Happy Days » Crying

  For nine months your baby was nurtured in the ideal sensory world of the womb. From this calm environment your baby emerged into our busy sensory world.  At birth human babies are less mature than almost any other mammal. Their little brain is not capable of any conscious decision or voluntary movement but is an advanced sensory organ. In other words the brain takes in information from the senses and over time learns to process and make sense of the new sensory input. Meg Faure, OT and author of The Babysense Secret shows you the best ways to ease your baby into our busy world by preventing...

  For nine months your baby is nurtured in the ideal world of the womb. From this calm environment your baby emerges into a busy sensory world.  The transition to the harsh world can to be made smoother by you. 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. Becoming over simulated results 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...

  In the last trimester of pregnancy, your little one’s sensory systems begin to make connections in the brain and learning starts. However, unlike other mammals, human babies are born relatively immature. Consider the newborn antelope, springing across the African veld, following the rest of the herd only hours after birth. Her ability to keep up with her mother as the herd moves on is essential for the survival of the species but it is also made possible because of her relative maturity at birth. The human babies are born way less mature, with limited ability to act on their world. The...

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...

Why is my baby crying?  Does my baby cry too much?  What is normal?   We know you want the answers to these questions, so this month Meg Faure writes for Baby Sense about “Crying through the ages”, covering crying from newborns to toddlers, talking about the REAL cause of colic and what to do about it and everything from hunger and separation anxiety to teething and temper tantrums. Newborn The newborn baby is typically much calmer and cries less than you would expect. Many parents are surprised that their baby does not scream at birth but rather makes quieter sounds and has a period of...