who are immediately confronted with the fragility and helplessness of their child as well as his or her absolute dependence on them — for everything. Because a parent is required to meet their baby’s every need — and often have to predict what these needs are — knowing what is wrong and how to respond can be quite difficult and stressful.
Hopefully, knowing about some of the common health problems affecting newborn babies, as well as some of the ways the effects of these problems can be lessened, can provide reassurance for parents. In fact, some of the most natural and nurturing techniques, including infant massage, can deliver some wonderful health benefits for newborns and older babies.
Helping Your Child Sleep Better
It seems that parents of every new baby quickly become challenged by broken sleep and their baby’s unpredictable and erratic sleep patterns. It is hardly surprising then that parents are eager to learn techniques to help their child sleep better.
While a child may not sleep well or follow a logical sleep pattern, the effects are equally as profound for sleep-deprived parents. Some new parents are surprised to learn that ‘sleeping through’ is defined as sleeping for five consecutive hours, according to many studies of infant sleep.
Tips for Coping with a Crying Baby
There are few things more stressful for a parent than a distressed baby that will not stop crying. When a baby is upset and screaming, it can be hard to believe that their crying is perfectly normal; in fact, many frazzled parents automatically assume that crying is always a sign that something is very wrong with their baby.
However, the reality is that all babies cry and frequent and lengthy bouts of crying characterise the behaviour of some babies. Because babies have no way to tell us what they want or what is wrong, they cry in order to draw our attention and let us know that they need something. As many parents get to know their baby better, they more quickly realise the different cries of their baby and what each one means.
How Baby Massage can Help to Reduce Postnatal Depression
Postnatal depression is a real and crippling experience for many new mothers. Despite the incredible desire to have a baby and the excitement and joy of a child’s birth, hormonal changes and the far-reaching changes brought about by motherhood can result in some women experiencing overwhelming feelings of sadness and despair.
While awareness of postnatal depression is increasing, it seems that this form of depression is quite often under-recognised and therefore, under-treated. However, many leading doctors, academics and those who have had first-hand experience of postnatal depression are realising that infant massage can play a very significant role in helping to reduce the effects of depression following the birth of a child.
What is postnatal depression?
The Therapeutic Benefits of Touch
As more and more parents are discovering, infant massage is one of the best and most effective ways of comforting and bonding with a baby. Not only is touch very important in helping to create the bond of love and trust that exists between a parent and their child, baby massage also can assist with a range of medical conditions and can even improve the mental state of a mother experiencing postnatal depression.
Here we look at five facts pertaining to the therapeutic benefits of touch:
1: Infant massage can help to establish better sleeping and settling habits
A growing body of research shows that of the many benefits of baby massage, the benefit that is often most valued by parents is the improvement that can result in a child’s sleeping habits. By the parent administering particular infant massage techniques, the baby can be settled more effectively and assisted to relax as they approach sleep time.
All About Baby Massage Oil
With ever-increasing interest in the benefits and advantages of infant massage, many parents realise the importance of learning proper baby massage techniques. When people learn about baby massage and become better educated in how to provide nurturing touch most effectively, the use of baby massage oil quickly becomes a factor to consider.
The fact is that there are many advantages of using an oil when massaging your baby. Understandably, parents want to ensure that the oil they use is suitable and will not cause an adverse reaction for their baby. Because parents want to know that the products they use are safe and nurturing for their baby, here we have compiled a list of eight things to know about baby massage oils:
How to Soothe an Upset Baby
The reality is that all babies cry and they cry for a multitude of reasons. Sometimes babies cry for reasons that are immediately obvious and other times they cry for no apparent reason at all.
As adults, it is important for us to remember that babies cry because they are unable to talk and have no other way of expressing their needs and desires. Essentially, crying is the only method available to a baby to let us know that something is not right and they need our help.
Babies have different cries for different reasons:
The better you get to know your baby the better you will understand their different cries. In fact, mothers in particular are usually able to interpret their babies’ cries in ways that others simply cannot and research shows that babies cry in different ways for different problems.
3 Tips from Experienced Mums
There is no guide book or instruction manual that is given to you when you enter the exciting, wonderful but also very challenging world of motherhood. It seems true that every child is different and that just when the mothers feel that they have mastered routines and understood their child’s specific needs, these routines and needs change.
Motherhood brings moments of unparalleled joy and love so great that you may have never before recognised as possible. It is also a time of incredible learning and adjustment as your own life changes markedly and your child’s world becomes your world.
With these things in mind, it can be very helpful to have some tips from women who have ‘been there’ before you. Of course, there is no prescriptive treatment or ‘cure all’ response that provides an answer to every challenge or query that a Mum’s face. However, the following tips from experienced mothers are likely to help:
4 Things that Babies Love
Many parents would agree that there is nothing like being with your baby and observing joy pass across their face. There is a huge range of things and activities that delight babies and help to strengthen the bonds between parents and their children. In fact, many of these activities are just as enjoyable for parents as they are for children and those that have a calming or soothing effect can help to relax all people involved.
So, what are some of the things that babies love most?
1: Baby massage
Just as most adults find massage relaxing and enjoyable, babies often love the nurturing touch of their parents. Baby massage is growing in popularity and is increasingly well respected for its therapeutic benefits in treating conditions such as colic and wind. Of course, a baby does not have to be ill or experiencing discomfort to enjoy infant massage.
3 Relaxation Techniques to Which Babies Respond
In order to soothe and comfort their babies, many parents search for effective baby relaxation techniques. The good news is that there is a variety of relaxation techniques which can be enjoyed and are beneficial to both babies and their parents.
Here we take a look at three of these relaxation techniques:
1: Baby massage
There is abundant evidence to show the positive benefits of touch for bonding and attachment and, more particularly, baby massage offers a very effective way for touch to be imparted.
Parents can undertake infant massage courses in order to learn the most nurturing and correct infant massage techniques and acquire knowledge to help them understand how infant massage directly benefits their baby. Infant massage is also known to provide a range of significant benefits for parents and when a parent learns how to massage their baby, they will readily appreciate and understand the ways that they too are positively influenced.