Babiease, LLC

New blankies

Have you tried the newest blankets to hit DC?? They are made by Aden and Anais. I've found them to swaddle really well because of their large size and also great because they are made of a light weight fabric, perfect for summer. Look for them at Dawn Price Baby in Capitol Hill and Georgetown,DC. They can also be found at Buy Buy Baby. 

Enjoy your happily swaddled baby!

Red Bums

My poor girls have red bums and at only two and half weeks old. If you are handling this issue you want to get on top of it too! Here are my tricks! *Larger size diaper * Keep the bum dry! Hair dry! Turn on the low setting making sure it is only slightly warm. *Change often; before feeds and after. *Maaylox will help remove the acid from the urine. Pour on to coat irritated area. *Coat with a good paste like Butt Paste. *If the rash does not dry up sprinkle corn starch on the area. *If rash is bumpy it's likely a yeast rash that will need further assistance with a perscription. *Call Ped if the rash does not improve with basic treatmeant or worsens.

Night time Sleep woes!

Some days and nights can be tough but don't get discouraged.  (I tell myself this too as I can for a little man who really loves to eat day and night and has alot to learn. :)) They really will sleep better soon.  Here are some tips to help!

 

*Baby is well rested/sleeping without assistance during the day

*White Noise shushing them when rousing or sibling waking

*Separate cribs overnight

*Pacify first and see the baby(s) can sleep even for another 20-30 minutes.  This helps push the feed time closer to the morning wake time. 

*Gradually decrease night (3-4am) bottle amounts

*Miracle Blanketsto grow with them

*Patience.  With these few changes you will see improvement.  This is a learning process for you and the babies.  There will be tweaking here and there but it will improve if you follow the above tips.

 

Amazing!

An Egyptian mother of three gives birth to Septuplets!  They were born at 34 weeks, weighing 3.2 to 4  Never heard of such large babies with such higher order multiples.  My quints were on the large side being around 3 lbs but 4- Yikes!!  Amazing!  Read more!! and more.                                                    

Sleep, Glorious Sleep!

Yes, my girls are wonderful!  They are sleeping through the night!!!  I've almost have them sleeping without their dreamfeed.  They go down at night between 6:30-7 and I feed them 2-3 ounces at 10 and they sleep until 6-6:30.  I'm hoping this week to totally drop their dreamfeed but not too quickly as they are just getting over a cold.  All said, it's so nice to have sleeping babies at night!

FACTS:  The Twins are 13.5 pounds born at 33.5 gestation, now 4.5 months old.  They have been sleeping through for about 5 weeks.  We still use the Miracles Blankets and white noise machine!

Not a cold!

The cold weather is here!  It's wonderful in the brisk fall breeze.  Along with the coolness colds are coming!  Not a fun time.  So how can we avoid them?!  As we all know, avoid those who are evidently sick coming around the babies.  Be sure to wash hands often when out and coming in from outside.  You can even go a step more and change your outfit.  Fathers coming home from a day at work should consider taking this into consideration. 

If your babies do get a cold:

Happy Upright Do your best to make them comfortable.  Because colds often come with congestion which causes babies not to sleep well keep them upright for sleep.

Nice Cool Breeze Run a humidifier in your baby's room to moisten nasal passages.

Use the Blue Present from the Hospital Yes, now is time to consider using the bulb syringe.  Squeeze the bulb.  Place in nostril, holding the other nostril closed.  Release the bulb. 

Little Spray  With such little nose passages and lots a congestion saline drops are helpful.  Can be very helpful before bulb syringe.

Smelly Bath For babies three months and older, look for vapor bath.  It works really well.

Ped to the Rescue  Call your Ped if you ever areconcerned.  Check for a fever.  Fevers over 100 alway warrant a call.  Keep your eye on how much eating.  Watch for dry diapers.  If unsure, place a tissue in diaper to see if urinating.  

Can a bedroom fan save your baby from SIDS?

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/checkup/2008/10/sids_and_fan_use_for_weds_oct.html

There is nothing so immeasurably sad as the death of an infant. And when that death is attributed to SIDS -- sudden infant death syndrome -- the sadness is amplified by confusion and maddening uncertainty. For while doctors have given this syndrome a name for decades, and while it is listed as the leading cause of death among infants between one month and one year old, it's still just a "diagnosis of exclusion" -- the medical community can't fully explain why it happens and can only offer educated guesses as to how parents might protect their children.

This week brought another potential factor to parents' attention. A studyconducted by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research and published Monday in the October issue of the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, found that infants sleeping in a room where air was ventilated with a fan had a 72 percent lower risk of SIDS than babies who slept without fans. The idea is that a fan circulates fresh air and lessens the extent to which the baby re-inhales its own exhaled breath...

SIDS Reminders

Of course, back to sleep only, no smoking, and don't sleep with your baby...

-Use a firm mattress with a tightly fitted crib sheet.

-Place only the baby in the crib.  There should be no blankets, fluffy, thick, comforters or sheepskin in the crib.

-If your baby likes pacifiers they are SIDS friendly!

-Keep the room at or around 70 degrees.  You can purchase a room thermometer if you are unsure of your room temperature.  Read your baby too.  If your baby is clammy, wet hair, or sweaty back he is too warm.  To see if they are too cold their hands and/or nose will be cool. 

The dreaded tummy

Yes, that tummy!  So often we forget (or mean to!) how important tummy time is.  You lay your baby down like you are told and they just fussy and scream like it's torture.  Well it may not be fun for them but it is important that they get time to strengthen their upper body, neck and shoulder muscles.  This time on their tummy also helps prevents their head from flattening.

There are many ways to "enjoy" tummy time.  To start, the earlier you start adding tummy time to your routine the better.  Place the baby on a mat on the floor with arms close to their chest.  They may complain but they are do.ing just fine.  Actually when they do start complaining you will see them at work! 

Here are a few ideas to encourage a happy time:

*Roll a receiving blanket under their arms/chest.  The same idea is with a Boppy but not as high and they are able to use their arms to push up.

*Talk to them!  We all need encouragement!

*Place a mirror in front of them.  It will be a good distration.

*Though not as helpful in strengthening those muscles, lie the baby on your chest.  There is nothing like cuddling with a little one.

*Though out the day keep offering little bits of time, 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there will add up.  

Enjoy the fun! 

Oh, Ms. Small!

Meredith F. Small is an anthropologist at Cornell University and is also the author of "Our Babies, Ourselves; How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent" just came out with a new article, Should Babies be put on a Schedule.  Check it out. 

The clearly study shows the benefit of a schedule is a well rested happy mother but yet she rebels to say that baby "neurologically unfinished" and need to be on top of Mom.  If the babies are "neurologically unfinished" as she says they need direction!  Oh, Ms. Small, direction of a schedule meets Mom and babies needs!