Baby Care: Glimpses from my book

Communicating with Babies

Your baby takes in information through her senses and uses that information to "talk" back to you! She has, in fact, been using her senses even while she was in her mother's tummy!

Seeing

Newborn babies see objects best when these are about 8 to 12inches away from her eyes. This enables them to see their mother's face while they are being fed or held! Soon after birth, the baby may follow a brightly coloured object or a human face that is being slowly moved across her line of sight from side to side. As she grows, her sight improves rapidly, so that by a year, she can see almost as much as an adult can.

She takes most interest in observing objects/faces, especially if they are seen to be animated, brightly coloured or have contrasts like hair, teeth or eyes. Your ever-changing expressions are a source of never-ending delight to her, and often, she will try and imitate your smiles and frowns to the best of her ability.

Hearing

Talking to the baby is very important in helping her to learn language. Of course, ypour baby may not understand a word of what you are saying, but she will learn very fast, picking up the inflections and sound patterns in your talk. When you talk to her, she will turn her head around to look at you. Her eyes and face will brighten. She will calm down if she is crying, perk up if depressed, and settle snugly in your arms if cranky. A baby who was fighting her mother's breast just a few moments earlier will collect herself and begin suckling properly as soon as her mother begins to talk soothingly to her. A baby who is being held for burping since, say ten-odd minutes with no result will immediately let off a contented burp the moment she hears her mother/father talking to her. Some babies will even respond to soft music in the same way.

Touching

Touching the baby is so gratifying, both to her and to you! I always advise mothers to constantly touch their babies so that they learn to get sensory information from their skin. After all, the skin is one's BIGGEST sense organ! During a traditional oil massage, a custom routinely followed in the countries of the Indian sub-continent, the baby absorbs not just oil that is nourishing, but also the feel of the care-giver's fingers, and that is nurturing as well.

Responses

In her own,very subtle way, the baby begins to send you messages of hunger, drowsiness, dissatisfaction, boredom and so on, very soon in her life.

The positive, upbeat messages reach you as -
-open, sparkling eyes
-relaxed open arms and legs
-tight grasp on your finger
-gurgling, happy sounds
-by 6 to 8 weeks, a meaningful smile!

The negative, downbeat messages include
-frowns or looking away
-clenched fists
-thrashing arms or legs
-wriggling
-spitting up, hiccuping etc.

Crying

Crying is the most powerful means of communication for your baby. She may cry for various reasons, and often, the mother or the other care-giver(s) will understand why their child is crying at a given moment, as the nature of the cry will also be different in each case.

You should not ignore the child's cry, as early response to her crying will make her learn the rules faster. When you quickly discover the cause of her crying, and resolve the problem fast, you will foster trust and confidence for yourself in the baby's mind.

Feeding

The whole point of feeding is not just giving your baby food, but also showing how much you care for and love her. Believe me, she will give back more of what you give her in the emotional sector. In the first one or two months, you, as the mother, should "follow" the baby's lead, and feed her whenever she "demands" mother's milk. As she grows older, you may begin to train her to accept feeds at times that are convenient to you, and to not ASK for meals at all times.

Always remember to feed the child when she is awake and alert, and to do so in a quiet, pleasing environment.

Sleeping

Newborn babies may spend up to 16 to 17 hours daily in sleep. If you observe her, you will find her alternating between the "quiet" and the "active" stages of sleep.

During quiet sleep, she will be mostly still, and her breathing will be slow and regular; there will hardly be any eye or face movements, and the baby is unlikely to wake up even when small sounds are made or the telephone rings.

On the other hand, during active sleep, your baby will be constantly moving her eyes behind closed eye-lids, grimacing, smiling or frowning. She may also move around in her crib and generally "look" restless. To enable her to continue sleeping, you may have to pat or rub her back till she closes her eyes again.

So there you are!

Happy "reading" those messages!

Yours friendly,

##Dr.Taher##