Infants With Colic

First, lets set one thing straight. ALL BABIES CRY. Some cry alot. Crying is healthy and is one of the main ways that our newborns communicate. But some babies cry more than others do. And some, although they're healthy, well-fed and well cared for, seem to cry inconsolably for hours at a time. If your baby cries about the same time each day and nothing you do seems to comfort him or her, your baby may have colic. First things first. . . DON'T PANIC! Colic is not dangerous and it is not permanent. "Not permanent" means temporary, as in, it WILL go away. You will regain your sanity and you ARE NOT a bad parent. Despite our best efforts, about two in ten infants will suffer from a bout with colic so you are certainly not alone. But, if you have come to this blog for information and guidance, chances are you are feeling pretty desperate at this point. Read on.

What is colic? Basically Colic is a pattern of excessive crying with no readily apparent cause. (No kidding!) Of course, that sounds more like a description of the symptoms and less like a definition of the problem. Traditionally, colic has been ascribed to abdominal pain resulting from trapped gas in the digestive tract. This theory is not yet discredited, and some recent scientific evidence seems to support it, yet it is no longer universally accepted as the general cause.

Some folks attribute colic to dietary factors. But, even breastfed babies can suffer from colic. Which implies that the culprit is not purely dietary. One of the most accepted theories is that colic results from a combination of a baby's sensitive temperament, their environment, and a still immature nervous system. These factors combined create a propensity for them to cry easily no matter what the disturbance. The bottom line is: no expert has an answer for what colic really is.

Another point to take some comfort from is that, though your baby may look very uncomfortable, colic is usually not thought to be very painful. Babies with colic are healthy babies. It is not a medical problem per se and it is not indicative of problems in the way that the baby is being handled or treated. In other words, it is not your fault. However, it is in our nature as parents to take steps to eliminate anything that brings our little one to tears. So, if your baby is crying incessantly, you should make sure to consider other possible reasons (e.g. hunger, tiredness, being startled, temperature, diaper rash, etc.) before concluding that they are indeed colicky.

Since the cause of colic is so poorly understood, there is no singular method of treating or relieving it. Some parents have found the following to be helpful in soothing a colicky baby:

Try "babywearing"
Wrap the baby snugly in a blanket (this is called swaddling)
Keep the baby moving in a baby swing
Put them near continuous noise or vibrations from household appliances like the dishwasher, vacuum cleaner or washer-dryer
Take him or her for a car ride or a walk outside
Give them tummy or back rubs
Take a shower with them - the warm water may be comforting

The following links point to some excellent reading on the topic of colic.

http://www.lpch.org/HealthLibrary/ParentCareTopics/NewbornQuestions/CryingBabyLessThan3MonthsOldIncludesColic.html

http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/common/colic.html

http://familydoctor.org/036.xml

Research as you might, there is no reasoning with a colicky baby. One last piece of advice. . . Try to stay calm and get some rest. Colic is harder on the parent many times than it is on the baby. The continuous crying of your baby will likely lead you to feel stressed and frustrated. Your nervousness can actually exasperate the problem. Your baby is very sensitive to your mood and may pick up your nervousness leading the baby to even more crying.

Take time for yourself and seek out some support. If you start feeling overwhelmed, ask a partner or friend to take over for a while, even if only for an hour or two.

If you have experience to share on the topic of colic, please take a moment to share it with us in a comment.

Baby Heart Monitors

At first we were so excited about the prospect of being able to hear the heartbeat of our unborn child. Like many new "parents to be" our enthusiasm exceeded our patience to research and we spied a convenient "solution" at a maternity clothing store. We ended up investing over $50 for our prenatal heart monitor thinking we would be able to enjoy listening to the sound of our child's heartbeat. The first time we used it we could not hear a thing. Well, actually you could hear alot! But, none of the crackling, swooshing sounds were remotely what we expected. We blamed it on ourselves thinking that we may be using it wrong. We reread the directions to find out what the problem could be. "Why can't we hear the heartbeat" we thought. The manual stated that the baby would have to be further along, about 5-6 months before we would be able to hear her actual heartbeat. We thought that a bit odd since we had already heard her little heartbeat so clearly at the doctors office.

