AS a certified HBOTB educator, I have received comments and questions that help me clarify my message and improve my instruction. I imagine that many parents are thinking about these questions but may never ask me in person or on the phone. Time for some refinement.
Q: How can I use side or stomach-lying? The pediatrician said never to put my baby to sleep that way?
A: You are right; babies under 12 months should never sleep on their stomachs, in order to reduce the risk of SIDS. The HBOTB 5 S’s are used to CALM your baby, and then they sleep swaddled on their backs.
Q: Doesn’t pacifier use ruin their teeth?
A: HBOTH is used with babies 0-12 weeks old. Babies under 6 months of age generally do not have teeth. Sucking is a natural way babies soothe themselves at this stage of development. Pacifier use after 6 months is more likely to affect dental development AND become an emotional attachment, not a biological need.
Q: I have heard that pacifier use will disrupt breastfeeding!!
A: If you are breastfeeding, HBOTB recommends that you wait until your baby has mastered nursing before you introduce a pacifier. That could take a few weeks. But most babies get very good at nursing very fast. Watch your baby’s swallowing; if she is at the breast but not swallowing, she is just soothing herself by sucking, which is normal and perfectly acceptable.
Q: My baby sleeps so well swaddled, won’t he sleep through a feeding?
A: If your baby is hungry, he will awaken unless he is experiencing other issues that create lethargy. True hunger cannot be eradicated by the 5 S’s: your baby will momentarily calm, then realize he is still really hungry!
