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]]>Healthy development in the early years provides the building blocks for educational achievement, economic productivity, responsible citizenship, lifelong health, strong communities, and successful parenting of the next generation.
The connections (synapses) that are made between brain cells are vital for development. For example a connection in the language part of the brain will result in understanding of speech or in speech itself as illustrated in a video by the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
One of the most essential experiences in shaping the architecture of the developing brain is “serve and return” interaction between children and significant adults in their lives. Young children naturally reach out for interaction through babbling, facial expressions, and gestures, and adults respond with the same kind of vocalizing and gesturing back at them. This back-and-forth process is fundamental to the wiring of the brain, especially in the earliest years.
Your baby can only benefit optimally from stimulation when it is balanced, varied and meaningful and occurs at a time when he can best utilise the sensory input
As important as stimulation is for development; we do not want to over stimulate our babies either. It’s a fine balance that we need to aim for.
Here are a few guidelines on ‘sense-able’ stimulation:
Aim for a fine balance when it comes to stimulating your baby
For more information on how to make the informed decision for you and your baby join us at the 2014 Johnson’s Baby Sense Seminar for #baby101. There’s pretty much nothing that the Johnson’s Baby Sense Seminars doesn’t offer. You can expect au pairs looking after your baby on the day, expert advice covering challenges arising during specific periods of parenting (Tina Otte, Dr Claudia Gray, Ann Richardson and Megan Faure), a fun day with treats, prizes and goodie bags, plus the chance to meet pregnant moms and new parents.
Don’t miss out on this all inclusive #baby101 seminars! Book now online babysense.com/talks-and-workshops or call (021) 671 3245 facebook.com/babysense @BabySense #baby101
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]]>Your baby’s brain acts like a sponge absorbing all the new sensory information of the world outside the womb. In the early days your baby is very susceptible to overstimulation, which can result in fussing and an unsettled baby who won’t sleep.
By keeping your baby’s world calm and mimicking the world of the womb your baby will be calmer and the transition from womb to world will be a smooth one.
Hear more from Meg Faure at the 2014 Johnson’s Baby Sense Seminars. She’ll be talking at the morning baby seminars on how to stimulate your baby and toddler for optimal brain development. In the afternoon birth & newborn seminars she’ll be sharing her secrets to a calm newborn with tips on preventing colic and managing a fussy baby.
Dates and venues:
Durban 16 August Three Cities Riverside Hotel
Port Elizabeth 23 August The Marine Hotel
Johannesburg 6 September Woodmead Country Club
Cape Town 13 September The Vineyard Hotel
Cost per seminar is R240 and R80 for the Johnson’s baby massage workshop. If you book for both the morning Baby Seminar, the afternoon Birth & Newborn Seminar and the Johnson’s Baby Massage Workshop a discounted rate of R480 will be applicable. Tickets include goodie bags of essential baby products, invaluable information in the seminar manuals and the chance of winning amazing prizes including a Stokke Scoot travel system.
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]]>It is vital for a newborn baby to be breastfed as much as possible in the first three days, as new studies have proven that this will ensure a constant milk production in the future.
It is suggested that parents leave the pacifier or dummy in the drawer for the first few days and try to enjoy the bond with their newborn.
One of the world’s leading pediatric chiropractors shared amazing testimonies of what chiropractic treatments can achieve for families with newborns.
It has been proven that sufficient amounts of zinc can actually improve and change taste buds. A leading cause for children being picky eaters is insufficient amounts of zinc.
An informative session from an Autism specialist explained the importance of parents being aware of the signs of autism. The earlier it is detected, the better it can be treated with behaviour therapy. Autism does also not need to be the reason for poor sleep in any child.
Boys’ and girls’ brains develop completely differently. In simple terms, girls’ brains develop front-to-back, and boys’ from back-to-front. When the structure of the brain is analysed, it becomes apparent why boys often need a little more help to be taught how to sleep well.
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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]]>Try and keep this time of the day calm and quiet, so if Dad is home, try and limit the amount of horseplay and excitement that takes place – rather stick to calming, nurturing activities such as watering the garden, doing a puzzle, or play “I spy”. Avoid intensive movement activities and rough house play at this time, but encourage them in the afternoon.
Try and serve supper at roughly the same time each evening, and perform the same activities thereafter until bedtime
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]]>This year’s industry professionals are Meg Faure (occupational therapist and Baby Sense co-author), Sr Ann Richardson (specialist nurse practitioner, author and parent coach), Tina Otte (midwife and special editor of Your Pregnancy magazine) and paediatrician, Dr Claudia Gray.
The seminars will address the challenges arising during specific periods of the parenting journey with BABY as the morning session theme and BIRTH & NEWBORN for the afternoon seminar.