Each night we waited with anticipation to hear her heartbeat and no matter how far along my wife got, there was nothing "babylike" to be heard. During one of our visits to the doctor, I mentioned this to him and he stated that only "Doppler" based listening devices would be able to accurately pick up the baby's heart sounds.

That was an eye opener. These Doppler devices are not cheap and you will not find them at malls or maternity clothing stores. If you are interested in buying or renting one, you might try here:

Stork Radio
Baby Beat

I thought to myself "Then how could a company get away with selling a monitor that supposedly picks up the baby's heartbeat?"

Well, our doctor ended up being correct. We never did actually manage to hear Olivia's heartbeat. Right up until the night before she was born, there was nothing but a very random "swooshing" noise coming from the monitor. I will say this though, the item we bought came with a connection that was actually a speaker. Erin would attach the speaker and lay it on her belly each night as she read to the baby. It was apparent that these little speakers actually worked because the first time I ever read to Olivia, she responded immediately because of the change in voice. You see, Erin had been reading to her for months each night. I decided that I wanted to get in on the action. When I started reading, Erin immediately exclaimed that the baby was moving in a way she never had before! We came to the realization that this things value was not in hearing the baby's heartbeat. We were communicating with our child in a more effective way. She could actually hear us! What an amazing experience.

So if you are wondering how effective the typical "store bought" heart monitors can be, we can tell you from experience that personally we feel that they don't really work very well at all. But if you are yearning for your baby to hear your voice more clearly, then our suggestion is to get one of those devices that actually allows you to beam beautiful vocal waves more efficiently into the womb so you can tell your child how much you love them and can't wait to meet them! And of course, savor the opportunity you get to hear your babies heartbeat at the doctor's office.

Here are a few more opinions you might want to consider:

Prenatal Monitor Reviews

Making the Decision to Breastfeed

Making the choice to breastfeed was one of the easiest decisions I have ever made. I was very proud and optimistic about my choice. But I was actually shocked at the reception my decision got from friends and family. First off, I quickly found out that I would be the first person in my family to ever choose to breastfeed. My friends thought I was insane to take on such a "daunting" task, even teasing that I was doing it only to "save money on formula". But I was determined since I knew it was the best decision for me and my baby. I also knew that this was a huge undertaking, one that could not be taken lightly. I started to gather information immediately. I read everything I could get my hands on until I felt informed and prepared. Ironically, at times, it seemed the more I read the more nervous and anxious I got about this very important decision.

Randy and I decided it would be best to do research together. We both felt that the support from one another would make this a committment we could both handle and be proud of. It was kind of funny though, when I registered us for a breastfeeding class, Randy's first thought was "Do I really need to go?" But to our surprise it was so informative for us both that we found even though I would be doing the actual feeding, we both had very important roles.

With great appreciation, I found that Randy was also doing research on his own about breastfeeding. We started sharing our research with each other. I felt equipped to handle this commitment long before Olivia was born. Taking a class and reading as much as you can about the facts of nursing your baby are a surefire way to stick to your commitment to breastfeed.

But a word of caution. A short time into my days of reading about breastfeeding, I found that I was becoming more and more anxious. I kept reading stories in parenting and pregnancy magazines about moms who tried nursing and the struggles they went through. While a small amount of this was healthy for me to get a good idea of what I would be facing, after a while the negativity some moms had started to weigh upon my mind. I even remember a girlfriend of mine, who had just had her own baby, telling me that her lactation consultant in the hospital was mean and made comments about the fact that formula fed babies are always sick. I thought to myself, "My goodness, how rude". But after speaking with Randy about the things I was reading he helped me put things in perspective. Each person will have their own experiences and perceive things differently. It is up to you to make the choice and do what is best for you and your baby. No one, and I mean no one (not even your mother or mother-in-law), can tell you what to do when it comes to breastfeeding (or not breastfeeding) your baby.

