How to be baby wise?

Parenting is a tricky art. In fact this is all the more true in case of infants. Unlike animals, all human babies are solely dependent on their mothers for all their needs for a few years till they grow to be self dependent. Once babies are given birth, we can’t expect them to grow on their own. Caring for babies has to happen in a wise manner so that the parents give the best to their children during the growing phase so that they turn health, happy and free of any diseases. There are several guide books available on becoming baby wise. There are a number of dimensions to baby wise. This article throws light on one such important baby wise issue namely scheduling the tasks of attending to your babies.

There is a concept called parent-led schedule for rearing babies. The meaning of this term is that the parents evolve a particular agenda drafting a timetable for the baby ranging from eating, sleeping and playing. Some parents fix up a particular schedule and strictly adhere to it without even a minute deviation to the extent possible. Quite a many experts believe that this style of implementing strict timings for the different activities of babies helps in regulating the internal biological clocks in babies and provide the babies the right kind of input conducive to an ideal growth.  

Baby wise methods are not evolved in a day. They are the result of the knowledge regarding the various phases in babies’ growth, the varying needs of babies on the whole, observing the natural rhythms in their growth during different developmental stages. Most of these tips are evolved out of the experience with a large number of babies by a large number of parents over generations and so they are highly dependable and useful to parents who are new to rearing babies. Experts believe that once the babies start experiencing a structured pattern in their days, they tend to fall in close line with the schedule and sleep better and easier over nights. 

The most popular advocates of parent-led scheduling are author Gary Ezzo and childcare expert Gina Ford state that the ideal stand in rearing babies is to take a middle approach between the rigorous four-hour feeding schedules of the past and the popular baby-led schedules of the contemporary times. They do not subscribe to on-demand feeding that means following the cues given by the babies with regard to deciding the time of the meal. On the other hand, they suggest depending on their guidelines, following the baby’s hunger cues and also the parents’ common sense. All these aspects must go hand in hand in rearing the babies. 

The one downside to on-demand feeding is that parents who are new to rearing babies might mistake a baby cry for some other reason to mean ‘feed me’. Under these circumstances, both the parents pursue a tireless cycle of constant feeding that will go on for quite some time till a particular stage in development. This would result in frequent waking for nursing and a consequent lack of sleep for babies as well as parents. On demand feeding also might lead to under-feeding since babies sometimes tend to sleep for a longer time foregoing their food. Parents therefore need to take the appropriate stand to rear their babies the right way. 

Do you need a crib tent?

While crib tents have become the most sought after born baby products, they have received mixed responses and reactions among parents owing to their advantages as well as potential risks. The principal purpose behind these dome shaped tents is to keep away insects and also prevent the baby from climbing out of the crib to fall down. The hazards associated with crib tents are worth discussing so that we play a cautious note as parents in ensuring the safety of our babies. 

Crib tents are available for standard sized cribs, portable cribs and play yards. They keep away insects and household pets from babies. They too protect the babies from falling out of the cribs. These are the intended purposes behind purchasing crib tents. On the other hand, some grave incidents over the past have sent a warning signal for those using crib tents since in some cases they have proved disastrous and even brought deadly consequences. 

Over the five year period from 1997 and 2012, there were about 27 complaints of product failure lodged with the Consumer Product Safety Commission regarding the crib tents manufactured by a famous born baby items manufacturer. 

In these incidents, most babies who were victims only suffered minor injuries, while a two-year-old boy was succumbed to death having got trapped rapped in between the top rail of the play yard and the lower rail of the crib tent. In yet another incident, a two-year-old child suffered a highly gruesome brain injury when the dome shaped tent got inverted and the broken rod pierced the baby’s neck. Since then, the CPSC has had recalled all crib tents supplied by the distributor under allegation, but the other brands of crib tents have been surviving in the market. Now the question is whether they are safe for babies and as a matter of fact, none can bet on them. 

If a product is available in the market, it does not mean it is safe for use. The buyers need to do a proper research and find out whether there is any safety hazard connected with the product. Even after American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a safety warning that crib bumpers can kill, to this day bumpers are lined up in all the baby marts for sale. While there are several other sleep-positioners and alternative bumpers manufactured, they are not subjected to FDA regulation meaning that the manufacturers can make any unwarranted safety claims with regard to their products. 

Parents need to do a bit of homework especially while it comes to the safety of their beloved babies. So far there have not been any official statements made regarding the safety of crib tents. However, a number of child wise resources have raised their concerns that crib tents could collapse and injure babies. Also, consumer reports have suggested that those babies getting entangled in the mesh of a failed tent can be strangled or suffocated. The bottom line is this. Crib tents, sleep postioners and foam wedges are on the whole not suitable for unsupervised sleeping environment and therefore parents need to use their discretion to buy the right kind of product for their babies. 

