All4Baby » newborn basics https://all4baby.co.za From Pregnancy to birth to baby and beyond. The place to find, chat, and share. Tue, 01 Jul 2014 11:12:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=479 New moms, sustain your energy levels with these foods https://all4baby.co.za/newborns-0-6-months/newborn-basics/1006/new-moms-sustain-energy-levels-foods/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-moms-sustain-energy-levels-foods https://all4baby.co.za/newborns-0-6-months/newborn-basics/1006/new-moms-sustain-energy-levels-foods/#comments Mon, 23 Jun 2014 08:03:19 +0000 https://all4baby.co.za/?p=1006 In between juggling your newborn and your "old" life, it's important to look after yourself. NHC Health Centres have put together a food guide that will help you sustain your energy levels throughout the day.

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Taking care of a newborn is a round-the-clock job, with little time left to yourself.  However, it is important to also take care of yourself physically.

Adopting a healthy diet, with nutrient-rich foods throughout the day will help maximize the little energy you probably have.  Sue Scharf, dietician at NHC Health Centres recommends that new moms include foods that are rich in iron and protein in their daily diets.

Your body needs regular, balanced meals and snacks to keep blood sugar levels stable: eat something small and balanced every three to four hours.

Here are some foods that will help you sustain your energy levels throughout the day:

Lean beef

It is rich in iron and vitamin B-12. The body needs this B vitamin to make blood cells and maintain a healthy nervous system. A deficiency of iron can drain your energy levels, leaving you fatigued and feeling down.

Legumes

Beans, especially dark-coloured ones like kidney beans, are a great source of energy and protein. They are high in fibre and iron. They also improve the sustainability of meals and snacks.

Blueberries

They are antioxidant-rich and filled with vitamins and minerals. They will give you a healthy dose of good carbohydrates to keep your energy levels high.

Whole grains

Incorporate healthy, whole-grain carbs like brown rice, whole wheat cereal and low GI breads in your diet to keep your energy levels up. Carbohydrates found in these grains, in controlled portions ensure that your energy levels are maintained the entire day.

Oranges

A great source of energy, fibre and Vitamin C, this citrus fruit is full of natural slow-release sugar.

Almonds

The best snacks for new moms! Almonds do not only elevate energy levels but metabolisms as well. They are also a good source of healthy fats and calcium. YET, do not have more than 8 at a time, as even too much of a healthy fat can cause body-fat-weight gain.

“You might find it easier to just grab fast foods when you’re tired and in need of a quick energy boost, but try to resist the urge. If you are craving something with a lot of sugar, rather grab some dark chocolate (or fruit). It contains lower amounts of sugar, fat and less caffeine than coffee” says Scharf.

 

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Newborn essentials: Pick the right baby wipe https://all4baby.co.za/newborns-0-6-months/newborn-basics/949/newborn-essentials-pick-right-baby-wipe-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=newborn-essentials-pick-right-baby-wipe-2 https://all4baby.co.za/newborns-0-6-months/newborn-basics/949/newborn-essentials-pick-right-baby-wipe-2/#comments Wed, 11 Jun 2014 09:01:36 +0000 https://all4baby.co.za/?p=949 Going home with a new baby is exciting, but it can be scary, too. What does your newborn baby really need in the first few weeks?

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Newborns have many needs, like love, frequent feedings and diaper changes. Babies can also have health issues that are different from older children and adults, like diaper rash. Diaper rash can be really painful and uncomfortable and can result in an unhappy and unsettled baby.

So, what does a newborn baby really need in the first few months? That’s a question new moms spend a fair amount of time thinking about. Most of us fall prey to the baby gear aisle, lured by the promise of some miracle product that will make our little one eat or sleep or poop better than any other miracle product out there.

As a new mom, you too have probably stared at price tags through sleep-deprived eyes, wondering if the purchase of sanity was really a possibility. Here’s the good and bad news: nothing you can buy is going to guarantee a stress-free existence with your newborn. Tiny people are a handful, and even the easiest babies will have some troubled times. That said, there is at least one thing that can make life with a newborn a little easier (and cleaner): baby wipes that are specially formulated for the soft, sensitive skin of newborns.

Here are a few tips when choosing baby wipes…

Quantity counts

Most new moms are staggered by how often a newborn needs to be changed, how many diapers and wipes are used on a daily basis and how annoying it is to run out of wipes in the middle of a messy diaper change.  Look for the packet of wipes that is less likely to leave you stranded in the middle of a messy diaper change with none. When it comes to wipes, quantity counts. Forget the small packets, and rather get the packet that has the most wipes to offer.