That being said, I love nursing Olivia. It has been one of the best experiences of my life. But looking back on making the decision, both Randy and I know that we could not have done this had we not prepared for it right from the start. And I can't help but understand why most people either don't try it or don't stick with it after they do. A well informed and committed person can make it through anything.

Some excellent Web resources on breastfeeding are:

www.lansinoh.com

http://www.fda.gov/fdac/reprints/breastfed.html#tips

http://www.parenting.com/parenting/article/0,19840,1039847,00.html

http://www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/faq.html

There is so much involved in breastfeeding that I did not cover all the issues that go along with it. Stay tuned, in future posts I will discuss concerns and suggestions based on my experiences in breastfeeding.

Going Mobile

Erin and I agree that we want our daughter Olivia to develop to her full potential through positive stimulation. Intuitively we realize that stimulation is the catalyst for all manner of growth. We strive to provide an environment that will engage as many of Olivia's senses as possible in a rich and pleasant manner without overloading her.

Mobiles have long been the tool of choice to accomplish this objective when parents cannot personally provide their child with one-on-one stimulation. Data on the value of mobiles is very scarce. But our observations leave little doubt that Olivia finds them both entertaining and engaging.

We literally stumbled upon the "Soothing Serenade Developmental Mobile" one day when we were cruising "Babies R Us". This mobile from "Sassy" is designed to stimulate your newborn with familiar sounds from the womb, mixed with classical compositions of Brahms and Bach. Six celestial bodies hang from the mobile creating a soothing, yet colorful and texture rich, representation of the night sky. It creates a secure, welcoming atmosphere for your baby and develops infant cognition. Sassy's Soothing Serenade plays the selected sounds continuously for 15 minutes. At the end of the selection, the music gradually softens in volume until only the movement of the mobile remains and finally comes to rest, easing baby gently into sleep without the abrupt "stop" of most musical mobiles.

I could not find any information from the experts regarding the value of mobiles in promoting the development of infants. This was frustrating to me since I usually tell folks that I can find information on "anything" using web resources. Little did I know, at some point, I would become the web resource. So I will give you our observations.

This mobile pauses every few seconds to allow your baby to focus on one of it's hanging celestial bodies. Olivia definitely takes advantage of this pause to focus on one of colorful objects hanging from this mobile. I count that as a real positive. Sassy says this "pausing" action assists babies in developing "visual tracking" abilities. I do not know whether this pause helps Olivia refine her visual tracking skills, but I do know that the pausing action of this mobile is more engaging to her than continuous motion mobiles that lack this feature.

Erin and I agree that the high quality music, which fades to silence over time, and the pausing feature of this mobile make it our "best choice". This mobile's advertised features are more than a gimmick. Just be aware that this mobile is designed to be fastened between the vertical "bars" of a full size crib. If your baby sleeps in a bassinet or mesh equipped "pack and play", you will have to engineer an alternate method of mounting it.

Where can you get one? Try one of these retailers:

http://www.kidsstuff.com/n171mobile.html

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html?_encoding=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B000BV66P6

http://www.amazon.com/Sassy-784-Soothing-saranade/dp/B000BV66P6

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000BV66P6/yahoo-baby-20/ref=nosim

You will not regret purchasing this mobile. It gets two thumbs up from the Austin family.

How Well Can New Babies See?

