Category: newborns

Preschoolers Can Welcome a New Baby With Help

Preschoolers look so grown up sometimes.  When a new baby comes home, all that can change.  They can have very strong responses to becoming an older sister or brother, and not all of their reactions are easy to decipher or deal with.  Here are a few explanations for their responses and some suggestions to make…… Continue reading Preschoolers Can Welcome a New Baby With Help

Are Babies Addicted to White Noise? Yes….and No

White noise helps colicky newborns calm and sleep.  It can help newborns develop essential self-calming skills in the first 3 months of life.  It can help older babies tolerate teething and their first colds.  It can even help babies transition to a shared bedroom with a toddler sibling.  The magic of white noise is not…… Continue reading Are Babies Addicted to White Noise? Yes….and No

Another Baby Lost to Crying

There was a news story here in NY about another newborn allegedly choked to death by a father that couldn’t take all the crying.  This is a recurring story that has to end.  If that family knew how easily The Happiest Baby on the Block techniques could have calmed down their baby, he would still…… Continue reading Another Baby Lost to Crying

The Safest Crib Bumper Might Be Deeper Sleep

Most pediatricians will tell you to avoid all crib bumpers.  The American Academy of Pediatrics feels that no bumper is 100% safe. They discourage parents from using even the most breathable mesh fabric, tied onto your child’s crib.  I totally believe parent reports that a baby that isn’t swaddled can get a limb caught over…… Continue reading The Safest Crib Bumper Might Be Deeper Sleep

The Difference Between “The Hold” and The Happiest Baby on the Block? Sleep!!!

I love it when baby calming is in the news!  This week “the hold”, pediatrician Dr. Robert Hamilton’s method for calming newborns, received a lot of attention.  I watched the video, just like a few million parents and professionals.  Then I thought about how this fits in with The Happiest Baby techniques that I am…… Continue reading The Difference Between “The Hold” and The Happiest Baby on the Block? Sleep!!!

Prepare Your Toddler Before Bringing a New Baby Home

Look at it as if your spouse announced that a new, younger, and more vulnerable wife was joining your family: ” She will need a lot of my close attention at first.  That doesn’t mean I don’t love you just as much, sweetie, but I won’t be as available to you as I used to…… Continue reading Prepare Your Toddler Before Bringing a New Baby Home

When to Stop Using the Infant Swing with Your Newborn

Weaning the swing can happen earlier than weaning swaddling.  Somewhere about 2.5 months old (adjust for prematurity if needed), many newborns no longer get more peaceful while swinging.  There will always be babies that prefer to be jiggled on your shoulder or in your lap from the beginning. There will also be babies a bit…… Continue reading When to Stop Using the Infant Swing with Your Newborn

Beyond Tummy Time: The Magic of Side Lying Play for Balance and Vision

Tummy time is terrific, but your baby cannot stay in that position forever, no matter how entertaining you make it, nor how hard he works to lift his head. Side lying is another great position for a young infant, one that is well-known by occupational therapists to give babies unique opportunities for head control, eye-hand…… Continue reading Beyond Tummy Time: The Magic of Side Lying Play for Balance and Vision

Will Swaddling Make it Harder to See Baby’s Hunger Cues?

This question is the one I have heard repeatedly from parents and birth educators.  Here are the facts as I know them:  Hunger is natural, hunger is strong in most infants, and hunger is more powerful than the swaddle. In fact, a great way to know if your fussy newborn is hungry or just fussy…… Continue reading Will Swaddling Make it Harder to See Baby’s Hunger Cues?

Ten Problems That Cause Parents to Abandon Happiest Baby on the Block

Learning to use The Happiest Baby on the Block 5 S’s can be tricky.  In addition to teaching group classes, I also teach parents privately to help them get the techniques down correctly and answer all of their questions on the spot.  I meet parents who have watched the DVD or read the book but…… Continue reading Ten Problems That Cause Parents to Abandon Happiest Baby on the Block

Teaching Your Baby to Sleep Through the Night

No baby sleeps all night.  Not one.  Neither do adults.  Surprised? A normal sleep cycle bring us into a foggy awake stage and only then do we return to sleep.  This happens many times throughout the night, but good sleepers send themselves right back into a deeper sleep without being held, an extra feeding (excluding…… Continue reading Teaching Your Baby to Sleep Through the Night

Prevent Pacifier Addiction With A Focus on Building Self-Calming Without Plastic

Parents of newborns are concerned that pacifier use will lead to pacifier “addiction” in later infancy and toddlerhood.  It doesn’t have to be that way.  Pacifier addicts are made, not born.  Parents should not feel guilty about the difficulty they encounter with pacifier weaning, since no one explains what pacifiers do for babies and how…… Continue reading Prevent Pacifier Addiction With A Focus on Building Self-Calming Without Plastic

How To Calm Crying If You Don’t Swaddle

Yesterday I taught a Happiest Baby on the Block class, and one mother was adamant that she would not swaddle her 3-week-old daughter.  She thought it would be too restrictive for her.  Although I taught the correct safety principles, how it mimics life in the womb, and the effective techniques for a good swaddle, this…… Continue reading How To Calm Crying If You Don’t Swaddle

Safer With a Swaddle Blanket or Swaddle Garment? Research Says You are Asking the Wrong Question

As a certified Happiest Baby on the Block educator, I am often asked which choice new parents should make.  Swaddling with a blanket is cheaper (babies don’t grow too large for most blankets for months) and blankets can be repurposed after swaddling is finished.  Garments are easier to master; not everyone is willing to learn…… Continue reading Safer With a Swaddle Blanket or Swaddle Garment? Research Says You are Asking the Wrong Question

Massage With Your Special Needs Child

When parents hear that I am a licensed massage therapist as well as an OTR, they often ask how massage can help their child.  They seem to assume that I would recommend massage only to calm a child on the spectrum, or help a child sleep.  Actually, massage can be great preparation for getting a…… Continue reading Massage With Your Special Needs Child

Why Stomach Sleeping For Newborns Isn’t the Answer to a Good Night’s Sleep

Why would parents place a newborn on her stomach to sleep, even though their pediatrician clearly advised against this position due to the increased risk of SIDS?  Simple: many babies fall asleep faster and stay deeply asleep this way.  Many, many babies struggle to fall asleep easily or stay asleep  when they sleep on their…… Continue reading Why Stomach Sleeping For Newborns Isn’t the Answer to a Good Night’s Sleep

The Newborn Exercise Your Baby Really Needs…And Why He Isn’t Getting It

Last year I wrote a post on the Bumbo chair, but this time I feel it is time to write a post about the early days of baby positioning, before anyone would put a baby in a bouncing saucer.  I recently published an article locally on why tummy time is now fussy time.  This is…… Continue reading The Newborn Exercise Your Baby Really Needs…And Why He Isn’t Getting It

Swaddle at Night, but Get Moving During the Day

A correctly swaddled baby that is also using white noise and all the other Happiest Baby strategies can sleep amazingly long periods at night.  But as your baby goes from a 2 week-old to a 2-month-old, they are up and awake for longer periods of the the day.  Nobody wants to swaddle them all day,…… Continue reading Swaddle at Night, but Get Moving During the Day

Move Your Baby Into a Shared Bedroom Using The Happiest Baby on the Block

One question I usually hear when teaching The Happiest Baby on the Block (THB) classes is “Can this help me when I want to move her into her sister’s room?”.  The answer is: absolutely!  Strategies that keep your newborn calm and sleeping more deeply will smooth the transition to shared bedrooms later on. Most parents…… Continue reading Move Your Baby Into a Shared Bedroom Using The Happiest Baby on the Block

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