A clip lid is a bonus

There’s nothing worse than pulling a dry baby wipe out. Especially when you are so sure that you closed the packet the last time you used them. The result is wastage, as you dig through the packet to find a wet one. Choosing a wipe with a clip lid prevents wastage by ensuring that moisture loss of wipes is avoided.

Stay clear of parabens

Parabens are a class of chemicals widely used as preservatives by cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. They are becoming increasingly controversial, however, because they have been found in breast cancer tumours and as such have been banned in the EU.

When choosing baby wipes, try to select ones that are paraben free. While you’re being picky, make sure that the wipes you choose are also hypoallergenic and alcohol free, have been dermatologically tested and are approved by Intertek Safety Assessment (which will ensure you that they are gentle enough to use on even the most sensitive newborn skin).

Those that contain Aloe vera, known for its skin-soothing properties, as well as Vitamin E, a natural skin conditioner, are a great choice.

Cherubs New Born wipes are available at leading retailers. For more information, visit www.cherubs.co.za

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How to stick to your newborn’s routine when you go out! https://all4baby.co.za/newborns-0-6-months/newborn-basics/648/keep-newborns-routine-go/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=keep-newborns-routine-go https://all4baby.co.za/newborns-0-6-months/newborn-basics/648/keep-newborns-routine-go/#comments Wed, 14 May 2014 12:34:30 +0000 https://all4baby.co.za/?p=648 Should your baby adapt to your lifestyle, or should you adjust your lifestyle to fit in with your baby's routine? There should be a balance!

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Good Night Sleep Consultancy shares their tips on how to keep to your newborn’s routine when you go out…

When clients ask me: “What do we do when we want to go out during our baby’s sleep time?” I ask them: “Did you not know your life ends when you have children?” Of course, this is a joke! But, as with all things “baby”, I believe it is very important to have a good balance.

Adapt and adapt alike

We continuously ask ourselves whether our children must simply adapt to our lifestyles, or whether we should completely adjust our schedules to fit in with our children’s routines.

I am a firm believer that you should adapt to your baby as much as they should adapt to you.

It is important (and equally challenging) to find the balance between this give-and-take relationship. An example of this balanced relationship would be to concede that it is NOT ideal for a baby to be exposed to the noise, germs and stimulation of a shopping mall in the first two weeks of life.

However, is it equally ill-fitting for an extroverted mother who might be struggling with baby blues to be locked up in her house 24/7 in the first two weeks of her baby’s life. So, where do you find balance?

Keep the first two weeks open

I encourage clients to attempt to keep their diaries open for the first two weeks of implementing the program and making changes to their children’s sleep routines.

Ideally you want your child in the same sleep space and you want them to be able to sleep without interruption. However, here after, please do “have a life”.

But expect that you must also respect your child’s naptime and sleep time, or bear the consequences thereof.

Going out

  • If you are visiting friends and family, follow the exact same bedtime routine as you would at home, keep the rules consistent and the bedtime the same and allow your child to just sleep in a camping cot.
  • If bathing your baby at your friends or family’s house is out of the question, complete your bedtime routine at home, and allow your baby to fall asleep in the car seat. Then take him/her out and place them in a camp cot once you arrive at the host’s home.
  • When traveling far distances, try to schedule your trip during the time that your child needs to sleep.
  • If you are traveling short distances, it is best if your child DOES NOT fall asleep for the 10 minute drive. Rather keep your child awake until you reach your destination where he or she can sleep uninterruptedly.
  • In a shopping mall, lower your child’s pram in a sleeping position and limit the exposure to the light or surroundings with a blanket or pram-cover that will allow your baby to fall asleep in the pram.

The wonderful thing about getting your child in a healthy sleep routine, is that outings will be easier, as their circadian rhythms (their awake sleep cycles) will be in place and they will fall asleep much more easily in unfamiliar surroundings.

About the Author: Good Night is a child and baby sleep consultancy that specialises in helping parents with children who struggle to sleep soundly. For more information, visit: www.goodnightbaby.co.za

 

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Day versus Night: Tips to help your baby learn the difference https://all4baby.co.za/newborns-0-6-months/newborn-basics/432/day-versus-night-tips-help-baby-learn-difference/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=day-versus-night-tips-help-baby-learn-difference https://all4baby.co.za/newborns-0-6-months/newborn-basics/432/day-versus-night-tips-help-baby-learn-difference/#comments Tue, 22 Apr 2014 08:39:57 +0000 https://all4baby.co.za/?p=432 One of the most important newborn basics is to teach your baby the difference between day and night.

