< Week 2 Tummy Time Tummy time is an incredibly important part of your infant's development. Tummy time not only prepares your baby for rolling over and crawling, but it also (perhaps more importantly) will help to strengthen your baby's neck and back muscles. Having good neck control will allow your baby to move her head, which will reduce the risk of SIDS. Additionally, these muscles are key for other large motor activities, such as sitting up, and eventually walking. For more information, please review the following tummy time videos from Pathways: Five Essential Tummy Time Moves Original source: Pathways.org Five Essential Tummy Time Moves Original source: Pathways.org Pathways.org is an incredible non-profit that utilizes evidence-based practice and multimedia as tools to promote each child’s fullest inclusion. They strive to empower parents with knowledge of the benefit of early detection and early intervention for children’s sensory, motor, and...
Things to Watch For
Your baby will be able to screen out sounds and over stimulating situations by shutting down. This is called habituating. When a baby is habituating – they appear to be sleeping. This protective state however consumes a lot of energy and does not replenish it as effectively as true sleep does. He may look like he is trying to sleep but in fact he is spending a great amount of energy tuning out stimulation so that he can remain asleep. An example of this is a baby that sleeps through a dinner during rush time where the restaurant is busy and crowded or the baby that seems to be passed around easily and sleeps through the handling of many relatives while at a family function. Infants who are sleeping through these types of situations are actually habituating and not truly resting. Habituating vs. Sleeping When newborns spend their time “shutting down” – they expend a lot of needed energy and typically wake up and become fussy and inconsolable rather than refreshed and...
Sleep Cycles
The sleep states your baby had while in utero will be similar to what they will be like in the newborn period. In the first three months of life, sleep will be evenly divided between two very distinct and observable sleep states: Active Sleep (REM Sleep) Quiet/Deep Sleep (Non-REM Sleep) Active Sleep The first 20-30 minutes of sleep, your infant is in an active state of sleep. This phase is referred to as a “light” state of sleep and consists of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. Babies will spend half of their time in REM sleep. The brain is replenishing itself and processing and mentally storing all your baby is experiencing throughout the day which plays a critical role in brain development. Blood is flowing to your baby’s brain bringing nutrients to active brain cells. This is an active time within the nervous system. You will be able to observe rapid eye movement under your baby’s closed eye lids when they are in this state. Other characteristics your infant...
Safe Sleep Guidelines
The American and Canadian Pediatrics Societies both recommend that for the first 6 months, your baby sleep in the same room as you, but on a separate surface. This separate surface could be a bassinette or a crib, which are placed within arm’s reach of a parent. The Crib When you are setting up your crib, first make sure that they meet the requirements put out by your government’s consumer safety boards. Click this link to see the American Consumer Safety information: http://www.cpsc.gov/Safety-Education/Safety-Education-Centers/cribs/ The Mattress – your crib or bassinette’s mattress should be firm; you should not add any extra cushioning (such as memory foam) to the mattress. The Bedding – Sheets used in your crib need to be tucked down tightly, and not able to come off the corners easily. There should be no blankets or pillows in the crib whatsoever. Keep your crib bare. You should not leave any toys in your baby’s crib. No bumper pads in your...
Sleep Needs/Habits (Old)
Step 1: Learn About Your Newborn's Sleep A baby’s sleep cycle is unorganized and inefficient in these first 6-8 weeks. His sleep/wake cycle is underdeveloped so try not to have great expectations about sleeping long stretches. His internal rhythms are not synced up to light & day so your baby will be sleeping for a few hours, then waking for a feed or some connection, then going right back to sleep. New babies will sleep when they are tired and the sleep pressure builds up. Wakefulness can result from hunger, physical discomfort such as dirty diaper or temperature shift or illness, or just as a way to connect emotionally to mom and dad. Note: There are wide ranges of time given for how much an infant should sleep in a day but the most important finding in infant sleep research in the last 15 years to note is that sleep needs are highly variable between babies. There can be a variation of up to 8-9 hours in a 24-hour period in babies 6 months and under. One study showed a...