Caring for Your Baby 

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Articles:

• Baby's Second Night
• Wakeful 4 Month Olds
• Parenting Your Newborn

 

 

 

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Baby's Second Night

 

by Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC. Reprinted with permission from the author.

 

You've made it through your first 24 hours as a new mom. Maybe you have other children, but you are a new mom all over again...and now it is your baby's second night.

 

All of a sudden, your little one discovers that he's no longer back in the warm and comfortable - albeit a bit crowded - womb where he has spent the last 8 1/2 or 9 months - and it is SCARY out here! He isn't hearing your familiar heartbeat, the swooshing of the placental arteries, the soothing sound of your lungs or the comforting gurgling of your intestines. Instead, he's in a crib, swaddled in a diaper, a tee-shirt, a hat and a blanket. All sorts of people have been handling him, and he's not yet become accustomed to the new noises, lights, sounds and smells. He has found one thing though, and that's his voice....and you find that each time you take him off the breast where he comfortably drifted off to sleep, and put him in the bassinet - he protests, loudly!

 

In fact, each time you put him back on the breast he nurses for a little bit and then goes to sleep. As you take him off and put him back to bed - he cries again... and starts rooting around, looking for you. This goes on - seemingly for hours. A lot of moms are convinced it is because their milk isn't "in" yet, and the baby is starving. However, it isn't that, but the baby's sudden awakening to the fact that the most comforting and comfortable place for him to be is at the breast. It's the closest to "home" he can get. It seems that this is pretty universal among babies - lactation consultants all over the world have noticed the same thing.

 

So, what do you do? When he drifts off to sleep at the breast after a good feed, break the suction and slide your nipple gently out of his mouth. Don't move him except to pillow his head more comfortably on your breast. Don't try and burp him - just snuggle with him until he falls into a deep sleep where he won't be disturbed by being moved. Babies go into a light sleep state (REM) first, and then cycle in and out of REM and deep sleep about every ½ hour or so. If he starts to root and act as though he wants to go back to breast, that's fine...this is his way of settling and comforting.

 

Another helpful hint...his hands were his best friends in utero...he could suck on his thumb or his fingers anytime he was the slightest bit disturbed or uncomfortable. And all of a sudden he's had them taken away from him and someone has put mittens on him! He has no way of soothing himself with those mittens on. Babies need to touch - to feel - and even his touch on your breast will increase your oxytocin levels which will help boost your milk supply! So take the mittens off and loosen his blanket so he can get to his hands. He might scratch himself, but it will heal very rapidly - after all, he had fingernails when he was inside you, and no one put mittens on him then!

 

By the way - this might happen every once in a while at home too, particularly if you’ve changed his environment such as going to the doctor, to church, to the mall, or to the grandparents! Don't let it throw you - sometimes babies just need some extra snuggling at the breast, because for the baby, the breast is "home."

 

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Wakeful 4 Month Olds

 

by Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC. Reprinted with permission from the author.

 

One of the concerns I have about some parenting books and pediatricians who give advice about sleeping infants is this: Baby starts sleeping through the night at, say, about 3 months -- or at least sleeping 5 to 6 hours. Suddenly around 4 months, little Buford starts waking up at night to nurse. Mom is understandably distressed. Some books say "it's a bad habit that must be stopped." Her pediatrician says essentially the same thing. Someone else points out that since the baby slept through the night at 3 months, it is OBVIOUS that the baby CAN sleep and isn't hungry. The book goes on to talk about how the baby is now manipulating the mother. The pediatrician says he's big enough to go without eating at night. Grandma tells her to let Buford cry it out. So does the book. There may be different ways, but in essence, don't pick him up and feed him....

 

Has NO ONE stopped to consider the developmental stage of the breastfeeding baby that begins at about four months and can go on to 6 or 7 months? Think about your four month old breastfeeding -- what are they doing? This baby is on and off the breast -- so interested in the world around him he can hardly stand it. "Oh look! There's the dog! Hi, Mommy, I love you SOOOO much! The phone?! A car went by. The TV is on. Big sister comes into the room....hey, there's just too much going on for me to concentrate on eating. I think I'm full now. I'll see you later....."

 

When I get one of these babies in my office, I have to observe the feed without saying a word to the mother. The entire feeding is done in complete silence so that the baby will EAT and not look around at me. How many times have you been told to go into a darkened, quiet room to get a good feeding? OK, now think about night time. Buford is really hungry -- he didn't eat well during the day. Nighttime is here; it's dark, quiet, and he has mommy's undivided attention. So he has a really great meal. Doesn't take long -- he's pretty efficient by now. But it is down to business and complete.

 

But WAIT! Someone told the mother that the baby can't possibly be hungry -- just let him cry it out. Now mom's milk supply diminishes because punkin isn't eating well during the day -- too many things going on, and he's going through some new developmental stages (when Hildegarde is learning something new, she doesn't nurse as well until the new skill is mastered). IF mom has kept Buford/Hildegarde on a schedule since day 1, then she will probably NOT be able to increase her supply -- not with pumping, not with herbs. If she fed her baby frequently enough and laid down enough prolactin receptors in the first two weeks to a month, there is hope that we can bring the milk back up. But if she was truly "obeying" a schedule and only feeding every 2.5 to 3 hours, she may not be able to (depending on mom's breastmilk storage supplies, etc).

 

Why don't bottle feeding babies wake up as much at 4 months? Because by this time, mom has often handed the bottle off to baby to feed himself, and/or seats him looking out so he can check out the dog, the phone, the sibling, etc -- and continue eating at the same time.

 

Please don't deny that your breastfeeding baby is quite possibly very hungry at night at four months, even though they may have been sleeping through the night prior to this. Look at the feed -- can you hear swallowing? Does your breast get softer? Is he EATING? Then don't make him cry it out! He needs to eat....and he needs his mommy.

 

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Parenting Your Newborn

by Anne Stiller, RNC, IBCLC

 

Your baby is here. You have counted his fingers and toes; you have chosen a sweet outfit to take her home in. Your car seat is properly strapped in and you are on your way home where a cozy bassinette, a nursing corner, and maybe a whole beautifully decorated nursery awaits baby's homecoming. But then reality sets in. This tiny, helpless little person is wholly dependent upon you for food, safety, comfort, and for everything else he/she needs to survive, grow and thrive.

 

You are excited, full of joy and hope; but you are also tired, sore, and feeling the effects of rapidly shifting hormones; hopefully you have the loving support of your partner and/or of other family members, but it soon hits you that YOU, the mother, have the primary responsibility of caring for your baby, and of making decisions, some of which will affect his/her lifelong health and wellbeing . BellyHood.com is here to help.

 

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