Happy Days

QUESTION: My son is now 5 months and 2 weeks. I am exclusively breastfeeding still but am hitting some major walls. He will still only drink from 1 breast apart from going to  bed at 6pm. That is the only time he will have a good feed. I have tried both feeding every 2 hours and also to stretch him 4 hourly to see if he will drink better but it makes no difference. He wakes every 2 hours at night, and has never slept through. I tried to start solids 1 week ago, but it seems he hats it. Spits it out, screams if I force the spoon in...

QUESTION: My baby girl was born 13 weeks premature.  She is now 3,5 months (corrected age 3 weeks). I'm not sure how to handle her sleeping and dietary needs.  Do I do it according to her corrected age or her real age. She was in Neonatal ICU for just over 2months.  There they had her in a 3 hours feeding schedule.  Waking her if she sleeps day and night to feed.  I carried on with this when she was discharged from hospital.  The doctor said I can stretch her to a 4 hour schedule once she is over 3kg's.  She's been on a 4 hour schedule for the past week...

QUESTION: I am the mother of a 9 week old baby boy. I have been expressing and freezing breastmilk as I have to go back to work in two months time. After attending the Baby Sense Seminar this past weekend and hearing how the milk changes over the months I decided to start defrosting the oldest “stock” and freezing the fresh milk so as to keep my frozen supply appropriate. My son is refusing the defrosted milk – from me and others. He still drinks fresh milk from a bottle so the problem does not lie with the bottle. ANSWER: It is great that you are looking to persist with breast milk...

QUESTION: You speak about how the first two weeks of newborn's life is the honeymoon--the baby is typically calm and able to fall asleep wherever he is. My question is: Why is this? Does recovery from birth make babies lethargic? Or are they wired to shut out stimulation? ANSWER: Very interesting question! I analyse this almost weekly. There is no research I have found that explains the mechanisms behind the honeymoon period yet there is endless evidence in the research of this two week period. I do have a take on it but it is simply my rationale, not a researched or measurable reason. We do know...

The womb is the ideal environment from every perspective for your developing baby. It is warm and tight, with lulling movement and meets your little one’s every need. It is from this ideal environment that your baby emerges into our busy and much less baby-friendly world. Meg Faure, OT and co-author in the Sense Series, looks at ways to ease your baby’s transition on the day of her birth by making little adjustments to the delivery room. Touch Without question the very best you can do for your baby in terms of touch in the first few days is to hold your baby skin-to-skin. The familiar...

When a new baby arrives it is not just the baby that is born.  A new mother and a new father are “born” too.  Dads – your role as a father begins not just at the birth but during the pregnancy too. Here are a few tips of things you should do – and shouldn’t do – to support your partner during her pregnancy. Do listen to friends and relatives who have been there before.  Other dads will tell it like it is and won’t sugar coat things for you. Do understand hormones – your partner is going through major hormonal changes.  If she asks you...