Do healthy sleep habits make a happy child?

Good and quality sleep is one of the crucial necessities for a healthy life. Given this, any one would be able to assume how important it could be while talking of infant health. Research reports reveal that children who sleep better are seen to be happier and do well in school activities besides being less hyper active. In an average, children need about 14 hours of sleep a day. However, during the infant stage this occurs in short packages spread over the 24 hours period. By the time babies reach 6 weeks of age, they get organized to sleep for longer periods over nights. When the babies are in their fourth month, most of them take about three naps which reduce to 2 naps between 5 and 8 months and eventually getting into one long nap. 

With the progression of age, regular sleep patterns set up rather unconsciously. If this happens, then the condition is said to be normal and defaults in this pattern would suggest some problem with the individual’s health. Perceiving the importance of sleep in our daily life and studying the effects of good sleep in the health and happiness of babies, Dr. Weissbluth has authored a book under the title Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child. His observations, concepts and suggestions throw more light on the best practices in child rearing. 

Over the first few years, the total amount of sleep does not alter in a remarkable way. Therefore, it is essential that when a child drop a nap, the bed time needs to be advanced. According to the author, most babies should go to bed somewhere between 6 and 8 pm and wake up around 7am. In case of babies up to 9 months, there could be one or two waking during nights for the sake of feeding. The ideal times for naps would be between 9 and 10, 1 and 3 and 3 and 5.

A striking idea that the author voices in his book is this. He stresses on the importance of ‘cry it out’ meaning the mother should desist from going in to the room other than the regular feeding schedules established during a given stage of the child. The idea is to let the child cry for up to 1 hour during nap time and to the extent needed during nights. He says if this is not done and the baby is attended to immediately upon crying, then you end up teaching the baby that it should cry to be attended. 

The author says put down the child when it is tired not waiting to see it yawning and rubbing the eyes. He agrees for any soothing routine that you might feel working well with the baby and also tells there is no need to wake the baby up once you put them down. Dr. Weissbluth does not approve of any kind of motion during sleep. He too lays emphasis on telling put them down once you complete the soothing routine whether they sleep or not. Like some other authors of best selling baby wise books, Dr. Weissbluth does not support attachment parenting. Though he might appear blunt at some points, the suggestions made in the book seem to bestow ultimate good to babies.

How to become baby wise?

Most couples in the verge of turning into parents often feel they must be prepared to accept sleepless nights. ‘On Becoming Baby Wise’, a huge selling book has piled up promises that their baby can be put to sleep throughout the night in about three to eight weeks. While some pediatricians have raised serious concerns regarding some practices advocated by the book, the suggestions given by the book need to be looked in objectively to ascertain how useful and dependable it could be for the parents. After all, selling over 2 ½ million copies is not a simple thing that you can just fail to acknowledge and brush aside. 

On Becoming Baby Wise has secured an international recognition by promoting a highly sensible and research based approach to parenting new born babies. For the eighteenth consecutive year, the book has been on reprint with translations in 12 languages. The principal highlight of the book is the invaluable infant management plan proposed by Gary Ezzo and Dr. Robert Bucknam that helps achieve a perfect sync of the feeding time, wake time and the night time routines. The outcome is obvious in the form of healthy and highly satisfied babies who are able to sleep through the nights. 

The authors of the book have shown by taking advantage of the two biological propensities in children namely order and stability, parents can play a vital role in nursing babies to good health and happiness. The readers will clearly know how a baby’s body responds to the influences of parental routine. On the other hand, the author means that if this is not complied with, then the results might be worse in contributing to poor health of the baby. With the progression of chapters, the readers will get to know the day to day intricacies of infant management. All the issues are systematically given coverage under three heads namely feeding time, wake time and sleep time. 

It is the bounden duty of every parent nursing a baby to evaluate and decide on the right kind of pathology to nurse their baby. In this connection, they must be open to review all the possible options, understand all the alternative approaches and theories and then note the outcomes so that they can ultimately decide what parenting tips work well with their babies. Parents need to understand the right ways to be baby wise. They must objectively observe the success practices in other families. They can adopt some useful ideas by learning from parents who had been able to do the right job with their baby care.

On Becoming Baby wise is a wonderful accomplishment that has guided countless parents with the idea that more than being an infant nursing concept, the book is rather a mindset required for successful parents. The ideas given out in the book will assist every parent to evolve their own plan that will meet the holistic needs of the family as well as the infant. In this regard, the approach shown in the book is rather highly appreciable. The book also has shown that nursing a baby is the combined responsibility of both the couple and not the mother alone. Thus, the principles and ideas propounded in the book have guided countless number of parents in being baby wise.