Dr Claudia Gray will kick off the first session,demystifying your baby’s health concerns and giving tips on how to boost immunity and decrease the risk of allergies. Meg Faure will follow by taking a look at your baby’s development and how to stimulate him/her through play to ensure optimal physical, cognitive and emotional development. Sr Ann Richardson will close the session covering how to establish a sense-able sleep routine and age appropriate sleep training.
For the expecting parents, the afternoon birth & newborn seminar is not to be missed – the ultimate crash course on birth and baby’s first four months. Tina Ottewill discuss your newborn’s amazing capabilities and why skin on skin contact is essential for mom and baby in the magical hour after birth. Learn the secrets to a calm newborn, ways to manage your crying baby and simple strategies to prevent colic in an informative talk by Meg Faure. Sr Ann Richardson will take you through the first six weeks of #baby101 from umbilical cord care, nappy changes, feeding, sleeping, nappy rashes, sniffles and snuffles, cradle cap and more.
To further enhance bonding with your new bundle of joy, the Johnson’s Baby massage workshop will open the world of communication with your baby through touch and massage, with an interactive demonstration of some hands-on massage skills and tips.
Durban 16 August Three Cities Riverside Hotel
Port Elizabeth 23 August The Marine Hotel
Johannesburg 6 September Woodmead Country Club
Cape Town 13 September The Vineyard Hotel
Cost per seminar is R240 and R80 for the massage workshop. If you book for both seminars and the massage workshop, a discounted rate of R480 will be applicable. Tickets include goodie bags of essential baby products, invaluable information in the seminar manuals and the chance of winning amazing prizes including a Stokke Scoot travel system.
Don’t miss out on these info-packed#baby101 seminars!
Book now online babysense.com/talks-and-workshops or call (021) 671 3245(021) 671 3245
facebook.com/babysense @BabySense #baby101
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]]>The post Toddler development: Your Nursery School tips! appeared first on All4Baby.
]]>The modern trend is to enrol your toddler at a nursery school from three or four years of age. She may have attended a playschool from an earlier age, or may have been happy and content at home with you until now.
While most playschools focus mostly on socializing and playing (for younger toddlers), nursery schools differ in that learning takes place in a more formal and structured way.
Many nursery schools have separate classes or sections for different age groups, so try to find one that will allow for your child’s progress without having to move her unnecessarily.
Trust your instinct when looking for a school, and decide whether the school will suit you and your toddler’s needs with regards to accessibility, safety and hygiene and quality of teaching and care.
If your toddler has never been to playschool, starting nursery school may be the first time that she will be separating from you, so expect her to feel anxious and apprehensive. Try these few tips to ease the transition for both of you!
If your child is still anxious, clingy and cries inconsolably when you leave her at nursery school and after two to three weeks is showing no signs of improvement, consider keeping her at home for a while and trying again later. In some cases, a change of school may be necessary. If the problem persists, consider a psychological assessment.
You may be feeling pressurised to enrol your child in every extra-mural activity on offer. Stimulation in the form of gym, swimming, music, karate, ballet or modern dancing can be most beneficial for your child, but beware of over-scheduling your child.
Choose her extra mural activities with care, bearing in mind your child’s temperament and personality, as well as being aware of the hazards of over-stimulation.
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]]>Sleep is vital for our physical and emotional well being. It is well known that it promotes the secretion of growth hormone as well as restoring brain processes. This enables us to perform subtle cognitive and social tasks as we go about our daily lives.
It may be surprising to note that the very same environmental, behavioural and social factors that may interfere with sleep, can play an important role in ensuring healthy sleep habits from the start.
In daily practice, when one is presented with an “unsettled infant”, or a “badly behaved toddler”, lack of sleep, or plain exhaustion is often not considered, as the practitioner is often too busy looking for a “physical reason” for the childs’ distress.
There are obviously certain physiological factors to exclude from the outset, and a detailed history from the parent (or caregiver) is necessary. The obvious factors should include the following:
Once these factors have been excluded, the area of sensory overload should be investigated.
The behaviour displayed by an infant or toddler upon exposure to sensory input will differ depending on the manner in which the stimulus is interpreted.
The sensory system functions in order to form a composite picture of what is going on around us. Sensory integration is the critical function of the brain that is responsible for producing this picture.
For most of us, effective sensory integration occurs automatically, unconsciously and without effort. However, for most infants, particularly premature babies, and toddlers with sensory integration difficulties, this process is inefficient due to immaturity of the sensory system. Therefore, babies and some toddlers will have difficulty in processing too much sensory stimuli.
When a child is exposed to sensory stimuli, a pattern usually occurs.
The child may interpret the stimuli as non stressful and respond to the stimuli appropriately. This response will not affect the stability of the behavioural subsystems of the nervous system.
The child will display self-regulation approach signals.These signals indicate that she is in control, and is neurologically well organized. Children displaying these signals appear to be inviting interaction.