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The best sleeping environment for all of us to sleep in (baby included)  is “cave like” darkness. This helps surpress awake hormones from being released (adrenaline and cortisol) and to help encourage the sleepy hormone – melatonin to be released.

The end goal is to have your baby sleep in well lit environments by day and then in a dark room by night.

To help your little one differentiate night from day, follow these simple steps:

Initiate a night time routine

  1. Bath your baby every night. If you are concerned about their skin, there are wonderful products out there and you do not need to use soap every night. It is the experience of getting in water every night that is so different from everything else you do during the day. A bath need not be long and drawn out,  two to five minutes for a newborn is sufficient.
  2. After the bath, do the rest of your loving bedtime routine in the room where your newborn or infant is sleeping – that way they will associate it with “sleepy time” It should last a total of 30 to 45 minutes including time to feed.
  3. After you have your baby dressed and swaddled (newborns) or in their sleep sack, sit down and give your last feed – nurse or bottle in the room where they are sleeping. Keep the lights on so they do not fall asleep.
  4. Finish your loving routine with a book and a lullaby and then place your baby into the bassinet or crib – drowsy if a newborn, wide awake for infants.
  5. If your newborn or infant wakes up during the night, give them a few minutes to self soothe. If they don’t, then do all your night time feeds in the room where they are sleeping. Do not change diapers or take them out of their swaddles or sleep sacks unless you smell a dirty nappy. Keep the lights off for the feeds but make sure they do not fall asleep on the breast or the bottle.

During the day

  1. When morning time arrives, make it a big deal! Turn on the lights, open the curtains, and say “good morning!”
  2. Take your baby out of his swaddle or sleep sack and change his nappy.
  3. Change your baby’s scenery and nurse him in a well lit and bright environment.
  4. Focus on feed, play, sleep by day and always feed outside the room where your baby sleeps at night.
  5. Implement a nap routine.
  6. Use the swaddle and sleep sack by day too for naps as these are positive sleep association tools.

About the Author: Good Night is a child and baby sleep consultancy that specialises in helping parents with children who struggle to sleep soundly. For more information, visit: www.goodnightbaby.co.za

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Bathing is the first step to a calm evening routine https://all4baby.co.za/newborns-0-6-months/304/bathing-first-step-calm-evening-routine/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bathing-first-step-calm-evening-routine https://all4baby.co.za/newborns-0-6-months/304/bathing-first-step-calm-evening-routine/#comments Thu, 10 Apr 2014 09:05:37 +0000 https://all4baby.co.za/?p=304 There’s evidence to suggest that a warm bath is a critical step in establishing a peaceful evening routine for babies and young children.

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Experts swear by the benefits of maintaining a firm evening routine with babies and young children. Keeping to certain activities including quiet play, bath time and story time at the same time each evening promotes a calmer environment and leads to uninterrupted slumber.

Break activities with a bath

Geoffrey Holtes, brand manager for baby skincare brand Krayons says that there’s evidence to suggest that a warm bath is a critical first step in establishing a peaceful evening routine. “Breaking the day time and early evening activities with a gentle bath is the ideal way to calm your baby down and get him or her in the mood for bed.”

Select the right products

As part of the routine, Holtes says that selecting the right products for bath time is equally as important. “Your baby’s skin is soft and precious and it’s important to choose products that will be gentle on them.”

Holtes suggests using Krayons Baby Aqueous cream in the place of soap for newborn babies to help their skins adjust to the outside world. “Apply the cream prior to lowering your baby into the bath and splash gently to cleanse when in the water. When bath time is over, pat your baby’s skin down with a soft towel being sure not to rub too hard and irritate the skin. Once the skin is dry, apply another layer of Krayons Baby Aqueous cream over your baby’s body.”

The Krayons Hair & Body Wash is ideally suited to wriggling young children who aren’t happy being rubbed all over in the bath, taking away from their precious splashing time. “Using one product to quickly cleanse both the body and hair is convenient and cost-efficient,” says Holtes.

About the author: All Krayons products are pH balanced and approved by dermatologists to keep skin soft and supple. For more information on Krayons products visit KrayonsBabies on Facebook.

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What to expect during the newborn phase https://all4baby.co.za/newborns-0-6-months/newborn-basics/212/expect-newborn-phase/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=expect-newborn-phase https://all4baby.co.za/newborns-0-6-months/newborn-basics/212/expect-newborn-phase/#comments Wed, 09 Apr 2014 08:52:19 +0000 https://all4baby.co.za/?p=212 There is enough information on what to expect while you are expecting. But not hardly enough on what to expect during the newborn phase.