"Look Dear, she is looking at me!"... "It must be that pink blouse. That seems to be her favorite color." The days after the birth of a newborn are generally filled with comments similar to these. We intuitively know by watching the babies reactions, or lack of reactions, that our baby's eyesight is not completely clear. Some bystanders will chime in, "Come on! Seriously... The baby's vision is blurred until they are six months old." This has been the conventional wisdom for many years based partly on a general lack of guidance from the medical experts. To a great extent, the majority of folks still subscribe to the opinion of William James, the great 19th century philosopher and psychologist, who argued that an infant's visual world amounted to a "booming, buzzing, confusion." But, we want to interact and bond with baby. So we hope and wonder how well our little one can see our faces and the wonderful profusion of colorful baubles that we surround them with. I will admit, you could not have convinced me that Olivia wasn't transfixed by my face when I softly spoke her name.

So what can an infant see? The answer to this question lies in the answer to two other related questions. 1) How far can the baby see? and 2) How clearly can the baby see? I did some research on these two questions and though there are a lot of varying opinions, even amongst experts, there is a general consensus that provides a reasonable response.

Let's consider the first question. How far can my baby see?

Generally, experts agree that newborns are short-sighted. They are pretty good at following the movement of highly contrasting objects that are no more than 7-12" away. Actually, their little eyes have all of the functionality and optical parts needed to focus perfectly on objects at any distance. However, the ability to control their focus is still in development. Let me explain.

The eye is able to focus on an image because tiny muscles called ciliary muscles change the eyes shape making it longer or shorter as needed. A good analogy is the way a camera lens lengthens or shortens to convey a sharply focused image onto film when we take a picture. An infant's eyes are perfectly capable as a lens at birth. It is the coordination of these ciliary muscles that is still in need of refining. Since these muscles are still developing and lacking a bit in coordination, the baby's eyes may either focus too close (in front of an object) or too far (behind an object). Now for the next question.

How clearly can the baby see?

We have already discussed that focusing, and more importantly accurately focusing, can be a challenge for young babies. The other factor that determines how clearly the baby will see is how well the brain processes the image. This is referred to as acuity. Images that pass into the eye are projected on the retina. The retina is a thin layer of neural cells that line the back of the eyeball. The retina is still incompletely developed in infants. For this reason, even though the optic components of the eyeball itself are capable of producing images in sharp focus onto it's surface, the retina and the neural pathways that are used to carry the images are immature and do not convey a clear image to the brain. This limits how clearly an infant can resolve the images the eye receives.

So how fuzzy is an infants vision? Most experts agree that in the first month of life, a baby can achieve visual acuity of about 20/120. In simpler terms, if babies could read, they would be able to read the big "E" at the top of a standard eye chart. Fortunately, this situation quickly improves. By 4 months of age, acuity has improved to 20/60 and by 8 months the babies nervous system has matured enough to improve acuity to 20/30.

So what's the bottom line? Babies have a real challenge in their early months focusing on objects. Especially those that are not viewed up close. However, a newborn infant can easily see many of the things that are most important to them and you. Hold them close in your arms and they will certainly be able to make out your eyes, lips and nose. They will also be fascinated by their own hands, fingers, feet and toes. And come to think of it, those are the very things we will be focusing on also.

Finally, what can I do to promote proper development of my baby's vision?

Check out the following links for facts about your infant's vision as well as things you can do to insure your baby has the appropriate level of visual stimulation:

http://www.ski.org/Vision/babyvision.html?id=10

http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/119/113496.htm

http://www.allaboutvision.com/parents/infants.htm

You probably have seen those black and white mobiles and toys that are being touted as "visually stimulating" to your baby. Are these items really more beneficial than other designs? We will discuss what we found in another post. So stay tuned.

Developmental Milestones

Livi found her feet this week. We are thrilled! It's the kind of subtle milestone that only a new parent can truly appreciate. Of course, changing time has become a real wrestling match since now she immediately goes for the feet as soon as they are exposed.

Every parent frets or brags to some degree or another about the development of their baby. The timeline associated with big events like, first words, first steps, or getting a full-time job are pretty easy to evaluate. They happen sooner or later for each child and because of the huge developmental significance each one represents most parents intuitively realize that there will be a fair amount of variation from one child to another in when they are reached. Of course, if the job thing isn't fairly well in hand by year 21, it may represent a valid concern.