These signals include:
The child starts to experience stress when the exposure to the stimuli continues. The child will display some warning signals. At this stage she still has the ability to self-organise or self-regulate.
She is able to produce a behaviour to decrease the effect of the stress, thus preserving the stability of the behavioural subsystems of her nervous system.
Warning signals that the child is becoming overloaded include:
This is the stage to allow the baby or toddler to go to sleep. All further stimulation should be avoided at this point. These signals must be interpreted as warning messages that the child may be reaching maximum tolerable stress levels. It is important to note that if the child is given some space to “zone out” she will be able to regulate her state of sensory overload herself to enable her to go to sleep unaided.
If the exposure to the stress/stimuli continues, it will stress the child to such a degree that she becomes unable to overcome the effect of the stress by self-regulation(above). The compensating lower subsystem of the nervous system becomes unstable, resulting in a stress reaction such as crying and inability to fall asleep unaided. She will now need extensive help such as sucking on the breast or a bottle, being rocked or driven in a car in order to fall asleep. These stressed signals signal the end of the child’s ability to self regulate, and include:
These signs are very often misinterpreted as colic(infant), or boredom or bad behaviour(toddler). However, the sensory system at this stage is in such disorganization that it is unable to self-calm, and the child will end up crying inconsolably(infant), or having a tantrum(toddler). It is very important at this stage to:
Children who are constantly over-stimulated and or deprived of “quiet time” will remain in this level of stress, and will thus never sleep.
To avoid children entering into this stressed, over-stimulated, over-tired state, it is crucial to avoid excessive stimulation, and to monitor how much time the child spends awake between sleep cycles. It is important that children are allowed to sleep before they reach this state of over-tiredness.
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]]>As your child’s nervous system matures with age, so does their capacity to cope with sensory stimulation in their ‘awake’ time.
Here is a guideline of approximate ‘awake’ times before ‘stress’ levels are reached:
0 – 6 weeks : 40 – 60 minutes
6 – 12 weeks : 60 – 80 minutes
3 – 6 months : 1 ½ hours
6 – 9 months : 2 hours
9 – 12 months : 2 ½ hours
1 – 2 years : 3 – 3 ½ hours
2 – 3 years : 4 – 5 hours
3 – 5 years : 5 – 7 hours
Parents of children that don’t sleep often think that by simply keeping them awake all day, will ensure they will sleep all night long. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sleep makes sleep – that is for sure!
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]]>Keep your baby’s sensory environment the same each feeding time. Be cautious with any extra sensory input, like talking or touching.
She needs to keep all her attention on sucking, swallowing and breathing. Reciprocate your baby’s sensory signals. If she looks at you, return eye contact, but look away when she looks away to allow her ‘sensory space’ to focus on feeding.
From the moment you lift your baby into your arms and throughout the feed, each one of her senses will be stimulated.
Your touch as you place your baby into your arms and position her at your breast.
Your baby’s sense of hearing will be stimulated by the sound of your voice and the rhythm of your heartbeat.
Sense of sight is stimulated as your baby focuses on your face and what is around her
As you lift your baby into the feeding position, her sense of movement is stimulated.
The smell of your milk and ‘mother space’ will stimulate your baby’s sense of smell.
Your baby’s sense of taste will be aroused depending on whether your milk is sweet or sour, hot or cold.
The inner sensations of hunger, satiety and gas.
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]]>Believe it or not, it is the awake time not the sleep time that drives healthy sleep patterns. An over tired, over stimulated baby will struggle to fall asleep without extensive assistance such being rocked or fed to sleep. A baby who is calm and sleepy will fall asleep with ease, and with little intervention.
A lot of the time, an over stimulated baby will show signs of tiredness and sensory overload. These signals, such as irritability, pulling up of their legs, fisting of their hands, yawning, sneezing and hiccupping are often incorrectly attributed to winds and cramps. The caregiver then spends much time “fiddling’ with the baby, trying to break wind, checking for a dirty nappy and so on – all of which continue to over stimulate baby, resulting in ongoing fussy behaviour.
Having a consistent and calming sleep zone will ensure that your baby is able to fall asleep without resistance. This is especially so for older babies, who need a consistent and un-stimulatory sleep space in order to regulate themselves sufficiently to become calm so that sleep can follow.
Children, especially toddlers, thrive on routine. A flexible routine is important to ensure a healthy balance between sufficient play and stimulation time and quiet and calm time. Day time naps are still important until well into the toddler years.
Children should, ideally, be in bed and asleep by 7pm every night. Depending on your baby’s afternoon sleep pattern, bedtime could be as early as 6pm. Delayed bedtimes cause over tiredness, cranky behaviour and high levels of stress. Don’t be tempted to keep your baby awake just because dad is coming home late from work!
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