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My little girl, Emily Jayde (Emmy) was born three months ago. Like the drama queen she is, she made her debut quite unexpectedly. So unexpectedly, that her hospital bag was only half packed and her dad was somewhere between the 18th and 19th hole on the golf course.

What followed, can only be described as a whirlwind of change. Throw in a couple of mommy-fails, thousands of photographs, some smiles and squeals and bam, she’s three months old. My newborn is now a squishy little human being who reacts when I sing “Old MacDonald”.

Now, I’m only twelve weeks into the mommy game, so I wouldn’t consider myself an expert. But after observing Emmy (in a non-scientific way of course) and countless Google searches during middle-of-the-night feeds, I have come to a few conclusions regarding the newborn weeks.

Here’s what I have learned so far…

Ditch the advice

You will receive advice from every woman with whom you make eye contact. Smile, nod and bank the advice for a day where you have nothing to do but think of all the advice you have received.

Instead of following every piece of advice you receive, rather follow your gut. Get to know your baby and what works for him or her. Trust your instincts – it’s automatically built into you to know what your baby wants and how he or she wants it.

A medical kit will save your life

Slightly dramatic, but true. I received a medical kit at my baby shower. Thinking I would only use it when Emmy got sick, I packed it away. Until one night, when Emmy would not stop screaming.

Desperate to stop the crying, I clambered through the kit looking for anything and everything that had a crying baby on it. After playing a round of eeny-meeny-miny-mo, I chose drops that Emmy now gets in every bottle. I’m still not sure whether it was the drops that worked or whether Emmy just passed out from exhaustion, but as long as she drinks a bottle, she will get the drops.

You need a medical kit. Even if you don’t know what half of the stuff treats. At two am in the morning, you won’t care and anything with a crying baby on the bottle will do.

You will be judged

Whether you breastfeed or not, are highly strung or calm or give your baby a pacifier or not… you will be judged. This is something that I still struggle with. But, I’m slowly learning that as long as Emmy is happy, then being judged doesn’t matter. Do the best you can, as long as it’s good enough for your baby, you are doing just fine.

Babies cry. And that’s okay

In our first few days at home, any time Emmy made a sound, I would stick the pacifier in her mouth. Until I came across an article that explained how a baby cries as a means of communication (their only means of communicating at this age). Since reading that, I don’t try to silence Emmy’s cries with a pacifier. I allow her to communicate with me and I allow myself the time to decode her cry. By doing this, I have got to know that different cries signal the different needs that she has. I am able to respond to her cry far quicker, if I know what she is asking me to do.

Fake crying is real

Up until a few weeks ago, I didn’t know that this was a real thing. I thought Emmy’s fake crying was just part of her drama queen persona. Until I came across information that suggests that babies use a fake cry to bond with their parents or caregivers.  There’s a study that supports this notion and defines fake crying as a cry that comes out of nowhere, one moment your baby is happy, but as soon as you direct your attention elsewhere, he or she will start crying. Only to stop once you redirect your attention back to them.

Emmy loves doing this. Especially with me. Instead of seeing it as manipulation (which by definition, it could very well be), I see it as her communicating that she is in need of attention.

Watch out for it.

You can’t sleep when the baby sleeps

The next person who tells me that, will win my housework lottery. They will also blowdry my hair, do my grocery shopping and entertain my dogs.  All those ladies who tell you to ‘rest before the baby gets here’ were not joking.

The amount of sleep that you will learn to function on is ridiculous. I’m talking anything from as little as two hours in a 24 hour period. Yes. Sleep while you can.

You will have one hand for the rest of your life

Multitasking will take on a whole new meaning. Babies don’t understand that their mommies needs to cook, brush their teeth and eat. As such, you will learn to do everything with one hand. You will also learn to do some things with your nose and mouth.

This is a big love

When Emmy was born, the love I felt for her was natural and instinctual. Just like I expected. What I didn’t expect though, was for the love to grow to the point where it consumes me.

The love you feel for your baby will be the biggest love you have ever experienced. They will be the last thing you think about when you go to sleep at night and the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning.

When you are not attending to your baby’s needs, you will spend your time marvelling at the little miracle that you have created. I have 3 500 photos on my cell phone to prove this.

There is no love, like the love of a  parent (I say parent and not mom, because dads are also consumed by this love).Your whole world will revolve around the little being that has thrown your life upside down in a whirlwind of chaos. And you know what, there’s nothing better.

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