It is in the earliest stages of a new baby's life that parents scrutinize every move or sound in an effort to comfort ourselves that their pride and joy is not suffering from some kind of developmental problems. We are very proud of Olivia's quick development. But, it is most important for all parents to avoid over-agonizing about what others may say, or what they might initially suspect is a developmental problem. What should you expect in a general sense as your baby progresses through their first few months? The following links will provide some credible and balanced guidance:

http://www.babycenter.com/general/baby/babydevelopment/6476.html

http://www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/298_10203.asp

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/infant_milestones/page2_em.htm

http://www.yourbabytoday.com/heronline/newbaby/newbaby_pediatrics/ped_milestones.html

If you know of other links that are informative on this topic, please feel free to include them in a comment to this post.

What can you do to insure that your baby has the greatest opportunity to progress? The following are suggestions made in a report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention:

* Talk to your baby. It is soothing to hear your voice.

* When your baby makes sounds, answer him by repeating and adding words. This will help him learn to use language.

* Read to your baby. This helps her develop and understand language and sounds.

* Sing to your baby.

* Play music. This helps your baby develop a love for music and math.

* Praise your baby and give him lots of loving attention.

* Spend time cuddling and holding your baby. This helps her feel cared for and secure.

* The best time to play with your baby is when he’s alert and relaxed. Watch your baby closely for signs of being tired or fussy so that you can take a break.

* Parenting can be hard work! Take care of yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally. It is easier to enjoy your new baby and be a positive, loving parent when you are feeling good yourself.

In all cases, if you feel that your baby has a developmental difficulty it is important to speak to your pediatrician. But, realize that in most cases, everything is just fine.

What else can we do as parents to help insure that our baby has the best chance to develop at their optimum pace? We will share what we found in a future post.

What Is "Babywearing"?

The baby is finally home. The doctor's have all signed off, the relatives have gradually dwindled away home, and now it is just you and baby. There she lays. Waiting. Juuuusssst waiting. Waiting for what? To be picked up and carried to the mall of course. Okay, maybe it is to the supermarket, or the park. But, this simple reality can create a real dilemma for new parents. The baby has some pretty convenient handles by which to pick it up. But, carrying baby around for more than 20 or 30 minutes can be tiring and tedious. Strollers are great, but they can be tough to maneuver in tight or uneven areas. So how do you bring baby along wherever you are going without wearing yourself out? One very popular solution is referred to as "babywearing". What is it?

Babywearing is the act of wearing or carrying a baby or child in a sling or other form of carrier. Babywearing is far from new and has been practised for many years around the world by a wide spectrum of cultures. In the industrialized world babywearing has gained popularity, partly under influence of advocates of attachment parenting. Babywearing has become a popular and chic form of baby transport.

There are a lot of advantages to babywearing. Notice what La Leche League International says about babywearing in an article entitled "The Benefits Of Baby Wearing". This report impressed me as thorough and it made a lot of sense.

We asked a friend of ours that runs a small business creating baby sling carriers, why sling carriers have become so popular. She replied, "Wearing your baby in a sling promotes bonding between the baby and you. Babies are more comfortable when being held and are calmer. Having your baby in a sling versus a stroller allows your baby to see the world with you, and allows you to travel easier without the hassle of a bulky stroller. Your baby can sleep, nurse, be bottle fed, or just relax in the safety of a sling baby carrier." When I told Erin I was researching this topic, she informed me that she had learned from her own reading that babies that are "worn" actually develop more self-confidence and tend to be more independent and outgoing than babies who are relegated to strollers.

Want to do more research on babywearing? A good place to continue learning on the topic is at www.thebabywearer.com. Obviously, there are a lot of alternative methods of keeping baby close and involved while you carry on the day's activities. But clearly, babywearing has a lot of advantages.